TY  - CHAP
AB  - Abstract Rural development is, above all, constructed by actors operating at grass-root level. These actors are increasingly facilitated by specific policy programmes, but these programmes often follow the initiatives and practices already developed by the grass-root actors themselves. Policies follow, they do not trigger nor drive. This chapter is a second-level analysis of available European and national research material and focuses on the role of agricultural actors as crucial co-constitutors of RD processes. Some distinctive elements and characteristics of RD-practitioners are identified, described and discussed. Taken together these characteristics underscore that RD-actors may reflect distinctive features. It is finally argued that RD-actors will develop especially distinctive personal attributes through iterative learning by doing processes and unfolding agency. Both are thought to be key components of the resilience of RD-actors to withstand adverse conditions and to grasp new opportunities for alternative, more promising agricultural pathways.
VL  - 22
SN  - 978-1-78441-622-5, 978-1-78441-621-8/1057-1922
DO  - 10.1108/S1057-192220150000022009
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1108/S1057-192220150000022009
AU  - Oostindie Henk
AU  - van Broekhuizen Rudolf
AU  - Soldaat Bart
AU  - van der Ploeg Jan Douwe
PY  - 2015
Y1  - 2015/01/01
TI  - Towards the Characterization of Actors Engaged in Rural Development Processes in the North West of Europe
T2  - Constructing a New Framework for Rural Development
T3  - Research in Rural Sociology and Development
PB  - Emerald Group Publishing Limited
SP  - 239
EP  - 254
Y2  - 2024/04/24
ER  -