ABSTRACT
Andrew Copus and Dimitris Skuras Introduction This chapter is based on results derived from fieldwork in twelve lagging areas located in six EU member states (Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Spain and the UK). It was carried out as part of an EU funded research project entitled ‘Aspatial Peripherality, Innovation and the Rural Economy’ (AsPIRE – QLK5-2000-00783). AsPIRE, which was funded under the EU’s Fifth Framework Programme, is concerned with the changing nature of peripheral disadvantage. ‘Aspatial peripherality’ is the term used to describe a range of processes that are increasingly emerging to compound or distort the handicaps conventionally associated with remote locations.
