Concluding remarks: what is next for rural areas in the aftermath of the crisis?

The chapters included in this book represent a series of works about the impacts of the crisis in the diverse Southern and Mediterranean European rural territories. These chapters focus on the case studies with a clear qualitative perspective as a whole. Accordingly, the book can be read as a collection of snapshots in which we can observe a series of portraits about dramatic effects of the crisis on given communities in their micro-environment in different regions of the Southern and Mediterranean European countries instead of reading the —big picture— of the impacts, challenges, and opportunities. Notwithstanding the diversity, the question would be whether the rural territories arisen from the context of the crisis represent places for new realities or just for the continuity of previous ones. This volume highlights the multiplicity of scenarios about people, communities, and opportunities and challenges during and in the aftermath of the financial and economic crisis of some European and Mediterranean rural territories. Although further research is recognizably needed to fully understand the wider consequences, opportunities and challenges, this volume certainly constitutes one of the first attempts to unveil the critical dynamics of rural change induced by the financial and economic crisis.