Andres Rõigas examined how and why new communities are forming in rural areas of Estonia and what role heritage, the local environment and grassroots initiatives play in the process. His conclusion is clear: decisions to move to the countryside are driven less by municipal services or traditional marketing and more by the specific place, its surroundings and the people who live there.

Rõigas explained that while services provided by local governments are important, they are not the deciding factor when people choose to relocate to the countryside. These services become relevant only after the move. "The first thing is what you might call the 'wow effect': a specific place, the neighborhood, the buildings, the landscape. Only after that do people look at what services are available," Rõigas said.

His research showed that new communities tend to form where there is a local leader who knows how to bring interested people together, is aware of available houses and can highlight the value of the area. Often, such a person becomes the first point of contact between newcomers and the local residents.

Rõigas, who once served as mayor of Mulgi Municipality, recalled how people would occasionally write to the local government expressing interest in moving to the area and asking about housing options. "One couple said they had written to several municipalities looking for a place to settle. I was the only one who replied and that's how they ended up moving here," he said.

Rõigas emphasized that he doesn't hold this against other municipalities. "This isn't a nine-to-five job — it often takes evenings and weekends to maintain these networks. It requires local activists — people who know the area, can tell its stories and have the necessary connections," he said.

What the region has to offer

According to Rõigas, rural areas cannot realistically compete with major urban centers. The real question, he said, is not about competition, but about what cities and the countryside each have to offer. "This brings us to regional policy where cause and effect often get mixed up," he said.

For example, when rural areas begin to empty out, discussions often arise about whether or not to close a local school. "The counterargument is that if we shut the school down, people will leave. But I've never in my life seen someone sitting on their suitcase ready to go because the school closed. In reality, it's young people who leave and they do so regardless of whether the school stays open," he said. In his view, there's still a failure to grasp that population decline begins well before a school is closed.

When young people move to the city for school, they often form lifelong connections, perhaps find their first job and then end up staying. Even if they dream of returning, Rõigas said, it's rarely that simple in practice. One major hurdle is access to credit, which is significantly more limited in rural areas compared to cities.

Rõigas noted that after Estonia's administrative reform, its municipalities are no longer particularly small, even by European standards. In his view, there's now little distinction between urban and rural environments in terms of comfort. "I'm over 50 and remember a time when having a flat with modern conveniences was a big selling point. But today, you can bring comfort to any kind of setting," he said.

He emphasized that rural areas aren't competing with cities on the same terms — and they shouldn't be expected to. Cities and rural areas offer different living environments. Since people are no longer drawn to live somewhere just because of a job, other selling points need to be found. "For many people moving to the countryside, the job comes with them — in a laptop, so to speak," Rõigas said.

According to him, regional policy over the past two decades has been headed in the wrong direction and there's little sign of improvement. "Our regional policy, at best, focuses on strengthening urban centers, which is important, but beyond that, there's nothing, especially when it comes to sparsely populated rural areas. I'm rather pessimistic on this front," he said.

One critical need in rural areas, he said, is access to loan guarantees for both renovating homes and starting businesses. Bureaucracy is another factor that often discourages people. "These issues need to be addressed, because otherwise, it ends up being people like me — middle-aged and established — who can afford to renovate or invest. But by then, it's a little late for major life changes. Not impossible, but it would be better earlier," he said.

In terms of marketing, Rõigas believes the focus should be on the value and heritage of the area. One of the central concepts in his work is heritage in a broad sense. He defines it not just as protected historical sites but also includes farmhouses, settlement patterns, landscapes, neighborhoods, local customs and dialects. "A hundred-year-old farmhouse and its surrounding landscape are heritage, too — but they haven't been sufficiently appreciated so far," he said.

His research showed that this everyday, visible heritage is often a decisive factor for newcomers. New residents aren't coming to the countryside to escape something; more often, they're making a conscious decision to preserve and restore what's already there — be it buildings, historic sites or local cultural environments.

Rõigas also includes so-called "dark heritage," such as the Forest Brothers' bunkers, as an important part of local identity. Restoring and showcasing these sites has helped strengthen community memory and given new meaning to the region.

Zero in on the target audience

In his doctoral dissertation, Andres Rõigas emphasized that a clear definition of the target audience is essential for success. Rural life is not for everyone, nor should it be. "A vague message like 'everyone should move to the countryside' doesn't work. It only creates false expectations," he said.

According to Rõigas, defining the target group varies slightly from one region to another. "On average, though, it tends to be successful or entrepreneurial, well-educated people in early middle age who have a clear understanding of why they want to move to the countryside," he explained.

When changing their place of residence, Estonians typically make a long-term decision, Rõigas said. "Generally, Estonians aren't the kind of people who move house six times in their lives. It's more of a lifelong decision and when they invest in improving a home, they don't really expect to get that money back," he said.

While working on his dissertation, Rõigas was surprised to find that his initial hypothesis didn't hold up. He had assumed that the availability of services would be the most important factor in relocating to the countryside. Instead, it turned out that heritage was more significant. Another unexpected finding was that certain peripheral areas are, to some extent, expanding and growing. "That gave me hope more than it surprised me because if there are buildings available for people to move into, then some level of development and growth will follow," he said.

Andres Rõigas defended his doctoral thesis, "Rural marketing: connections between local government, communities, and heritage," at the University of Tartu in the field of human geography and regional planning.

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