Exploring Sustainable Rural Development Models and Environmental Protection Regulations: Interactions and Compatibilities

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainable rural development is a key area of research and political intervention in sparsely populated areas across the globe. The sustainability of development policies implies respect for the environment and the submission of economic initiatives to the regulations established by each state or competent administration to safeguard natural heritage and environmental diversity. In some areas, such as the European Union or North America, these public environmental protection regulations are being strongly challenged and questioned by political groups, citizen movements, and even regional and local administrations that perceive such environmental legislation as highly restrictive and sometimes even incompatible with certain economic development or investment initiatives that are hindered, delayed, or aborted by environmental requirements that are perceived as excessive by these groups. 

In this climate of increasing socio-economic and political opposition to environmental regulations, this Special Issue aims to gather experiences, research, and proposals for good practices regarding the compatibility of environmental protection, which is undoubtedly necessary, and the socio-economic development of rural areas, which are increasingly affected by demographic decline and a lack of economic and business initiatives. All research and contributions that analyze this type of conflict are welcome, especially those that offer solutions, both from a theoretical point of view and through the analysis of good practices and case studies from any area of the planet. 

Therefore, for this Special Issue, we are interested in contributions that analyze the interactions between environmental protection and sustainable rural development in sparsely populated areas anywhere on the planet. Possible topics, offered as a guide but not excluding any others, are as follows: 

• Assessments or analyses of the impact of environmental regulations on economic activities in rural areas.
• Case studies of compatibility between sustainable rural development and environmental conservation.
• Best practices in the design of environmental regulations and compatibility with sustainable economic activity in these areas.
• Rural development strategies based on environmental protection.
• Analysis of rural areas as models in which economic activity and environmental conservation are compatible.
• Environmental impact assessment and rural development.
• Good administrative practices in the environmental assessment processes of economic initiatives in rural areas.
• Strategies and experiences in simplifying the bureaucracy of environmental regulations to promote sustainable economic activities in rural areas.

Dr. Julián Mora Aliseda
Dr. Jacinto Garrido Velarde
Dr. José Manuel Naranjo Gómez
Dr. José Castro
Guest Editors

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