Tijana Dzodic

Sustainable development of

rural areas in Serbia

Republic of Serbia

• Serbia is a country in the west-central Balkans. For most of the 20th century, it was a part of Yugoslavia. • Capital city is Belgrade, a cosmopolitan city at the confluence of the Danube and Sava rivers • Population: 7.232.000

• Serbia is very rich in natural beauty. We have many high mountains, rivers, lakes, plains, national parks, caves and canyons. Most of our villages lie in mountain or plain areas.

Problem

• In Serbia, as well as in many other European countries, during economic growth in the 20th century, most of the villages and rural areas have suffered negative economic, social and environmental impact.

• In search of new employment positions, many

people from rural parts have moved to bigger cities.

• Almost 85% of Serbian territory are rural areas• People move out from villages because of many reasons:

• need for employment• lack of schools• inaccessibility of health services• poor transportation links• undeveloped infrastructure

It`s time for change! And we have to do it together!

What did we learn?• Sustainable development implies the integration of economic, environmental and social issues. • It means improving the quality of life, environmental protection and pollution prevention, the development of a democratic society, preserving the heritage and the use of renewable energy resources.

Goals• Stopping the trend of depopulation of rural areas• Preserve rural landscape• Improve the lives of the rural population• The protection of natural resources• Equal the quality of life in rural and urban areas• Increase income and support the economic activities of the rural population

Why should the Government concider this idea?

• Villages should be seen as a potential, not as a problem!

• Urban and rural areas are linked – cities should benefit from the recreational value of rural areas that contribute to the cultural and natural diversity, and villages can benefit from the cultural and social activities of cities

Kopaonik mountain

Vojvodina plains

The Danube river - Belgrade

• We should use potentials such as agricultural resources, numerous water courses, possibilities for the production of healthy food and the use of alternative energy sources.

• Mountain landscapes provide great locations for active recreation in nature and extreme sports.

• Cultural, traditional and sports events can be used for tourism development and the improvement of the economic situation of villages.

• Development of rural tourism can contribute significantly to employment and improving the social, cultural and natural environment.

• Rural tourism, such as ecotourism, gastronomic tourism, hiking, fishing, horseback riding, visiting historical attractions can significantly (positively) affect the growth of our economy and our GDP.

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Ethno village

• This should be one of our National Development Plans.

• With all of our financial resources we should make a concrete plan how to improve better life conditions and develop rural tourism. With gaining this goal, we will achieve our bigger goals (encouraging domestic investors to invest their money in our development idea, bringing foreign investors, increase of our GDP)

• This is not the problem only in Serbia. There are many other places in the world with unused natural treasure.

• Dealing with this problem and solving it at first point, we could significantly decrease poverty and number of hungry people. We can encourage more people to go back to their villages, to grow vegetables, fruits and cereals.

• By doing that, we can produce more food, decrease the number of unemployed people and make the difference.

But we have to do it all together!

Thank you for your attention.