Inclusive businesses (IBs) resonate with policymakers seeking to leverage private capital in support of poverty alleviation and sustainable development. In the agri-food sector, which represents the largest segment of the base-of-the-pyramid (BOP) market and a key source of livelihood for the rural poor, there is limited evidence on their diversity and social value creation mechanisms. This prevents practitioners from identifying impactful IB types and design features. A statistical analysis of 46 cases in Tanzania and Ghana identified four IB types: (1) self-reliant agribusinesses, (2) domestic plantation companies, (3) social enterprises, and (4) locally-embedded Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Our findings suggest that socially-driven and localized IBs hold high impact potential but require significant external support, while more self-sufficient IBs adopt less socially innovative designs. This study demonstrates the utility of a data-driven approach to capture the complexity of real-world IBs, which yielded practical insights for more effective poverty alleviation through business means.

Has remote work post-pandemic expanded the influence of Nordic capitals on surrounding towns? Through case studies in five Nordic towns, the report focused on how remote work opportunities influence small-town attractiveness, population retention, and planning strategies. It explores the effects on populations, urban-rural landscapes, and planning needs.

Igangværende forskningsprojekt
I et Danmark under forandring med voksende urbanisering, større kommuner, lukning af lokale forretninger og virksomheder samt centralisering af offentlige institutioner inden for politi, domstole, sygehuse og kommunale velfærdsinstitutioner (skoler, børneinstitutioner, ældrecentre), argumenteres der ofte for, at civilsamfundet er en kraft, der kan holde liv i og skabe udvikling i landdistrikterne. Omvendt diskuteres det også, hvilken betydning netop urbanisering, erhvervsliv og offentlige institutioner har for civilsamfundet.

Dette forskningsprojekt tager afsæt i den antagelse, at civilsamfundet kan have en positiv betydning for lokal udvikling i landdistrikter, men det afhænger af omfanget og karakteren af samspillet mellem civilsamfundet og det omkringliggende samfund.

This study investigates the role of remote work in enhancing the resilience of rural and remote municipalities in the Nordic countries, highlighting the shift towards hybrid work models.
The report presents six case studies, each detailing the context, challenges and opportunities associated with remote work. The study found that many public authorities lack formal remote work policies, relying on pre-existing or pandemic-developed frameworks aimed at work-life balance.

This policy brief addresses the challenges and opportunities of the green transition in Nordic rural areas, emphasizing the need for more fair approaches. It underscores the significance of involving local communities in renewable energy projects.

Waste management in the northern latitudes is often more challenging than in the more central regions. Under the Arctic climate conditions with large distances between settlements and to the recycling facilities, and relatively smaller markets and volume of produced waste, there are special needs for developing new innovative solutions for waste management.

This storymap highlights the Fragile Communities project in Búðardalur, a small town in Dalir, Iceland. The project aimed to prevent the decline of remote municipalities through community empowerment and tourism development. It encourages local participation in addressing issues like housing and infrastructure, and seeks to improve local well-being and identity through workshops, grants, and cooperative projects. It also details Dalir’s unique approach to adapting to population decline and the importance of community mobilization and identity rediscovery.

FUV har derfor undersøgt sammenlægningsprocesser i syv storpastorater i Aarhus Stift, og talt med menighedsråd, præster, medarbejdere, kirkegængere, borgere, institutioner, provster og biskop i forsøget på at indkredse både udfordringer og muligheder. Rapporten fremlægger resultaterne af undersøgelsen, og kommer med anbefalinger til det fremtidige arbejde med pastoratssammenlægninger. Rapporten peger også på de lovgivningsmæssige udfordringer, som de syv storpastorater i undersøgelsen har mødt.

Although the outmigration choices of young adults from peripheral to urban regions to attend higher education have been researched extensively, young adults’ decisions to stay in, nearby, or return to, the peripheral home region have received less attention. This paper explores how young adults who are engaged in higher education re-imagine narratives related to notions of ‘leaving’ in their mobility biographies to justify their choice to stay in or return to their peripheral home region. We conducted in-depth interviews with postgraduate students in peripheral regions in Denmark and the Netherlands. Our findings confirm the existence of a mobility imperative for young adults in peripheral regions reproduced by both our participants and their social relations. However, we additionally find that young adults re-imagine narratives of ‘leaving’ which simultaneously correspond with contemporary discourses on place and residential mobility in the form of valuing (dis)connection to place, experiencing urban lifestyles, and life phase transitions, but which also open up possibilities for re-evaluating the attractiveness of often stigmatized peripheral regions. We suggest that narratives of ‘leaving’ during higher education help young adults to build what we call ‘symbolic mobility capital’ to mitigate the negative connotations related to living in a peripheral region.

Peatland ACTION is a programme delivering peatland restoration projects across Scotland to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss.