Socio-economic conditioning as a determinant of rural development in the Opole voivodeship – an attempt to diagnose

The issue of multidimensional changes taking place in rural areas has become a subject of interest to both sociologists, gerontoeducators, economists and management experts. The detailed analysis of rural areas under conditions of ambiguity and clear differences in their characteristic features (depopulation, suburbanization) enables taking into consideration not only trends of alterations, but also their causes, consequences and corrective measures in the development strategy. In this context, the analysis of the changes that have occurred in rural areas in the Opole voivodeship in 2000-2010 in the perspective of 2035 seems to be especially interesting. The main aim of the article is to draw attention to the impact of socio-economic conditioning (demography, migration, economic and professional activity) on contemporary and authentic view of the fine, but clearly aging country in the Opole voivodeship, burdened with adverse population growth and high net migration rate.