Abstract I start this project as my master degree project which is the last assignment during my graduate education in Sweden. I own the bachelor degree in industrial design which is the beginning I ponder in a designer’s way. With the accumulation of my knowledge and study, I am willing to attempt different design fields in sustainable perspective, like product design, furniture design, exhibition design and service design. The working and study experiences provide valuable resources for me to recognize self. And the environment in Swedish society also is a school to acquire knowledge and know the world. The project, Lav Förening, was born in these contexts.   The main study fields: Rural depopulation was addressed as a global issues in economical, ecological, socio-political and cultural contexts in sustainability perspectives. The rural economic stagnation can be restore by government policy support. However, the disappearance of cultural landscape would cause irreversible loss. With case studies and fieldwork in Varshult, I define my study field in service design involving lichen study, farm innovation and enterprise framework for re-active rural cultural landscape. It is a proposal, through figuring out local renewable resource (lichen) and integrating stakeholders’ framework, to create an attractive community for rural part-time residents and young active citizens to participate. In order to complete the concept, there are six fields need to be study: depopulation and sustainable rural development, cultural landscape, lichen and essential oil, community agriculture and Boda Glass Factory.   The major findings of my study:  The service in this project is human centered. Through studying Maslow's hierarchy of needs, I analyze the needs of my target group. For the target group in Lav Förening, rural part-time residents and young active citizens, they have a good living conditions and enough spare time for their interests and pursuits. For the organizers and land owners, we are concerning the social phenomenon, rural depopulation, and we devote ourselves to figure out the opportunities to solve the problems and keep the rural cultural landscape alive. We pursue a higher level of psychological, belonging, esteem and self-actualization needs. There are six programs on lichen journey based on the needs study: Varshult visiting & lichen planting, bottles making, lichen collection essential oil extraction & tincture making, handmade workshop and market & exhibition. The proposal will be presented with visualizations and evidences.   The Lav Förening service proposal need to be refined continually. It shows an opportunity to oppose rural depopulation in design field. It is a practice for me to analyze a complicated framework and present it. The design process and report have recorded the development and exploration on my design study.

Master of Arts / Department of Geography / Jeffrey S. Smith / In a matter of minutes, a small, western Kansas community by the name of Greensburg was over 95% destroyed by a tornado. After the storm, the community’s civic leaders decided to rebuild Green. As a result, the modified cultural landscape no longer resembled the once familiar town that was viewed as a place of attachment by its predominantly elderly population. The purpose of this thesis is to better understand how the May 4th, 2007, tornado affected the elderly’s emotional connection to Greensburg. To identify how the town’s landscape changed I used before and after photographs. In order to more fully comprehend how their attachment to the community has changed, interviews were conducted with several elderly residents who rebuilt in Greensburg, as well as those who moved away. The results suggest that the elderly experienced a significant change in their bond to the town. Typically the elderly did not embrace going Green and focused more on retaining their memories of how the town used to be. Most significant to their development and change in place attachment were the relationships they developed and maintained with fellow community members. Overall, it was the people that made Greensburg home and a place of attachment. When many of them left for good after the tornado, the elderly’s place attachment to Greensburg was forever changed.

Many rural districts are facing economic decline because of a range of factors such as demographic change, changing socio-economic development patterns, farm amalgamations, the entry of large retail businesses, the so called ‘Big Box Retailing’ (BBRs), and a decline in rural infrastructure investment. These factors in turn affect the viability of many small-to-medium sized enterprises (SMEs), which are the primary employers and the engines for economic growth and employment in rural districts. The combined effect of these processes is that many rural districts struggle to keep young people, maintain economic and social diversity and attract new settlers and investment. This thesis seeks to answer the question as to how large scale retail businesses, rural farm amalgamations and declining rural populations impact on the viability of SME retail businesses in rural areas. In order to answer this question, this study identifies the key factors, which affect the future viability of small-to-medium sized retail businesses in sparsely populated rural districts using the South Taranaki District as a case study. The role of economic development agencies and district councils is also examined using case studies of small towns in rural districts of Australia and the United States of America (USA). This study found a number of factors affect the future viability of small-to-medium sized retail businesses in sparsely populated rural districts. For the South Taranaki district, these factors include the arrival of large-scale supermarkets, followed by large scale retail chains such as The Warehouse. These factors, combined with changing rural population structures and economic ‘spikes’ relating to sporadic energy development, have significant implications for the long term viability of many SMEs in the district. Case studies of similar rural districts in the USA and Australia provided examples of strategies that could be used to manage these impacts. This thesis recommends policies, initiatives and strategies that may be considered by territorial local authorities, regional councils and central governments to help address the economic development challenges facing rural districts.

