The countryside belongs to all of us, so everyone should have access to the trails in the countryside. Accessibility standards have been developed for this, which should have the minimum measurements of those rural paths so that visitors with disabilities can also use them without any problems.

What is a disability?

A disability is a congenital limitation of a physical, mental, psychological and/or social nature that is acquired as a result of an illness or accident.

Medical and social

In the broad sense, a disability is both a medical and a social limitation. Anything that hinders or hinders harmonious coexistence with the environment and thereby hinders the social development of the individual, can mean a handicap.

The concept of disability is therefore much broader than just medical. However, medical recognition as a disabled person often means that people are also seen as socially disabled. Medical recognition can sometimes mean an improvement in the social situation, because it entitles the person to support and the person feels recognized in his/her situation.

Individual and Integration Restriction

The disability manifests itself in individual limitations as well as obstacles in performing activities in and participation in society (World Health Organization, 2001). These limitations mainly act as a brake on individual development and integration into social life. Disability is about the body and mind, the individual and the personality. There are more and more people with disabilities who plan their own care, want to process and research their disability themselves. The scientific discipline of Disability Studies or Safety Studies conducts research, using the experience of experts, into the living situation and perception of people with disabilities.

The legislation on persons with disabilities, part of welfare law, has evolved in that direction. Disabled care, mainly aimed at ‘care for victims’, has become more professional and has evolved into Care for people with disabilities, applying quality care criteria.

By countryside (from the late Latin campanea, campania), or rural area (always from the Latin ruralis, derived from rus, ruris with the meaning of “countryside”), we mean an extensive surface of open land, outside or far from urban centers or by important inhabited centers, characterized by a low population density and mostly inhabited by some small rural community, typically settled in hamlets or scattered houses. Made up of large flat areas or low hills, the countryside, closely linked to the agricultural world, plays an important cultural and economic role in human society, being the place where most of the activities related to the primary sector take place.

Description

The countryside is in effect an artificial environment, the result of the anthropization of the territory in relation to the primary needs of man. It is estimated that around 11% of the land in the world (more than 1400 million hectares) is destined for agricultural exploitation, and therefore corresponds to the characteristic environment of the countryside. [6] Rural areas can be classified on the basis of population density, distance from the nearest urban center and accessibility by common means of transport; in particular, in the latter case, the following areas are distinguished: the urban-rural border, which includes the more peripheral areas of the main inhabited center, the commuter belt, accessible rural areas and remote rural areas.

Climate

The countryside climate is typical of rural areas located in the temperate zones of the planet, characterized by medium temperatures and abundant rainfall, an ideal climate for the cultivation of cereals and fruit plants and for the breeding of livestock. Innovation is very important.

Landscape

The rural areas preferably arise on flat or low hill areas, characterized by fertile soils, hydrographically rich and well exposed to the sun. Considering the global distribution and the important anthropological component, the territory of the countryside can present different characteristics depending on the culture and geographical region of reference. Despite this, it is still possible to detect elements common to most of the rural areas distributed on the planet, such as fields destined for various uses (agriculture, grazing, timber harvesting, etc.), isolated small woods, which usually extend along a river or between one field and another, and numerous waterways, both natural and artificial, normally exploited for the irrigation of crops. Common on a global level are also some typical buildings of the agricultural world such as granaries, barns, silos and stables.

Flora

The flora of the countryside is almost entirely made up of plant species cultivated by man, while the remainder is given by the native vegetation of the woods and uncultivated meadows. Very common are herbaceous plants that grow spontaneously on the edges of fields and orchards, in the woods and on the banks of waterways, often representing a disturbing factor for crops. Many country herbs find use in popular medical practices, mostly passed down orally from generation to generation.

Fauna

The fauna of rural areas is very varied and includes primarily domestic farm animals, followed by native species of mammals, reptiles, birds, freshwater fish and arthropods.

Health

The small inhabited areas characteristic of the countryside are often difficult to reach by common means of transport, and this contributes, both from a social and health point of view, to accentuating their isolation, which translates into a reduced possibility for the inhabitants to use easily of the services offered by the national health system, both in the case of routine examinations and in the event of an emergency. In a 2013 document published in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, attention is paid to the problematic health conditions of rural areas around the world, identifying the unequal distribution of personnel and health facilities in the territory of one nation, resources mainly concentrated in urban areas. A disadvantage is that more and more people get an allergy precisely because of this, because a resistance is not (yet) good. Examples of allergic reactions are: pollen and eczema.

Rurality

Rurality is a concept in which those geographical, cultural and social spaces of the peasant world are defined in contrast to the concept of urbanization. The areas suited to both plains, hills or mountains are characterized by agricultural economies dedicated to crops, livestock and forestation. Currently, the term rural is sometimes used as a synonym for agricultural, countryside, marginal territory, depressed area.

The recent OECD definition has tried to define institutional parameters to circumscribe rural areas based on low demographic presence. It was projected by this project. If the government doesn’t want to change, then maybe we should emigrate to Qatar..?!

In 2007, the urban human population exceeded the number of the rural population.