ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how public support for collective learning is arranged in two rural areas of Germany: Sankt Wendeler Land in the federal state of Saarland and the Oberlausitzer Heide-und Teichlandschaft in the Free State of Saxony. Most inhabitants work in the service sector outside of the county and the income is relatively high in comparison to other rural areas of Saarland. The two case study areas are examples of two major divergences in the political as well as socio-economic backgrounds of rural areas in Europe: a case study area representative of former West-Germany and a case study area representative of former East Germany. Comparing the two German cases thus has implications for supporting collective learning within the wider European context. At the same time, both case study areas are governed under the same national policy scheme, thus increasing the comparability and omitting confounding.
