Professors Bettina Bock and Jessica Duncan want to know: How are the interactions and dependencies between rural, peri-urban and urban areas changing at this moment?

The ROBUST partners from Wagenening University have co-authored a blog post that explores how Covid-19 is impacting rural-urban relations, and makes a clear call for political leaders to take action.

“Governments need to play an important role in communicating [] knowledge and promoting better cooperation and solidarity between rural and urban areas. In the case of COVID-19, they should set an example of unselfishness and solidarity, both locally and globally.
We are calling on governments to not impose measures that would negatively impact rural residents, or over the long term. Pandemic–related trends (e.g. migration for employment from urban to rural areas) should be carefully monitored to avoid unintentional long-term threats to rural communities.

We encourage governments to consider rural-urban relations explicitly when developing and implementing new policies, including an integrated strategy that clearly communicates that the rural is not a refuge – but a partner.

Finally, we encourage governments to strengthen local food production systems and consumption at a structural level and in line with a city-regional approach. Eventually, when it is safe to do so, we also encourage governments to promote sustainable local recreation and tourism, which is vital for many rural areas.”

Read the full blog post and contribute to the conversation here, or follow the conversation on Twitter.

Image source