The Future of Rural Poland: the Main Trends and Possible Scenarios.

Abstract The objective of the report is to attempt the identification of the most significant factors that will shape Polish countryside until the year 2050 and to outline the feasible scenarios of changes in rural areas. The study is based primarily on qualitative analysis and on the knowledge of experts specialising in rural subject matter in its different thematic domains. Six groups of factors were distinguished (economic, technological, legal and administrative, political, socio-demographic, natural) and for each of these groups the most important conditions were analysed. The image of the Polish countryside in the perspective of the decades to come will most probably not undergo radical shifts. However, we can make the proposition that this countryside will be more diversified, more socially and economically active, and more attractive as the place of residence and of work.