Rurality and rural development in postcommunist countries

The peculiarities of the post-communist process in Central and Eastern Europe make rural development issues in these regions not immediately tailored to the traditional EU model. After a decade of "transition", in these regions a developed agriculture lives together with a structurally poor rural world affected by increases in poverty levels, unequal opportunities and resource distribution, progressive decay in the environmental quality and life standards. The identification of the "core" elements of rural development can provide useful contributions to increase compatibility and effectiveness of economic measures to the local social, cultural and environmental systems thus reconnecting economic development to human development. Within this perspective, substantial increases in the quality of life standard, rather than in production growth, should be considered as the most effective measure of the impact of the introduction of intervention actions in rural areas.