Abstract The disappearance of food shops in small towns and villages is a common feature in many European areas. The food habits of rural inhabitants are affected by the limitations on their food supply, posing a challenge to how they organise their daily eating. Although this represents a major problem for the quality of life in rural areas, food access problems have been understudied in Europe. This paper presents some research notes to encourage the study of the effects of the shortfall in food businesses in depopulated rural areas of Europe as a guide for research on this phenomenon. The paper reviews the international literature, drawing attention to the theoretical problems and methodological limitations involved in this type of study. A series of recommendations are given with the aim of enabling future research to record the food situation of the inhabitants of impoverished and depopulated territories with greater precision and depth.

Guadalupe Ramos-Truchero

European Countryside

From Food Deserts to Food Access. Methodological and Theoretical Considerations for Research in Sparsely Populated Rural European Areas

从食物荒漠到食物获取：稀疏人口欧洲农村地区研究的理论与方法论考量

Abstract The research analyses the tourism situation in Extremadura (Spain) in recent years to assess whether the COVID-19 pandemic has been an opportunity to revitalise these destinations. An analysis was carried out at the municipal level using contextual variables and tourism indicators obtained from surveys of the National Institute of Statistics. The data were processed and compared using Geographic Information Systems, allowing for a spatial and temporal assessment. The results provide a detailed overview of the current state of tourism in the municipalities of Extremadura, determining whether pre-pandemic levels of activity have been recovered and identifying the municipalities with significant improvements in their tourism potential during the period studied.

Nerea Ríos Rodríguez

Gema Cárdenas Alonso

Ana Nieto Masot

Tourism Reactivation in Extremadura (Spain): Post-Covid Analysis of Inland Destinations

西班牙埃斯特雷马杜拉旅游业复苏：内陆目的地的后疫情分析

Abstract While the motivations behind rural mobility have been extensively studied, the factors determining immobility are less discussed. In this study, we applied a quantitative and qualitative methodology built on a theoretical framework based on the literature to analyse primary and secondary data to answer the following question: What factors play a primary role in someone from a relatively disadvantaged rural area deciding in favour of immobility? Our results showed that those who remained in the region surveyed had the resources to build a life elsewhere, but family ties, property, or the fact that the way of life they desired in the city could not be realised bound them to their homeland.

Szonja Ondrik

Ágnes Varga

To Go or To Stay? The Motivation Behind Immobility in A Hungarian Micro-Region

去还是留？匈牙利微区居民不动迁的动机

Abstract Rural digitalisation is often approached from a structural research perspective, focusing on broadband infrastructure and socio-economic contextual conditions. Such perspectives tend to neglect the agency of individual and collective actors in these areas. Our comparative case study addresses this gap by focusing on Digital Pioneers in two structurally different rural regions in Germany. Our analysis of 40 semi-structured qualitative interviews with selected pioneers is based on the research question of how these key actors access resources to realise digital social innovation. A categorization of our data shows three general patterns: Access to motivational resources on an individual level, access to network-based resources through various types of social relationships, as well as access to region-based resources by analytically linking agency and socio-spatial contextual conditions. We conclude that Digital Pioneers can become intermediary key players in regional governance constellations. At the same time, additional policy support or reversion is needed to facilitate access to network- and region-based resources in particular.

Tobias Mettenberger

Julia Binder

Julia Zscherneck

Unveiling the Resources of Digital Pioneers: an Agency Perspective on Digital Social Innovation in Rural Germany

揭示数字先锋的资源：德国农村数字社会创新的机构视角

Abstract This research aimed to analyze the perception of tourism stakeholders regarding the potential of gastronomy to revitalize tourism in the Mirandela region. The sample consisted of 95 stakeholders (e.g., managers, team leaders, directors, entrepreneurs) operating in the tourism sector. The study was operationalized using a qualitative methodology, and the data were analyzed using MAXQDA software. The results demonstrated that food quality, identity gastronomy, and food heritage are considered differentiating factors of the local cuisine. Additionally, it was found that diversification of tourism offerings, variety of traditional dishes, and multiplier effect are considered essential elements to enhance local gastronomy and boost tourism in the region. It was possible to ascertain that the promotion of local gastronomy as a tourist product depends on the organization of gastronomic events, preservation of culture, investment in digital marketing, and immersive experiences. Finally, it was observed that among the main measures to position the region as a gastronomic tourist destination are support from the private sector, synergies among local stakeholders, investment in infrastructure, and integration of local gastronomy with other tourism activities.

Carlos Vilela da Mota

Rosa Isabel Rodrigues

Teresa Palrão

Arlindo Madeira

The Role of Gastronomy as A Driver of Rural Tourism Development: The Case of Mirandela

美食作为乡村旅游发展的驱动力：以米兰德拉为例

Abstract Based on a series of qualitative fieldwork in peripheral rural settlements of Hungary, this paper aims to explore the intertwined nature of development and migration by developing a theory-based methodology as a tool. Specifically, the goal is to understand how personal perceptions of local changes are connected to outwards mobility aspirations of rural dwellers. The series of fieldwork, conducted in 8 remote villages of Hungary in the period of 2014–2019 along with the 163, verbatim-transcribed semi-structured and in-depth interviews specifically engaged in understanding changes and migration goals, sets the ground for a detailed investigation of the topic. During the analytical process, a theory-based system is provided for the categorisation of respondents into migration aspiration groups. Differences and similarities based on personal perceptions of social change are then analysed in this distinction. Results show that both voluntary mobile and involuntary immobile people regard local changes as deterioration and development programmes as unsatisfactory, with the former group speaking in relative, contextual terms and the latter with the terminology of invariability, fixedness and hopelessness. Conversely, voluntary immobile respondents regard local changes as positive enabling (though not facilitating) factors of their desire to stay, while understanding their ineffective nature on local economy in general. This paper argues (im)mobility aspirations to be determined by similar freedom-maximizing strategies in all mobility groups, with different forms of freedom being preferred by the different groups. Consequently, to reach the goals of decreasing the depopulation of the countryside, public development policies are expected to enhance the forms of freedom preferred by people who desire to stay.

