Sustainable Development of the Countryside – Experiences and Perspectives

The first part of the presentation describes the experiences Slovenia has acquired through the implementation of the Comprehensive Countryside Development and Village Renovation (CRPOV) Programme over the last ten years. The programme encompasses activities aiming at co-creating a common development strategy that actively involves the endogenous human potential of a project area. Over the last ten years, the programme has seen the inclusion of 250 locations differing in size and number of inhabitants actively participating in the programme. While the first projects covered smaller areas of one or two villages at most, the present-day projects involve areas of one or more municipalities. The development strategy implemented by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food follows the LEADER + guidelines, thus aiming at project areas comparable to the ones encountered in the European Union. The Ministry's development strategy is already being implemented through regional countryside development programmes with projects such as Wine Tourist Roads and Along the Heritage Lane.

These projects have undoubtedly re-shaped the Slovene countryside where, with the decrease of remunerability of farming activities, the inhabitants developed the need to introduce supplementary activities, such as tourism, in order to improve their living standard. Several programmes have so far stipulated favourable conditions for the creation of tourism-development concepts. The Along-the-Heritage-Lane concept aims at enriching the tourist offer with natural sights, cultural heritage and local customs and traditions. The paper focuses on several examples of development activities the impact of which has long been noticeable beyond the boundaries of local areas.