The Working Group (WG) on Rural Geography of the Spanish Geography Association (AGE), the Department of Geography of the University of Valencia (UV), the Interuniversity Institute for Local Development (IIDL) of the UV, the Faculty of Geography and History of the UV, and the University Culture Service of the Vice-Rectorate for Culture and Society of the UV (UVSociedad and UVCultura), organize the XXII National Colloquium on Rural Geography and V International Colloquium on Rural Geography in Valencia, from October 23 to 25, 2024. The colloquium is also co-financed by the Conselleria de Educación, Universidad y Ocupación, Dirección General de Ciencia e Investigación, Generalitat Valenciana (CIAORG/2023/112).

The AGE is a group of geography professionals whose main purpose is to promote and develop Spanish geographic science and its applications, as well as to disseminate and raise awareness of geographic knowledge in society.

The AGE's Rural Geography Working Group is one of the most numerous, consolidated and long-established in Spanish geography. The aim of this WGT is to gain knowledge of landscapes, rural spaces and societies, both their origin and their evolution and prospects, their structures and dynamics, their actors or agents, functions and problems, as well as the policies and actions that transform them. The changes that have taken place in rural areas during the second half of the 20th century and the first years of the 21st century have been of such magnitude that it is difficult to reconcile traditional research and topics with current ones. The Rural Geography WGT, attentive to these changes and mutations, tries to apprehend them, explain them and bear witness to them through its numerous activities. These colloquia are precisely an example of this effort.

To date, 21 colloquia have been held, starting with the one held in Alicante in 1980, which dealt with rural property in Spain and its influence on the organisation of space. In 2016, in Ciudad Real, on 7, 8 and 9 September, the XVIII Colloquium, ColoRural2016, was held, the first with an international character. The last one to date has been held in Santiago de Compostela in 2022, the XXI National and IV International.

Although with the logical variations, adapted to the context and the moment, each edition of the colloquium is structured according to a common logic in all cases: two days are devoted to sessions for the presentation of papers, communications, round tables and conclusions, and one to fieldwork, as it is considered essential in the training and professional activity of geographers. Each colloquium is organised under a general theme, which is subdivided into a series of thematic lines that indicate the direction of research in geography at any given time, which serves to guide and organise the set of materials (papers, communications, posters) that are received and accepted after a rigorous peer review process, first of abstracts, then of full texts. The selected materials are then presented in plenary sessions in order to discuss scientific and applied advances, generating debate and exchanges, which are the basis on which to consolidate or establish new collaboration and work networks, and to seek advances in geographic science and practice.

As a result of each colloquium, the proceedings are published in different formats, which are made available to all participants, but also to the general public through open access institutional-academic repositories (as in the case of the UV, RODERIC). This publication in Proceedings allows to know the lines of work that are currently being carried out, as well as to see the evolution of research in Spain through the entire published collection.

In this, the 22nd national and 5th international edition, which is being held in Valencia, the proposed theme is: Contributions of rural geography to the ‘long-term vision’ of rural areas, which is structured into four main thematic axes: 

• Thematic Axis 1: Strengthening rural areas. 
• Thematic Axis 2: Connected rural areas. 
• Thematic Axis 3: Territorial resilience of rural areas. 
• Thematic Axis 4: Diversification and multifunctionality for rural prosperity. 

For the inaugural conference we will count on one of the main academic references at European level in the field of entrepreneurship and rural development: Dr. Gary Bosworth, Professor in the Department of Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Strategy, and Director of the EPIC Research Centre at the University of Northumbria (England). In his presentation (‘A spatial analysis of the conditions for rural entrepreneurship’), Dr Bosworth will summarise the main changes in the UK's rural development policy framework since Brexit and share some of the work his team has been doing for DEFRA, the UK Government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The closing conference will be given by the Professor of Regional Geographical Analysis, Dr. Javier Esparcia, and will focus on one of the most current issues that underpin the current rural geography, the so-called ‘rural proofing’ (‘Rural Proofing: (un)founded expectations’), following the attenuation of the subject of depopulation and its derived problems, a common reference in recent years.

The field trip planned for our colloquium on Thursday 24 October will focus on three localities located in the Alto Palancia region, in the province of Castellón: Bejís, Viver and Navajas. In each of them we will address several of the edges that make up the current multifaceted reality of the new rurality: at the first stop, Bejís, we will work together with Prof. Adolfo Calvo, retired Professor of Physical Geography, to understand the effects on the natural heritage of the great fire that in August 2022 affected this municipality and the adjoining ones. At the second stop, Viver, we will be privileged witnesses of how the local cooperative has been able to become an example of diversification of the local economy and society. Finally, at the third stop, Navajas, we will analyse several of the tourism models that our Valencian rural areas are hosting.

The 70 registered participants will thus be able, during the three days of our colloquium, to address the key issues that drive the European Commission's current work around the EU's rural areas, i.e. to define and practically advance the different areas of intervention that will guide the policies and plans to be implemented with and on rural areas until 2040, in order to achieve stronger, more connected, resilient and prosperous rural areas and communities.