Wissensgesellschaft als Herausforderung für ländlich-periphere Regionen

The heuristics of a three-dimensional knowledge society has been addressed and further
developed in this volume. The social, economic and technical dimensions are differentiated
and structured in accordance to characteristic manifestations such as individual
competences, collective learning processes, knowledge as an economic factor, centrality,
mobility, or integration in global institutional systems. These structuring elements provide
the basis for the choice of in-depth studies in the rural, peripherally located area of northeast
Germany with regard to regional growth cores in Brandenburg, health infrastructure,
mobility offerings, access to communication technologies, and educational networks and
educational landscapes. Regarding the comparison of theory and practice, of the heuristic
model and the case studies, the choice of examples is not representative and does not
cover the entire diversity and complexity of the knowledge society in rural peripheral areas.
However, the case studies do provide an initial picture of how the knowledge society
finds expression in these areas, the strategic challenges it brings with it, and the role that
spatial planning can play in necessary strategic approaches.
The shortage of skilled workers seems to be a central feature of and a challenge for the
knowledge society in the rural periphery. The sharp, theoretically founded differentiation
made between the dimensions cannot be sustained in this form in practice. Thus the innovations
characteristic for the economic dimension are not feasible without social learning
processes and bridging institutional systems, which are here regarded as part of the
technical dimension. Furthermore, these processes and systems will only actually function when people and knowledge are mobilised and knowledge networks develop.
The peripherally located rural areas are just as much part of the knowledge society as
the metropolitan areas. Both types of area are thus similarly subject to processes of competition
and selection. This constellation gives rise to key challenges for rural peripheral
regions that manifest themselves in two complementary strategic approaches: a participatory
basic strategy and a flanking strategy focused on profiling.
The contribution of spatial planning to the processes of change related to the knowledge
society is thus mainly restricted on raising awareness of spatial interrelations, organising
spatial transformation and guiding implementation while ensuring the interests of
the many different regional actors.