New voices in rural areas

The research project was conducted from September 2017 to November 2018. The project has specifically sought to challenge two common understandings: 1) that migration to and from rural areas are one-way processes that are either a loss or a gain for the rural area, and 2) that rural areas are peripheral, relatively disconnected places whose human capital or human resources are calculated based solely on the permanent resident population. Instead, we have focused on rural areas through what we call a 'translocal perspective'. By a translocal perspective, we mean viewing rural areas as well-integrated into global, national, regional, and local 'flows' of people, knowledge, and resources. People are more mobile, they connect themselves to more places than just where they are officially registered, and they are happy to engage in the places where they feel a sense of belonging.