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SPECIAL ISSUES

Thematic issue of the European Countryside journal Nr. 23

Crises and the Agricultural and Rural Sphere: Resilience, Adaptation, and Change

Guest Editors: Zeevik Greenberg, Yahel Kurlander, Olena Kotykova, Pavel Raška

Every farmer knows that the only certainty in his/her life is uncertainty: What will the harvest be? How will the agricultural products market develop? What changes will the Common Agricultural Policy and national programmes bring? The rural sector faces many challenges, from natural disasters, pests and diseases to complex political and economic realities. All of these factors affect farming and rural life. The appearance of precise farming brought the hope that rural areas would have greater security. However, the findings suggest otherwise. The VUCA era (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) has become a fundamental characteristic of agriculture and, by extension, rural areas, even though agriculture is no longer the main source of wealth or employment in rural areas.

In recent years, the European rural sphere has faced various crises: the COVID-19 pandemic, floods, forest fires, earthquakes, military, political and security conflicts, uncontrolled migration, and more. In this thematic issue, we aim to explore how the agricultural and rural sphere is addressing these crises in ways that are different from urban areas. We want to find out whether rural areas, with an emphasis on rural communities and their unique characteristics, are developing unique coping strategies. The thematic issue does not focus on permanent crises such as depopulation, ageing, or climate change, which may be among the circumstances or consequences of exogenous crises. This thematic issue examines the impacts of crises on the rural sphere and how rural communities respond, cope, adapt and sometimes transform themselves. We aim to present a wide range of perspectives, interdisciplinary and methodological approaches, and address questions such as:

  • How do exogenous crises affect social and economic structures in rural areas?
  • What patterns of resilience and adaptation can be identified among rural communities?
  • What roles do governments, institutions, or non-governmental organizations play in responding to crises?
  • What does rural creativity look like in the context of crisis?
  • How do rural communities navigate and adapt during heightened political tension and security conflicts?

We invite researchers from all fields to submit manuscripts offering new insights, empirical studies, or theoretical contributions.

Important Dates:
  • Deadline for abstract submission: 10.4.2025
  • Notification of abstract acceptance: 30.04.2025
  • Deadline for complete paper submission: 30.07.2025
  • Completion of peer reviews: 15.11.2025
  • Submission of revised papers: 15.1.2026
  • Planned publication: 26.03.2026

Submission Guidelines: The intent to publish in the number including the title, short explanation, authors’ names, institutional affiliations, and contact details should be submitted to eurocountry@seznam.cz. More information about European Countryside can be found on the page of the journal http://www.european-countryside.eu and/or on the page of the Publisher https://sciendo.com/journal/euco. The price of publishing is EUR 170 per paper.



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