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Diversified public services enhance the attractiveness of rural life

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Diversified public services enhance the attractiveness of rural life

Convenient living facilities, good medical conditions, pleasant living environment, and perfect educational opportunities attract more people to and stay in the countryside.Many countries actively expand diversified public service projects in rural construction, continuously improve the quality of life of rural residents, and make rural life more attractive

Belgium

“Rural sites” fill the gap in rural public services

Our reporter Fang Yingxin

The village of Beveren is located in the Weshawk region of Flanders in northern Belgium. It is a small village with only more than 600 residents. In the center of the village, a small two-story building called “Country Point” is the most lively place in the village. In their free time, the villagers like to gather here to taste food, play chess, make handicrafts, and enjoy leisure time together.

“Country Point” is a multifunctional service center in Beveren Village. According to Dieter Holt, coordinator of the Weshawk Regional Municipal Federation, the center was opened to the public in 2017 to provide local residents with services in the areas of convenience, transportation, and social interaction. As one of the funding projects of the European Agricultural and Rural Development Fund, the European Union has provided 13,000 Euros (1 Euro equals about 7.8 yuan) of construction funds for the “village spots”.

In the “Country Point” of Beveren Village, restaurants, bakeries, supermarkets and other facilities are readily available. In normal times, villagers can hold gatherings in the public event space on the first floor, and can also participate in interest group activities such as chess and music organized by the center, or participate in free courses such as computer training classes. To facilitate the villagers’ travel, the bus station is located downstairs in the “Country Point”, and the center also sets up a fixed parking spot for shared bicycles at the door to provide bicycle rental services. In addition, the “Country Point” also provides services such as express storage, mail receiving and dispatching, and daily necessities distribution, striving to meet the daily needs of the villagers in all aspects.

In order to strengthen people’s sense of belonging to their hometown, in the construction of the “village spot” in Beveren Village, the local government focused on expanding public welfare service functions and mobilizing villagers to participate in operation and maintenance. Currently, the “Country Point” is operated by a team of 20 volunteers. Team leader Jolian Matthew said that in addition to organizing public events and providing daily services in “village spots”, volunteers’ responsibilities also include regular door-to-door collection of glass bottles, preparing lunch for the village’s elementary school, and helping out villagers to tidy up the courtyard, etc. . In addition, the team also pays close attention to disadvantaged groups and provides job opportunities for the disabled in the village.

Hult said that since its inception, the “village spot” has enriched the lives of the villagers in Beveren Village and also enhanced their emotional connection. The various services provided by the center not only make up for the gap in public services in rural areas, but also alleviate the loss of local population and traffic inconvenience.

The establishment of “village sites” is a useful attempt in Flanders to solve the lack of rural public services. Agriculture is an important pillar industry in Belgium. However, for more than half a century, due to low incomes in rural areas, villages across Belgium are facing the dilemma of population loss. The decrease in population has caused many shops, banks, post offices, etc. to be evacuated from the countryside. The convenience of life is difficult to guarantee, and more people decide to leave their hometowns, forming a vicious circle.

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The local governments in Belgium have the right to independently formulate rural policies. In order to make more people willing to stay in the countryside, in 2019, the Flanders region government invested 560,000 euros to improve public services in rural areas. According to statistics, there are more than 60 related projects approved by the regional government, and nearly 120,000 rural residents have benefited from them.

Today, the “village spot” model has been promoted in many villages and towns in Flanders. According to their actual conditions, each village is differentiated at the specific implementation level. For example, the average age of the villagers in Stawell Village is relatively young, and the activities organized by its “village spots” are more concerned with the interests of young people; Krombeck Village has added a library and childcare center in the service center; Hill Village The government, car-sharing suppliers and charity organizations jointly launched a car-sharing plan, where villagers can choose to drive by themselves or book a driver to provide convenience for the elderly to travel. At present, the continuous advancement of the “village spot” model has provided important assistance to promote the development of local public services and improve the quality of life of farmers.

France

Provide convenient channels for learning agricultural vocational skills

Our reporter Liu Lingling

Molevrier is located in the southwest of Paris, a small town in the Maine-Loire department of France. The Nillier Farm in the town has a history of 40 years. It is one of the earliest organic farms in France and a demonstration site for modern organic farms in the country. Walking into the Nilia Farm, the vast lush pastures and leisurely strolling cattle and sheep first come into view. Not far away, livestock sheds and dairy processing workshops lined up neatly. In the self-operated shop at the entrance of the farm, the freshly produced cheese products attracted a large number of visitors. People shuttled between the shelves to taste and buy, which was extremely lively.

The successful operation of Nillier Farm is inseparable from the efforts of a group of agricultural professionals. The 27-year-old Sharan is a native of the country and the head of the sales department of Nieliya Farm. After graduating from Sharan middle school, he chose to study for a professional technician diploma in agriculture, and then joined Niliye Farm after graduation. Now, Sharan is learning online free courses provided by the French Agricultural Association and the Veterinary Federation to supplement his knowledge in the field of organic agricultural production and further improve his business level.

It is one of the long-term priorities of the French government to provide convenient channels for learning agricultural vocational skills for every farmer. French agricultural vocational education has a long history. As early as 1848, the country established the first agricultural technical school in Toulouse. Since the 1960s, the French government has carried out many reforms and adjustments to agricultural vocational education, and gradually put education and training in this field under the management of the Ministry of Agriculture. In 1960, France promulgated the “Agricultural Education and Agricultural Vocational Training Law”, stipulating that all regions should strengthen training services for advanced agricultural scientific knowledge and skills to help farmers adapt to the needs of agricultural modernization.

