01726nam a22001577a 4500999001900000008004100019100003000060245009500090260002100185300003200206520117400238773002001412906002201432942000701454952010701461  c516252d516252210220b           ||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d  aUbels, Hiska et al924290  aNon‐engagement of mid‐aged and elderly residents in rural civic livability initiatives  aRural Sociology   a85(3), Sep, 2020: p.730-756  aIn the context of public budget cuts and rural areas facing depopulation and aging, local governments increasingly encourage citizen engagement in addressing local livability issues. This paper examines the non‐engagement of mid‐aged and elderly residents (45+ years old) in civic initiatives that intend to improve the livability of their community. We focus on residents of depopulating rural areas in the North Netherlands. We compare their engagement with the behavior of residents in other, not depopulating, rural areas, and urban areas. Using logistic statistical analyses, we found that the majority of the aging residents did not engage in civic livability initiatives during the past two years, and one‐third of this group had no intention to do so in the future. In all areas, the main reasons for non‐engagement were that residents had other priorities, felt not capable of engaging, or felt that the responsibility for local livability belonged to the local government. Furthermore, it appeared that non‐engagement was predominantly explained by the unwillingness to engage, rather than by specific motivations or lacking abilities. - Reproduced   aRural Sociology  aRURAL DEVELOPMENT  cAR  00102ddc40709390344aIIPAbIIPAd2021-02-20h85(3), Sep, 2020: p.730-756pAR124348r2021-02-20yAR