| Abstract [eng] |
Rural population decline is observed not only in Lithuania but also across Europe, North America, and other regions affected by industrialization. This process is driven by long-term demographic trends, urbanization, and various social and economic factors. This presentation focuses on how the structures of public and private service providers are transforming in rural areas amid demographic decline. As both population numbers and service networks shrink, particularly in peripheral regions, rural community-based organizations (RCBOs) increasingly contribute to reducing territorial exclusion by attempting to compensate for service shortages and support the well-being of local residents and communities. In this context, RCBOs are analyzed as local-level adaptation mechanisms and centres of social capital formation. However, their capacity to perform these functions depends on their level of activity. The study is based on data from the State Enterprise Centre of Registers of Lithuania. The analysis examines both the network of RCBOs and their ability to compensate for missing services by evaluating revenues generated from various funding sources. The activity and capacity of RCBOs are assessed through a case study comprising 80 RCBOs from 16 Lithuanian municipalities. The analysis includes the strongest- and weakest-performing rural-type municipalities, selected based on municipal well-being and quality-of-life assessments conducted in Lithuania, based on those produced by the Vilnius Institute for Policy Analysis and the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Lithuania. The results reveal that, in Lithuania, RCBOs only partially compensate for the declining service infrastructure in rural areas by organizing activities related to social inclusion, non-formal education, health promotion, and support for vulnerable groups. Nevertheless, this potential is realized unevenly. The main reason lies in the spatial context in which these organizations operate, i.e., rural settlements experiencing unfavourable demographic and socioeconomic conditions, particularly those related to limited human resources. |
