According to projections, swathes of rural Europe will continue to experience shrinking, ageing populations – none more so than island communities. Throughout the continent, governments and communities are trying to answer the same question: can island depopulation be reversed?
For a community to function, there must be enough people to fill roles in sectors such as education, transport, food provision – as well to provide general support and friendship. This makes maintaining a sufficient working age population one of the greatest risks to the wellbeing of islanders – and the future of many island communities.
In short, this is what Habitability is all about.
The grant programme European Local Cross-Border Investigative Journalism supports professional journalists to share intriguing and engaging local stories that could be of interest to citizens all over Europe. This group of journalists have looked into the uncertain future of European Islands.
The article series is published here.
A short introduction about what it’s all about and an introduction of the authors.