The previous figure refers to some of the key concepts shaping out current regional and rural
development. The scientific and technological knowledge reference reminds us of the
informationalism concept launched by Manuel Castells. In the context of Information Technology
Revolution models nowadays reality. Previously dominant space of places is competed more and
more by the space of flows. There is a network of billions flows between regions and agencies,
citizens and financial institutions, entertainment complexes and consumers. Accessing various
flows, connecting to relevant networks becomes imperative. Human capital plays a crucial role,
facilitating or hindering production of knowledge. Programmable labour resides from qualified
human capital and allows adaptation, flexibility on a rapidly changing labour market. On the other
hand, less qualified human capital more related to generic labour is easily replaceable by either
similar workers or technology. Consequently, we assist at polarisation in terms of labour force and
regional characteristics. “The success or failure in making the transformation from industrialism to
informationalism is strongly related to governance success. For example, the fall of Soviet Union is
caused particularly by this failure. The black holes of informational capitalism are the pockets of
systematic social exclusion, where people lack the equipment, tools, or training to access or use
information technology.” (Aldea-Partanen 2003 a, p.6). At 10 years after Castells first volume “The
Rise of the Network Society” from the trilogy “The Information Age: Economy Society and
Culture”, obvious common elements are part of the officials discourse. “The success of a region is
determined, to a large extent, by its capacity to attract different flows, such as information flows,
capital flows, technology flows, cultural flows, specialist flows, and enterprise flows. ... The basic
goal in the networked environment is to create an atmosphere where the scarce available resources
can be directed in the most fruitful way for regional development.” (Harmaakorpi, Niukkanen 2002,
p.5). Regional development and rural development can be nowadays better carried out in
connection to sustainable development. Sustainable development consists of many components,
some of which will be presented in the next section.
Socially sustainable development and citizens' empowerment
Sustainable development became a widely known concept after the publication of the report titled
Our Common Future by the United Nation's World Commission on Environment and Development
in 1987. According to the Commission's well-known definition, "sustainable development is
development that meets the needs and aspirations of the present without compromising the ability to
meet those of the future" (WCED 1987, 43). In other words, one of the crucial issues in the
decision-making concerning sustainable development is solidarity between the present and the