Categorisation of Marginalised Rural Areas (MRAs)

The 'Categorisation of Marginalised Rural Areas' is a report providing the basis for identifying and exploring the complexity and variety of such areas in Europe and the Mediterranean Region. It sets out the background and approach to their categorization, and applies it to the area of interest to the H2020 SIMRA project (http://www.simra-h2020.eu/). The categorization is based upon physical, environmental, social and economic aspects related to rural development. 

The report presents:

1) The exploration of the concepts on which the term ‘Marginalised Rural Area’ is based, with a view to a precise definition where possible (Section 2);

2) Review of previous Europe-wide studies that inform the characterisation of Marginalised Rural Areas (Section 3);

3) Critical evaluation of datasets to be used to characterize Marginalised Rural Areas in Europe and the countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea, and presentation of the criteria to be used for characterisation (Section 4);

4) Characterisation of Marginalised Rural Areas to be used in further phases of the SIMRA project (Section 5).

Outputs associated with the report are maps and data relating to the characteristics of Marginalised Rural Areas.