Browsing by Subject "syrjäseutu"

In public debate, peripheral areas have become accustomed to dealing with through the problems that are related to them. Declining populations, poor physical accessibility, decaying services and disappearing jobs are typical ways of describing rural and remote areas. Also, comparing to cities and growth centers is a typical part of the style of conversation. The peripheral regions and their decision-makers have had to come up with new ways of discussing and engaging their residents as part of a more positive aspect of regional development and a more solution-oriented discussion style. The objective of inclusive regional development activities that arise from this need is to involve the residents of the area in planning so that development is more likely to be oriented in the right and desired direction from the perspective of the actual inhabitants of the places. The relationship of young people with and living in peripheral areas has been complex over time and, despite their attempts, their perspective does not seem to be able to be considered when developing services and activities in peripheral areas. On the other hand, young people attach importance to many features of remote areas, such as proximity to nature and tranquility, and are able to use remote and empty space innovatively. However, at the same time, they miss opportunities for recreational possibilities familiar from cities, such as cafes and diverse recreational opportunities, as well as greater physical accessibility. The lack of a continuum traditionally drives young people from remote areas to move away from home to growth centres in order to pursue work and study, but in the absence of these opportunities in the region, a return move is not even dared or wanted to dream of. However, today's Finland has been awakened to recognise the fact that the places of the future will be built for today's young people, so making their voice heard is the key in the development of the regions. My research focuses on examining young people's views on desired regional developments through the texts of the Upper Savo of My Dreams 2030 - writing contest. The writing competition was organised in spring 2020 by the Ylä-Savon Veturi ry, which is part of the European Union's Leader Network. The competition was aimed at collecting the ideas of young people living in Upper Savo municipalities about the desired developments in their own places of residence. The data for the study consists of 54 participating works, 51 of which are in text and 3 in video format. Participants in the competition are students in the 9th grade of elementary schools, as well as 2nd year students at upper secondary schools. Based on the results of the study, young people in the region share a wide range of common views on the need to improve the accessibility of the area, to safeguard access to basic services and to maintain a close relationship with nature. In addition, young people have plenty of concrete ideas for developing services that concern them, such as pastimes, events, and educational services. The future images of young people in the region are also tinged with a kind of acceptance of scarcity, as young people in the upper Savo perceive the resource realities of their home municipalities well and see many shortcomings as opportunities. At the same time, the acceptance of scarcity acquires familiar aspects of public discourse, contributing to perhaps nitrotting young people's ability to imagine future images that are different from norms and generally accepted ideas. Overall, young people in the region have an uncomplicated approach to combining the features of rural and urban areas, and young people wish for some of the services and features that are familiar from urban areas to improve their playing field as well.