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Today, France has established a relatively complete agricultural vocational education system, which mainly includes three parts: secondary agricultural vocational education, higher agricultural vocational education and short-term agricultural vocational training. After graduating from junior high school, people who are interested in working in agriculture can choose to study in agricultural colleges, or receive skill training at farmer technical training centers across the country, and they can further study in relevant universities and study courses from undergraduate to doctoral degree.

In addition, the country has also formed a detailed classification of agricultural vocational diploma certification mechanism, which includes certification of agricultural technology research personnel in colleges and universities, as well as certification of front-line workers such as agricultural workers and technicians. French farmers can continue to obtain higher-level diplomas by taking training exams, thereby enjoying different levels of national subsidies and preferential policies.

The French government encourages local governments or individuals to cooperate with universities, establish agricultural scientific research institutions and carry out cooperative research projects in rural areas. For example, the French government launched the “Partnership Project Leader” project in 2003 to promote agricultural engineers from professional colleges to teach in rural areas. Relevant institutions in various regions can also participate in curriculum setting, formulate teaching methods, and cultivate talents in accordance with local conditions.

In 2020, the French Ministry of Agriculture allocated 1.3 billion euros (1 euro equal to 7.8 yuan) for agricultural vocational education, accounting for nearly 30% of its total annual budget. The multi-level agricultural vocational education system provides people with learning and training opportunities covering all stages. While effectively improving the technical literacy of farmers, it also promotes the development of the French countryside. “In France, as long as you want to work in the agricultural field, you can always find suitable learning opportunities.” Sharan told reporters that nowadays, young French farmers generally value lifelong agricultural vocational education and training, and the government’s strong investment also allows more Young people see good employment prospects in the agricultural sector, and more and more young people are willing to stay in the countryside.

Japan

Rural Medical Association organizes farmers to carry out health management

Our reporter Liu Junguo

In Nagano Prefecture in the central part of Honshu Island, Japan, there is Matsukawa Village with a population of approximately 9,700. The village’s clinics have complete departments, including internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, dentistry, and ophthalmology. Within a 10-minute drive from the village, you can reach a general hospital-Northern Alps Medical Center Anyun Hospital. Hiroshi Aonuma, a staff member of the Songchuan Village Government, proudly told reporters, “Our medical conditions here are almost the same as those in big cities, and it’s very convenient for villagers to see a doctor!”

The good medical conditions in Matsukawa Village are a microcosm of the current situation of rural public medical services in Japan. In Japan, comprehensive rural medical services have experienced more than half a century of development. In the 1940s and 1950s, Japanese farmers generally faced the problem of “expensive medical care”. At that time, Japan’s economic situation was extremely backward, the national financial funds were limited, and rural residents could not afford medical expenses.

Facing this dilemma, some Japanese scholars suggested that farmers should be guided to form mutual aid groups to jointly deal with the medical expenses problem. After 1950, the farmers’ mutual insurance combination came into being in various parts of Japan. As a non-profit mutual aid organization, the combination is voluntarily joined by rural residents across Japan, and its funding source is composed of membership fees and insurance premiums paid by members. The institution accepts the supervision of the Japanese government and all its members, and members can receive financial support from the institution in terms of outpatient, inpatient treatment, and surgical expenses.

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In 1961, the medical insurance system covering all Japanese citizens-the “Insurance for All” system was formally implemented. Under the framework of this system, rural residents can freely choose medical institutions for medical treatment. Individuals need to bear 30% of the total cost, and preschool children and elderly people over 75 only need to bear 20% of the medical expenses. This has further eased the medical expenses of the country’s rural residents.

In addition to medical expenses, there was a lack of basic medical resources in rural Japan. According to statistics, in the 1940s and 1950s, there were nearly 3,000 “medical villages” across Japan. To this end, the central and local governments of Japan have built a large number of public medical facilities in the “medical villages” areas to encourage doctors to work in remote areas.

Japanese private institutions have also played an important role in alleviating farmers’ difficulties in seeing a doctor. A typical example is the Japanese Rural Medical Association established in 1952. The founder of the society, Shunichi Wakazuki, was transferred to Saku General Hospital in Nagano Prefecture in 1945. At work, Ruo Yue Junyi discovered that the lack of medical facilities in rural areas prevented many people from receiving effective treatment at the beginning of the illness. They waited until their illnesses were serious before going to hospitals in nearby towns, causing many rural patients to miss the best time for treatment. .

This situation made Ruo Yuejun doubly feel heartache. In order to popularize medical and health knowledge among rural residents in Japan, Wakatsuki has conducted long-term visits to the “no-medicine village” and promoted the concept of “prevention is better than cure” in the form of self-written drama. After the establishment of the Japanese Rural Medical Association, it actively organized farmers to carry out health management, and vigorously promoted the research on the susceptible diseases of farmers, so that the age of onset of gastric cancer, hypertension, and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases among Japanese rural residents was postponed and greatly reduced. The mortality rate of some malignant diseases. Nowadays, the Medical Association holds an annual meeting every year to build a platform for medical staff engaged in rural medical work to exchange experience.

In recent years, as the phenomenon of declining birthrates and aging population has intensified, some remote rural areas in Japan have reappeared the phenomenon of “medical villages”. Many Japanese medical workers have taken spontaneous actions to ensure medical services in rural areas. 52-year-old Kawajiri Hiroaki is the director of the Takanemachi Municipal Medical Clinic in Takayama City, Gifu Prefecture. There are about 330 people in the area, 55% of whom are over 65 years old. He knew the names and symptoms of every chronically ill patient. After going to the clinic, Kawajiri Hiroaki often organizes activities to promote to local high school students who are interested in studying medicine and encourage them to return to their hometown to engage in medical work in the future.

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