The Global North shares one dilemma that jeopardises its sustainable future development: ageing and depopulation of rural areas. Sustainable Rural Futures (SURF) tackles this urgent yet over-looked challenge from the perspective of young people and social sustainability. The project explores how recent historical changes in the rural regions have affected the life chances of young people. Building on a unique qualitative longitudinal study of two generations of rural young people and their families, the project aims to identify essential elements of socially sustainable rural youth. The SURF project combines two qualitative follow-ups: 1) pre-existing study of young adults (n= 30, born 2000), carried out by the research team on two sparsely populated regions between 2015–2025, and 2) new follow-up of contemporary young people (n=30, born 2010) and their families (selection of parents of the young participants) through a four-year period.

2025

2029