THE ISLAND RURALITY AS LOCAL DEVELOPMENT POTENTIAL OF THE LAG “ŠKOJI” AREA
Veni Marinković, mag. geogr.LAG „Škoji”, Vicka Butorovića 4, Hvar
CONTEMPORARY DEVELOPMENT OF EUROPEAN RURAL AREAS International Scientific Conference, Zadar, Croatia, 4-6 September, 2014
ISLANDS as specific rural areas Local development
…part of the land surrounded by sea on all sides
INSULARITY (detachment and
isolation)
Specific elements of rurality -settlements
-population structures and trends-agriculture
-fishery
…overall development,participation of local comunity,resources
LEADER approach: - sustainable development, - specifics of areas,- bottom-up approach, - uniqueness, - innovativeness, - multisectoral approach: public, civil and economic sector - networking, - cooperation
Local Action Groups
LAG “Škoji” -Split-Dalmatia county-2 islanda: Hvar, Vis-6 local governments-14,537 (2011)
-2013-Local development strategy-Objectives and tasks: formating LAGs identity preparing the local community to implementation of LEADER approach -92 members
Civil36%
Public18%
Economic46%
Fig. 1 The sectors structure of the LAG (September 2014)
The characteristics of island’s settlements size and spatial distribution
- dominance of small settlements (up to 500) 36/47- 5 „extinct” settlements- absence of larger settlements (more than 5 000)- coastal population concentration 5 coastal settlements=3/4 of population
Fig. 2 Settlements size by population
Population dynamic
3 stages:
1. Population increase (until 1900/1910) population maximum high birth rates2. Depopulation period (emigration)
1921-1931- agrarian overpopulation viticulture crisis 1961-1971- urban industrilization3. Contemporary period (from 1991) stagnation/ increase-immigration „fictive populaion” natural decline and very low birth rates
Fig. 3 Population dynamic 1857.-2011.
Age-sex structure
- An example of very old population- Age index (65+/0-14) 180- Regresive (contractile ) age type
Fig. 4 The age-sex population structure of the LAG, 2011
Agriculture
Main characteristics:1. Land fragmentation and small size parcels (an average farm size in Croatia is 5,9 ha, on islands about 50% familiy farms less than 1 ha) 2. Increasing of uncultivated land3. Domination of vineyards and orchards (citrus fruits and olive groves)
32%
68%
Total utilised agricultural land Other
Fig. 5 Utilised agricultural land of the LAG, 2003
Fig. 6 Land use structure of the LAG, 2003
Socio-economic restructuring
1971. 1981. 1991. 2001.0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
Agricultural population
- Deagrarization reducing the share of the agricultural population- Tertiarizationincreasing the share of employees in the service sector
Primary18%
Secondary10%
Tertiary52%
Quaternary21%Fig. 7 Changes in the number of LAG’s agricultural population, 1971-2001.
Fig. 8 The structure of employees by sectors, 2001
Fishery
- 12 fishery factories (first half of 20th century)- today 0- current meaning insignificant- main characteristics and problems of modern fisheries:1. lack of fish due to over-fishing in the past2. weaker fishing fleet- today fishing is part of the area identity and part of tourist offer- Maritime heritage
Conclusion
Elements of rurality as limiting factors:- Settlements size and their spatial distribution- Demographic trends and structures- Characteristics of agriculture and fishery
Local development and LEADER approach as possibility
The roles of LAG: 1. recognizing the value of local specificities2. sustainable valorisation of all rural elements3. encourage the participation of local people in creating
and managing their own development