This document discusses rural youth perceptions of rural areas and opportunities to improve attractiveness through third place experiments. It describes an organization called Familles Rurales that provides services to rural communities and aims to promote rural development. Surveys show that while rural areas struggle with issues like population decline, a majority of youth are open to living and working in rural areas given the right job opportunities. The organization plans third place experiments through 2021 to create hybrid digital/physical community hubs in rural areas and improve access to services, with the goals of boosting social innovation, community engagement, and making rural areas more attractive places to live and work.

1. YOUTH PERCEPTION OF RURAL
AREAS: OPPORTUNITIES FOR
CHANGE
12th OECD Rural Development Conference Seoul 24-26 September
Jean-Baptiste BAUD
Director of public affairs – Familles Rurales
Secretary general - RuralMouv

2. 12th OECD Rural Development Conference Seoul 24-26 September
FAMILLES RURALES: A NATIONAL NON-PROFIT NETWORK
ENGAGED TO INCREASE WELL-BEING IN RURAL AREAS
160 000 members
40 000 volunteers
2200 local associations
17 000 employees
Our missions : provide services for rural residents, promote
rural areas, contribute to their development and create
social value
Cultural
activities
Family
services
Consumers
protection
Social
transport
Education
Public
services

3. 12th OECD Rural Development Conference Seoul 24-26 September
OUR APPROACH OF FRENCH RURAL ISSUES: GO BEYOND
TERRITORIAL DIVISIONS WITH INNOVATION AND NEW TECH
POPULATION
DECLINE
ATTRACTIVITY
DECLINE
DECREASE IN
PUBLIC SERVICES
FEELING
LETDOWN
CRISIS
Territorial division process
51% of rural residents consider that the
rural areas are being letdown
57% of rural residents consider that their
districts do not benefit from public policies
Numeric revolution
Ecological transition
New lifestyle
aspirations
Telework/ co-working
Telemedecine
Demateralisation of services
Third-places
Local food systems
Sustainable energy
Quality of life
New ways of work
Ecological care
Horizontal process
Empowerment
Project/community
Potential benefits
Economic opportunities
Population increase
Public and private Services
Social innovation
81% of French people would like to
live in rural areas
3.0 New opportunities

4. 12th OECD Rural Development Conference Seoul 24-26 September
RURAL AREAS ARE ATTRACTIVE FOR YOUTH
What is your ideal lifestyle ?
Live in rural
areas, work in
city
48%
Live and work in
rural areas
29%
Live and work in city
23%
Less than 35 yo
global panel
Would you say that rural areas are… (suggested items)
Source: “territoires ruraux: perceptions et réalités de vie”, Familles Rurales, IFOP, 2018

5. 12th OECD Rural Development Conference Seoul 24-26 September
A LESS PESSIMISTIC VIEW OF RURAL AREAS EVOLUTION
Do you feel things in the last years have improved, degraded or not changed about?
Source: “territoires ruraux: perceptions et réalités de vie”, Familles Rurales, IFOP, 2018

6. 12th OECD Rural Development Conference Seoul 24-26 September
JOB OPPORTUNITIES IS THE PRIORITY FOR YOUTH
Main motivations to attract new
residents in rural areas
Main barriers to attract new residents
in rural areas
Source: “territoires ruraux: perceptions et réalités de vie”, Familles Rurales, IFOP, 2018

7. 12th OECD Rural Development Conference Seoul 24-26 September
THIRD-PLACES EXPERIMENTATION : CREATE ATTRACTIVENESS
AND OPPORTUNITIES IN RURAL AREAS
The third-place can be defined as a physical and numeric place of “do
together” characterized by: community, diversity and primacy of “doing”
Our experimentation: 25 third-places into 2021 in rural areas based on mix
of our local association’s experience in providing services and digital technologies
KEY PRACTICES
Hybridization, open place, flexibility, ruled by
users, innovative governance
HEAD OF NETWORK RESPONSABILITY
Link with government strategy/ Funds for
research/ training/ community building, share of
good practices/ marketing
Goals: network transformation/ fight numeric divide in rural areas by providing
access to digital technologies/ create community/mix rural population/ social
innovation

8. 12th OECD Rural Development Conference Seoul 24-26 September
EXAMPLE 1. RION DES LANDES THIRD-PLACE PROJECT
Local association in rural area (3000 people)
“Social space” actions
Information for family
services (nursery, child-
minder point…), language
courses, cooking courses,
sophrology, consumers
defense
First effects
• New audiences: seasonal workers, self-employed, co-workers
• Revival of the association: increase of members (8 on 2015, 70 on 2018)
• Social value
• Improvement of numeric access
Digital point
Assistance for administrative
procedures, co-working,
internet access, computer
workshop

9. 12th OECD Rural Development Conference Seoul 24-26 September
EXAMPLE 2. BRIANCE-ROSELLE THIRD-PLACE PROJECT
Local association in rural area (district of 9000 people, 11 rural towns)
Computer
workshops
Traveling
computer
workshops
Tax return
on line
workshop
«Numeric
meeting »
Digital
space:
co-working
free access
New tech
workshops
New third-place:
co-working
public services
point
assistance for on-
line procedure
cultural activities
business creation
workshop
Server farm for
studentsFirst effects
• New audiences: self-employed, co-workers
• Creation of a new community: original members of computer workshops are
the creators of the third-place, set-up of a horizontal governance
• Empowerment
• Hybridization with public services and cultural actions
2013
2016
2018
2019
2020