Where there are major crises and challenges, there are also many opportunities. An entrepreneurial mindset, with its inherent capacity for initiative and risk, combined with the ability to mobilize financial and non-financial resources, can make a fundamental difference in many economic areas.
The depopulation of inland areas, particularly in rural areas, is still a problem in Europe and significantly affects sustainable development. In Portugal, the rate of depopulation in these areas continues to rise, according to data from the National Statistics Institute (INE). In fact, the 2021 Census clearly indicates that this demographic asymmetry has been growing, with 20% of the Portuguese population concentrated in 7 municipalities, which represent just 1.1% of the national territory, and 50% of it in 31 municipalities.
83% of the population lives on the coast. But what are the main causes of this depopulation? Essentially 3 factors, although others may contribute to this reality:
- The aging levels of the Portuguese population – according to INE, in a projection presented on the resident population in Portugal, between 2018 and 2080, the number of young people will fall from 1.4 million to 1 million and the number of elderly people, aged 65 or over, will rise from 2.2 to 3 million;
- The weak economic dynamics of these regions, with an often structural lack of opportunities for settlement and development;
- Finally, the existing difficulties in terms of land and forest management, with serious negative impacts in terms of biodiversity and climate change – according to data from the interim report of the National Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change, from July of this year, more than 50% of the continental territory has a strong potential for desertification, particularly in the Alentejo and Algarve. This risk of desertification is accentuated, according to the same report, by expected climate change, namely rising temperatures, decreasing levels of precipitation, combined with inadequate agricultural practices and a shortage of water in times of drought.
The pandemic, with situations of forced confinement and the consequent desire of some segments of the population, particularly the younger and more mobile population, to be closer to nature, in territories with low population density, has brought some hope, with some very interesting projects emerging. This is the case of the Interior Youth Employ-ability Fair, which took place in May 2022 in Viseu, and which is an innovative initiative, the result of a Social Entrepreneurship project called INterioriza-te. However, unfortunately, this spark of hope was nowhere near enough to reverse the trend of depopulation.
But there are these points of inspiration at the end of the tunnel and that in itself can be a good conversation starter, if well communicated and supported, both at public level and through private initiative. Structures such as Portugal Social Innovation and also the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), with their responses to the challenges of this dual transition, at climate and digital level, can be good levers for promoting new initiatives.
And I believe that entrepreneurship, with its instruments and an ecosystem that continues to flourish in Portugal, and in particular social entrepreneurship, with its focus on creating transversal value and enhancing local heritage, can be one of the main ways in which this major problem can be mitigated more significantly.
Where there are major crises and challenges, there are also many opportunities. An entrepreneurial mindset, with its inherent capacity for initiative and risk, combined with an ability to mobilize financial and non-financial resources, can make a fundamental difference in many economic areas, of which I would particularly highlight local markets and commerce, the energy transition and sustainable tourism.
We already have good examples of this in the country, such as the municipality of Idanha-a-Nova, in promoting organic farming and sustainable tourism, or the local energy cooperatives in Trás-os-Montes and the community-based boost to the energy transition and consequent generation of job opportunities.
You have to keep going. Be resilient. And start looking at the enormous natural and cultural diversity that such a small, well-connected country with quality support infrastructures presents, and the opportunities for local differentiation that each area of the country offers us.