Many rural districts are facing economic decline because of a range of factors such as demographic change, changing socio-economic development patterns, farm amalgamations, the entry of large retail businesses, the so called ‘Big Box Retailing’ (BBRs), and a decline in rural infrastructure investment. These factors in turn affect the viability of many small-to-medium sized enterprises (SMEs), which are the primary employers and the engines for economic growth and employment in rural districts. The combined effect of these processes is that many rural districts struggle to keep young people, maintain economic and social diversity and attract new settlers and investment. This thesis seeks to answer the question as to how large scale retail businesses, rural farm amalgamations and declining rural populations impact on the viability of SME retail businesses in rural areas. In order to answer this question, this study identifies the key factors, which affect the future viability of small-to-medium sized retail businesses in sparsely populated rural districts using the South Taranaki District as a case study. The role of economic development agencies and district councils is also examined using case studies of small towns in rural districts of Australia and the United States of America (USA). This study found a number of factors affect the future viability of small-to-medium sized retail businesses in sparsely populated rural districts. For the South Taranaki district, these factors include the arrival of large-scale supermarkets, followed by large scale retail chains such as The Warehouse. These factors, combined with changing rural population structures and economic ‘spikes’ relating to sporadic energy development, have significant implications for the long term viability of many SMEs in the district. Case studies of similar rural districts in the USA and Australia provided examples of strategies that could be used to manage these impacts. This thesis recommends policies, initiatives and strategies that may be considered by territorial local authorities, regional councils and central governments to help address the economic development challenges facing rural districts.

As the world urbanizes, many rural areas are facing continued depopulation. Despite these shrinking trends there remains a growth-paradigm within planning. This warrants investigating how to plan for shrinkage, and the difficult decisions that follow, such as dismantlement or restructuring of services. The aim of this thesis is to investigate experiences of planners working with depopulation, understanding the role of dialogue in rural shrinking municipalities in Sweden. The study researches the implications of rural shrinkage on participatory approaches to planning, and how citizen dialogue for shrinkage can be applied in a rural context.   Interviews were conducted with eight planners in rural Swedish municipalities. These revealed themes of a connected society, the role of citizen engagement and community, importance of clarity and early involvement in dialogues on sensitive issues and objective of information exchange in dialogues, and lastly the complexity of shrinkage characterised by a persisting growth-focus. This thesis suggests that shrinking rural municipalities in Sweden should take a more accepting view on shrinkage. They should aim for continuous, place-based and open citizen dialogues and close cooperation with community groups and networks in planning. The familiar nature of dialogues should be utilized, whilst it should be considered and counteracted that some groups may be excluded in these informal settings. Promoting co-production and shared responsibility of issues, they should aim to facilitate and harness the power and drive of the community whilst navigating complex social relationships.

This thesis explores the contributive role of architecture to the prosperity of a place. The research addresses the challenges and opportunities that rural regions face today by analyzing the general factors of marginalized rural communities through the lens of a specific community in mainland Portugal. A new approach for maintaining an authentic character, and a “sense of place” is presented which defends rural space as a genuinely experiential realm. The thesis proposes the design of a modern day treatment and research centre in the rural town of Manteigas, situated on one of the largest glacier valleys in Europe in the heart of the Serra da Estrela mountain range. Once alive with all the quaint characteristics that typify an idyllic rural identity, this town now faces a steep population decrease. Situated in the centre of the Zêzere glacial valley overlooking the town, the design accepts and interprets the natural geology of the site, harnessing the therapeutic thermal waters that continue to flow from the glacier line of the valley. The new centre represents not just a place for leisure and relaxation, but also an investigative laboratory for modern day natural healing therapies. The town of Manteigas is situated within three very distinct landscapes: a fertile landscape, a socio-cultural landscape, and a landscape of health and wellness. The design intervention responds to all these conditions and is dependent on each in its operation. This thesis is a proposal for a sustainable cycle of local and regional rejuvenation that will not be easily broken. The design proposal aims to build an infrastructure that will revive the identity of the community as a place of study and implementation of natural healing. The proposed design will also act as a catalyst to fuel future development and stimulate the local and regional economies.

