Internships for Higher Education Students to Promote the Local Sustainability of Rural Places

Abstract

Sustainability and population have a complex relationship. Popular versions of the first are usually based on the premise of reducing the population. However, in some remote rural areas with a low density, this condition needs to be reconsidered, as it would put the viability of the local community at risk and lead to environmental, economic and, above all, social losses. Although repopulation is impossible, since remote rural areas have an ageing demographic structure and an extremely low fertility rate, we can propose the regeneration of their human, social and relational capital by attracting talent and commitment. To achieve this, the Desafío Programme (Rural Erasmus) enables university students to do internships in companies and institutions in sparsely populated areas, living alongside their residents. Despite being an experimental policy with a narrow scope in statistical terms, the Desafío Programme is an inspiring experience supported by those who have participated in it and contributes to the social and economic regeneration of areas in decline. This is a practical case of applying a sustainable strategy to a rural area in crisis, which can be transferred to many other countries facing a similar problem.

Depopulated and Abandoned Areas in Serbia in the 21st Century—From a Local to a National Problem

“…Revitalization would entail a number of other processes, primarily demographic recovery through return migration and an increase in the birth rate, which would require a larger number of inhabitants in the reproductive period, which is impossible to talk about in the existing negative demographic and economic conditions in Serbia. This is in line with the opinion of Casarejos & Sáez-Pérez [79], who consider that little can be done to revitalize rural areas if they have an unfavorable age and extremely low fertility rates. State investments in the infrastructure and system of public services do not exist, because such activities are not sustainable and profitable without a minimum critical mass, which has long been absent from abandoned areas.…”

Social Sustainability in Aging Populations: A Systematic Literature Review

“… Liu and colleagues (2017 , p. 658) propose that “social sustainability is about people’s quality of life.” In a similar vein, Walker (2021 , p. 161) describes social sustainability for older people as “enable older people to lead lives of decent social quality.” A sufficient quality of life includes need satisfaction, well-being, health, and happiness ( Chong et al, 2017 ; Liu et al, 2017 ). The individuals should be active ( Kumar & Shamar, 2022 ) and satisfied with their activities ( Garcia-Caserejos & Saez-Perez, 2020 ). Moreover, older individuals should obtain an adequate pension income ( Zaidi, 2012 ; Zaidi et al, 2012 ).…”

“…They do not specify which understanding of social sustainability brought them to this conclusion. Moren-Alegret et al (2018) and Garcia-Casarejos and Saez-Perez (2020) agree that youth migration to rural areas would be necessary to counter this trend. Moren-Alegret et al (2018) thought of desirable societies, whereas Garcia-Casarejos and Saez-Perez (2020) thought of the individuals’ quality of life when making this statement.…”

L’influence des territorialités dans l’accompagnement pédagogique à l’orientation scolaire

“…Dans les deux cas, les acteurs sont ressortis de ces expériences avec une idée plus claire de ce que la recherche pourrait leur apporter. Ils ont constaté des changements positifs sur leur territoire, et ont exprimé leur volonté de renouveler de tels partenariats (Morin, 2016 ;García-Casarejos & Sáez-Pérez, 2020).…”