Gergely Horzsa

Perceptions of Change and Migration Aspirations

变革认知与移民意愿

Abstract Cultural tourism (CT), although considered by some “friendly tourism”, has its impacts, being perceived by more and more people and communities as a force of change through its diversification. This study is aimed at exploring CT’ in Buzău Carpathians and Subcarpathians (BSC) perception by residents using the interview method, targeting three main objectives: Identifying the profiles of the interviewed residents on CT as a driving factor for future development of CT; Analysing the perceived aspects/elements linked to CT and Identifying the roles played by locals for the valorisation of CT sights. The results show that the residents understood CT as a mix between the natural and cultural dimensions of local reality and its positive impact on local traditions. The study highlights the idea that the residents could and should be active agents for the CT local attractions and for the future development of this type of tourism within the study area.

Irena Roznoviețchi

Nicoleta Damian

Bianca Mitrică

Ines Grigorescu

Paul-Răzvan Şerban

Monica Dumitraşcu

Cristina Dumitrică

Cultural Tourism in Predominantly Rural Communities. Residents’ Perception in Buzău Carpathians and Subcarpathians (Romania)

农村社区的文化旅游：布泽乌喀尔巴阡山和次喀尔巴阡山居民的感知（罗马尼亚）

Abstract Ukraine, as a large Central European country, because of its available natural resources, has stable traditions of agriculture. However, the unsatisfactory state of the rural socio-spatial environment, the low standard of living of the rural population do not correspond to the country's achievements in the field of agricultural production. The reform of decentralization of public power and management, launched in 2015, created prerequisites for solving not only the problems of rural development but also overcoming spatial disparities, inequality in the incomes of the rural and urban population. The article presents a view of United Territorial Communities and new districts as rural-urban agglomeration formations that differ from urban agglomerations in terms of population, resources and functions. The inclusive capacity, sectoral and socio-spatial focus, development trends of these agglomerations based on inclusiveness are determined. These processes have many common features and characteristics that are characteristic of similar socio-spatial formations of other countries, which gives the investigated problems international significance. Solving the problems formulated and solved in the article will contribute to the successful post-war reconstruction of Ukraine on an inclusive basis.

Oleksandr Pavlov

Iryna Pavlova

Serhii Didukh

Volodymyr Lagodiienko

Inclusive Development of Rural-Urban Agglomerations of Ukraine: Capacity, Sectoral and Socio-Economic Orientation, Trends

乌克兰城乡群的包容性发展：能力、部门和社会经济导向、趋势

Abstract In global research, food hubs are evaluated as a suitable tool for the development of alternative food networks and the transformation of the agri-food system towards sustainability. However, in Europe, research conclusions in recent years point to a lack of knowledge about operating food hubs. Expanding information about how food hubs work is crucial for improving their operational effectiveness and establishing support from the public sector. Therefore, this exploratory research aims to discover examples of food hubs in Czechia where the term "food hub" is not used and no appropriate equivalent has been developed. This leads to the task of determining the criteria under which it is possible to define existing entities as food hubs. Using several examples supported by qualitative research, the article opens a discussion about the acceptability of the hybridization of alternative food networks. Our findings contribute to the debate about the potential of food hubs to develop local and regional food markets, especially in the context of post-socialist countries, where the conditions are different from the Western states.

Zdeňka Smutná

Vladan Hruška

Food Hub or Not Yet? Exploring the Food Hub Milieu in Czechia

食品枢纽还是尚未？探索捷克食品枢纽环境

Abstract Encapsulating the destination’s USPs and identity in a logo with high recognition value is a challenge DMOs face. This recognisability as key to a ‘strong brand’ is particularly based on natural resources and the attractiveness of landscapes that form the basis of touristic USP in most destinations. The paper stresses the importance of the logo and that the destination’s ‘DNA’ or identity must be transposed symbolically and naturally by integrating distinctive landscape elements into the logo. Ideally, they merge authentically and harmoniously, fostering identification among locals and tourists, brand awareness and a positive image, contributing to a strong, authentic brand. A 40% presence of landscape elements (mountains prevailed by 85%) was found in the top 50 Austrian logos.

Jasmin Sandriester

Judith Pizzera

Destination Brandscapes. Integration of Landscape Elements into Destination Brands

目的地品牌景观：将景观元素融入目的地品牌

European Countryside scope: ecology of rural landscape, rural sociology, demography and gender, multi-functional rural development, agriculture and other branches, rural geography, rural borderland, rural and agro-tourism, rural settlement, small towns as centers of rural micro-regions, rural planning and architecture.

The scope of the journal "European Countryside" includes: ecology of rural landscapes, rural sociology, demography and gender studies, multifunctional rural development, agriculture and other related fields, rural geography, rural borderlands, rural and agro-tourism, rural settlements, small towns as centers of rural micro-regions, and rural planning and architecture.

《European Countryside》期刊的范围包括：乡村景观生态学、乡村社会学、人口统计与性别研究、多功能乡村发展、农业及其他相关领域、乡村地理、乡村边境、乡村与农业旅游、乡村定居、以及作为乡村微区域中心的小城镇、乡村规划与建筑。

期刊	European Countryside
ISSN	1803-8417
h-index	22
Journal Impact	1.25
国际分区	GEOGRAPHY(Q3)