EU Rural Development Policies: Present and Future

This chapter considers the evolution of policy for rural areas within the European Union since the 1950s. It does so largely within the context of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) but gives some consideration to the wider EU regional (including cohesion) policies as these have helped shape rural development policy under the CAP. National policies for rural development are not taken into account. The chapter starts by describing the characteristics of rural areas. Next it gives an overview of policy-making for rural areas from the late 1950s to 2000. The third section describes rural development policy/programming since 1999/2000 to date. The chapter concludes with discussion and conclusions on current policy for rural development and the EC proposals for changes from 2021 onwards

Planetary well-being and sustainable business : A work in progress

Businesses have a significant impact on global environmental and social sustainability. To address the related issues, the concept of sustainable business has been introduced, which refers to the practices that businesses can adopt to minimize their negative economic, environmental, and social impacts. This chapter presents a critical analysis of selected sustainable business concepts and practices using planetary well-being as a conceptual framework. In terms of conceptual approaches, the chapter discusses circular economy (circulation of resources without creating waste), degrowth (shrinking of production and consumption to respect planetary boundaries), and sustainability transition (radical changes in production and consumption). Regarding practical approaches, this chapter focuses on sustainable business models (how companies are organized to promote sustainability) and on the role of employees as change agents. The findings suggest that these concepts and practices have several shortcomings from the point of view of planetary well-being, as they are based on the logic of economic growth. The conclusion is that sustainable business requires radically different approaches and new ways of thinking to promote planetary well-being. However, this chapter has an optimistic view that the application of a planetary well-being perspective can provide valuable avenues for an environmentally and socially responsible future for sustainable business.peerReviewe