This open access book constitutes a transnational and multidisciplinary inquiry of the most
pressing challenges faced by young people Not in Employment nor in Education or Training
(NEET) in rural areas across Europe. . Rural NEETs are one of the most invisible segments of
the youth population in spite of the fact that the percentage of NEETs is higher in the
countryside compared to those in suburban and urban areas across the EU and many of the
Southern and Eastern European countries. This book identifies and analyses different factors
that may contribute to or hamper youth social development and social inclusion. Among them are
main individual features of rural NEETs the quality and characteristics of rural NEETs'
informal social networks and support the singularities of formal and non-formal education in
rural areas and how they shape the transition from school to work the role of employment
services in providing adequate institutional support the importance of policy package designor
the role of new paradigms of rural development to uphold vulnerable young people in the
European countryside . The contributions offered in this book provide a new model of analysis
and comprehension of rural NEETs' personal development and social inclusion. This book
therefore establishes the state of the art regarding available knowledge on rural NEETs and
represents an inspirational resource for new research agendas on the subject of vulnerable
rural youth in Europe. This book also forms the policy design in areas such as education
employment and social welfare in rural areas.
