Objectives

The overarching objective of CORASON is:

·     ×     To identify and explain the dynamics of the variety of knowledge forms used in rural projects relevant to rural economic development, rural civil society, and the protection of rural nature

Associated with this are three further objectives:

·     ×     To open up the concept of 'sustainability' to examination in the context of rural development and the knowledges relevant to this

·     ×     To track the emergence of knowledge society in its varying forms across rural Europe, and the impact of these on social inclusion/exclusion and inequality.

·     ×     To develop an evaluation of the social, cultural and institutional sustainability of these different forms of knowledge and of the interactions between them.

Objective 1 is to identify and explain the dynamics of the variety of knowledge forms used in rural projects relevant to rural economic development, rural civil society, and the protection of rural nature- that is, projects that have emerged during the last decade in European rural policies, channelled through the larger discourse on (socially, economically and ecologically) sustainable development.

Objective 2 is to open up the concept of 'sustainability' to examination in the context of this cognitive approach to rural development. We approach 'development' as a knowledge-based set of practices, within which expert knowledge is dominant.

Objective 3 is to understand the forms in which 'knowledge society' is emerging across rural Europe, and their impacts on social inclusion/exclusion and inequality.  Inequality has traditionally been discussed with regard to social stratification and class relations, in models which, due to their origin in the analysis of industrial society, have not been very sensitive to the inequalities to be found in rural areas.

Objective 4 is to develop an evaluation of the social, cultural and institutional sustainability of the different forms of knowledge and of the interactions between them.