Rural Development Studies – From Growth to Resilience Paradigm

The concepts of rural development have undergone a fairly clear evolution over the last decades. Within this framework, the post-war primacy of economic growth gradually gave way to the later trend of rural ecology. In retrospect, the new formula has also become outdated. In the 1980s, the idea of ​​sustainable development was supposed to eliminate the negative aspects of both of these extremes. In its heyday, it became a key element of policies, plans and strategies – at the local, regional and national levels. In social sciences, it was not without reason that it was raised to the rank of a new paradigm. However, it turned out that the implementation of sustainable development encounters numerous and difficult to overcome implementation barriers. Thus, sustainable rural development, although theoretically possible and sensibly necessary, is still more postulative and wishful than practical. According to the authors, the concept of resilience opens up a new perspective on the effective implementation of sustainable and balanced rural development. In Polish conditions, it is a novelty in relation to rural areas. This concept does not exist on its own – its implementation requires a link with the systemic approach. The work is theoretical in nature. Its aim is to define the systemic context of rural areas and to present – ​​in connection with this context – an outline of the concept of resilience in rural development management.