Institute of Rural Development and Agriculture of the Polish Academy of Sciences
The Institute of Rural Development and Agriculture of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IRWiR PAN) is a category A research unit conducting interdisciplinary basic research, which is a condition for carrying out expert work. It is a leading research entity in the country, dealing with identifying and explaining development mechanisms and their effects on the changing role of rural areas and agriculture in the social, economic and cultural life of the country, as well as monitoring current socio-economic and environmental challenges faced by local communities (in villages and small towns). The Institute's team consists of 35 scientists: representatives of economics, sociology, demography, political science, spatial management and socio-economic geography who share a common subject of research – the broadly understood countryside treated as an environment of life, human activity and an object of politics, as well as an important fragment of space. The issues of undertaken research are evolving, which is determined by changes taking place in the country, the European Union and the entire world. From the beginning of its existence, the Institute, as a unit of the Polish Academy of Sciences, has been a platform for public debate engaging representatives of various environments, institutions and stakeholders in rural development (including the EU). IRWiR PAN was appreciated by the European Commission and received the HR Excellence in Research logo as the seventh scientific unit in the country.