The real question is therefore to know how to define whether one lives in the country or in the town. For 5 years, the laboratory has systematically added a question to all its surveys, whatever the subject: Do you think you live in the country or the town? “People who live in Grimbergen near Brussels or Beaufays near Liege also consider themselves to be living in the country. Even though these results are surprising, it is not up to the geographer to decide whether they are right or wrong. The country is also a state of mind”.

One question on the form particularly grabbed the attention of the geographer: “How does your association operate in the country”? Being associated with a region that is considered to be rural, with the presence of farmers,resorting to the number of inhabitants per km² or even explanations based on the distance of services and public transport are all arguments mentioned by the participants to explain the rural nature of their project.

You could also read answers such as: “The commune of Corroy-le-Château is essentially rural, Quitens road still has a working farm and various cropfields”; “Olne is a village with countryside that is typical for the Herve region and is situated at the foot of the Ardennes. Its population density is relatively light: 239 inhabitants/km². The slogan of our community is “Olne, rural and friendly”. Moreover, we have a quite important number of farmers in our village”; “In this village there are more cattle than people (around 1480 cattle for 736 people)”, etc.

An increasingly professional approach

In order to have their project taken into consideration, the candidates fill in a questionnaire in which they are requested to supply some information on the association, financial information for the payment of a subsidy, a project description, its objectives and its budget, etc. The way these forms are filled in makes it possible to draw conclusions about the nature of the candidates.

The projects are both from non-profit organizations and de facto groups and their creation is often linked with the opportunity to receive funding within the context of this call for project proposals. The de facto groups can show difficulty in completing a somewhat administrative form, to the point where it is possible that this “cultural obstacle” could dissuade some “ordinary citizens” from taking part in the process. On the other hand, cultural centers or youth centers seem more skilled at filling in these types of documents, showing that there is an increasingly professional approach to the quest for funding.

Some projects are distinguished by the intervention of outside networks. In Wallonia, several structures offer their skills as well as tips for succeeding in getting funding (for e.g. Qualité Village Wallonie). These structures are also causing a cascading effect: a project that was funded during the first campaigns then tended to multiply similar suggestions for subsequent calls for projects (this was the case with collective vegetable gardens, for example).

The different cases analyzed also demonstrate the fact that the state or commune is no longer the only body that inspires innovation in the villages. Citizens are themselves learning how to qualify for subsidies if they want to develop projects or benefit from certain services or activities.