70% of "urban dwellers" live in a city of more than 20,000 inhabitants, while the rest of the population lives "in the countryside", in villages and small towns. Despite growing urbanization, this represents 4.9 billion people and almost 4 million schools, far from higher education establishments...
What kind of luminary will advance his or her career "in the regions"? There are some, but they're few and far between. Paris, Montreal, Douala, Casablanca are waiting for us! St Alban de Portneuf doesn't figure in many people's ambitions, even if it is the capital of the blue potato and its inhabitants are welcoming.
Yet some young people decide to stay in the region, as do the teachers who practice here; many do so by choice, given the different pace of life from that of the big cities. Is it absolutely necessary to have roots here? It doesn't seem so; when the soil is fertile, roots grow fast. Does the Internet change things? Above a certain connection level, only bandwidth-hungry applications are restricted, which rarely concerns schools. Life isn't necessarily easier there, but it does seem to be more manageable. In short, the regions offer different opportunities from the cities, and attract people with other ambitions.
The prejudices that affect life in the regions are changing, in line with a growing ecological awareness: the interdependence between cities and regions is affected by modes of exploitation that deplete resources and pollute territories. Mining, forestry, agriculture and tourism are all part of this trend, and all are actively reviewing their practices and philosophies from a more sustainable perspective. The better regions are considered, the better cities fare. A balance is created and complementarity is established until, one day, we'll be able to say "my region", whether we're from the country or the city.
Denys Lamontagne - [email protected]
Illustration: dae jeung kim from Pixabay