This thesis explores the contributive role of architecture to the prosperity of a place. The research addresses the challenges and opportunities that rural regions face today by analyzing the general factors of marginalized rural communities through the lens of a specific community in mainland Portugal. A new approach for maintaining an authentic character, and a “sense of place” is presented which defends rural space as a genuinely experiential realm. The thesis proposes the design of a modern day treatment and research centre in the rural town of Manteigas, situated on one of the largest glacier valleys in Europe in the heart of the Serra da Estrela mountain range. Once alive with all the quaint characteristics that typify an idyllic rural identity, this town now faces a steep population decrease. Situated in the centre of the Zêzere glacial valley overlooking the town, the design accepts and interprets the natural geology of the site, harnessing the therapeutic thermal waters that continue to flow from the glacier line of the valley. The new centre represents not just a place for leisure and relaxation, but also an investigative laboratory for modern day natural healing therapies. The town of Manteigas is situated within three very distinct landscapes: a fertile landscape, a socio-cultural landscape, and a landscape of health and wellness. The design intervention responds to all these conditions and is dependent on each in its operation. This thesis is a proposal for a sustainable cycle of local and regional rejuvenation that will not be easily broken. The design proposal aims to build an infrastructure that will revive the identity of the community as a place of study and implementation of natural healing. The proposed design will also act as a catalyst to fuel future development and stimulate the local and regional economies.

Le monde rural gabonais est un espace en grande partie vidé de ses populations, soumis depuis longtemps aux pressions de l’exploitation forestière et, depuis une vingtaine d’années, à une politique de conservation très volontaire. Nous avons voulu étudier l’impact de ces pressions sur le monde rural contemporain en nous centrant plus particulièrement sur les aires de conservation. C’est dans la province de l’Ogooué-Ivindo, autour de trois parcs nationaux (Ivindo, Mwagné et Lopé), que nous avons examiné les activités de conservation, de production, les acteurs impliqués ainsi que les conflits qui en résultent. En dépit d’une histoire largement défavorable au monde rural, en dépit aussi de la mauvaise répartition des richesses, des infrastructures et des services, profitant presqu’exclusivement aux villes au détriment des zones rurales, et en dépit enfin de politiques de conservation très contraignantes pour les populations rurales, les villages continuent à exister – en grande partie grâce à la tradition. Les solutions proposées telles que l’attribution des forêts communautaires initiée récemment par l’état gabonais, peuvent-elles permettre de raviver les villages et de faire participer les populations rurales au processus de développement de leurs localités ? Au-delà de cette question, cette thèse permet d’engager des réflexions sur des actions possibles pour éviter l’extinction des villages gabonais. / Gabonese rural world is an area largely emptied of its populations, subjected for a long time to the pressures of the forestry development and, for about more than twenty years, to a very voluntary conservation policy. We have wanted to study the impact of these pressures on the contemporary rural world by focusing our work particularly on the conservation areas. It is in the province of Ogooué-Ivindo, around three national parks (Ivindo, Mwagné and Lopé) that we examined the activities of conservation and production, the actors involved as well as the conflicts which result from them. The history widely unfavorable to the rural world, the unequal distribution of wealth, infrastructures and services, benefiting almost exclusively the cities to the detriment of the rural areas and the conservation policies too binding for the rural populations have made it difficult for villages to survive. In despite of all this, they still exist - largely thanks to the local tradition. But, can possible solutions such as the attribution of community forests, introduced recently by the Gabonese state, bring villages back to life and make rural populations participate in the process of developing their localities? Beyond this question, this thesis seeks to initiate a process of reflection on possible actions to stop the extinction of the Gabonese villages.