Population decline, negative demographic changes, primarily the problem of progressive ageing, became one of the key challenges to the development of Central and Eastern Europe countries. Some regions there characterised by permanent population decline and extremely unfavourable demographic phenomena which points to the progressive symptoms of economic and social marginalisation. This is because some of the demographic changes here have a much broader and deeper dimension than the EU average. Thereby, they have far-reaching as well as complex economic and social consequences in many regions of Central and Eastern Europe which lead to insurmountable and often permanent marginalisation at national and EU level. Due to the fact that demographic processes are determined in the long term, and it is extremely difficult to influence them in the short term, the adaptation of social and economic spheres and, at the same time, the use of specific opportunities seems a useful strategy for regional development policy. Therefore, in the context of senioral policy, complex, coherent and diversified activities in the sphere of growth of professional activity of elderly people, support for life-long learning, improvement of seniors’ living conditions, including the development of health infrastructure, and seniors’ integration in society prove to be necessary. However, the implementation of this concept demands the consideration of several determinants and barriers, that consequently affect its effective functioning. The direct objective of the paper is to present the regional case from Central and Eastern Europe where depopulation and marginalisation effects became visible and on its basis, to determine the economic, social and cultural challenges resulting from the population decline and ageing for regional development. What are the possibilities for a region to break out of the closed circle of depopulation, ageing and marginalisation - the regional policy challenges.
Mots clés : marginalisation|population decline|ageing|Central and Eastern Europe|regional policy
A103452KH