[EXP] Promoting actions and policies to attract and maintain new population in rural areas: the experience of Collectif Ville-Campagne in France.

Rural topic(s): Attracting new inhabitants in rural areas

Type: Success story

Date of writing: September 17, 2010

Author(s) of this page: Thou Mylène, chargée de mission au Collectif Ville Campagne

Summary:

The « Collectif Ville Campagne » (or City-campaign collective) was born in 1997 : the rural context showed that more and more people had the wish to live in a rural area, while many rural areas were trying to attract new inhabitants.

Update 2018: although the association was put into liquidation and closed in 2016, its approach and its topics of work remain relevant and have been taken up at regional level, particularly in Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes https: //projetsencampagne.jimdo.com/

Text:

Actors

17 organisations - whether non-profit organisations, local governments, or media – have decided to build a collective for them to think and act on the issue of urban – rural migrations.

Statistics show that more than 60% of French rural areas have seen their population grow in the recent years. This trend has been confirmed by recent census reports. It has a significant impact on rural areas, in terms of land use, local economic development, social and cultural life in rural communities…

Today the collective gathers 23 organisations and it is active at the national level.

Actions :

• We provide support for people wishing to settle in a rural area and we introduce them to territories (through information, trainings…)

• We support territories (through networking, trainings, tools, information…)

• We raise awareness of local authorities on the urban-rural migrations issue, by carrying out studies, by being involved in the national rural network…

Accompanying urban – rural migrations provide the opportunity to design innovative local policies which really take into account people’s needs and expectations, in very concrete terms : services to the population, housing, employment, social and cultural life…

Contact:

Collectif Ville Campagne

fr-fr.facebook.com/collectifvillecampagne/

Informations:

Scale of intervention : National

Keywords: attracting new residents, territorial attractivity, rural depopulation, rural entrepreneurship, remote rural area, rural services

Places: France

Actors: multi-stakeholders, association, group / platform

Methods: networking, intermediation and facilitation, advocacy, partnership, prospective studies