The general idea of a new strategy for the development of agriculture boils down to strivings to create modern, technically and economically efficient agriculture which should, simultaneously, be friendly to man and the natural environment. Such agriculture would be based mainly on family farms. It would be integrated with the entire national economy and it should be complementary to other types of economic activities conducted in rural areas. The policy pursued within such development strategy should provide for a reasonable degree of state interventionism and assistance, multifunctionality of agriculture and rural areas, consolidation of rural and agricultural self-government, regionalisation and internationalisation, the process of integration with the EU structures included. The main objective of the strategy in question ought to be the elimination of historical delays in the development of agriculture. This general task can be translated into three main political goals, namely: the achievement by rural population (or more precisely farmers) of earnings adequate both to the amount of work done and to the engaged production potential, and the achievement of the level of personal incomes comparable to that characterising other principal social-vocational groups; the creation of similar conditions for the farming and rural population to use the achievements of modern civilisation as those enjoyed by other large social groups, especially in respect of education; the implementation of the concept of sustainable development of agriculture and rural areas.

The intensive economic development has produced many negative ecological and social effects. This relates also to agriculture. Hence, it is necessary to alter the hitherto way of development of the economy and agriculture through the popularisation of the idea of sustainable development. From the point of view of ecological and social goals organic farming seems to fit perfectly into the concept of such development. However, organic farming may encounter in the future a development barrier stemming from its lower economic effectiveness in comparison with other types of farming. Thus, particularly good development prospects can be predicted for such type of farming which is characterised by high economic effectiveness and which, simultaneously, limits the scale of threats posed by agricultural activity to the natural environment. Such farming is referred to as integrated (or balanced) agriculture. Therefore, it can be concluded that organic farming is not going to become the dominating form of agricultural production although its scope and share in the market of agricultural products will be increasing steadily. All this suggests that a double-track development would be advisable for Poland's agriculture. On one hand, Poland ought to have farms characterised byhigh economic effectiveness and observing the principal rules of environmental protection and, on the other hand, it should ensure development to organic farms utilising the attributes ofthe country's natural and social-cultural environment, and producing food for the more demanding domestic and foreign consumers.

The report presented below sums up the results of a research project implemented in 2000-2003 by a team of Europe's ten leading experts in agricultural economics and rural development. The outcome of the team's work was presented inthe volume: Policy Vision for Sustainable Rural Economies in an Enlarged Europe (Hanover 2003). The aim of the research project was to prepare a long-term vision of a policy for the integrated development of farming and rural areas in the European Union enlarged by the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.
In the current issue of the quarterly "Wieś i Rolnictwo" we publish a summary of the report translated into Polish by: Katarzyna Metelska-Szaniawska, Dominika Milczarek, Aleksandra Wilkin and Jerzy Wilkin.

The article represents an attempt at identifying institutional barriers to the implementation of the Plan for the Development of Rural Areas. The author starts his analysis with a general description of the situation of Poland's rural areas and the role of human and social capital in their development. He claims that the sustainable development of rural areas is possible only when investments in infrastructure are accompanied by substantial investments in human and social resources, which are absent at present. Since it is assumed that the Plan for the Development of Rural Areas is an excellent instrument serving the development of the rural community the author also thinks it essential to determine the Plan's chances for implementation. The author applies analytical tools of the New Institutional Economy since efficient institutions - understood as the rules of the game, will probably be decisive for the degree of absorption of means available under the Plan. He also uses the results of a sociological survey of potential beneficiaries of the Plan's implementation, which was conducted for the Office of the Commissioner for European Integration (UKIE) by ABR Opinia in December 2003. The author divides the potential barriers to the use of means envisaged by the Plan into administrative (formal) barriers and mental (informal) barriers. The most seriousformal barrier is the inefficient agricultural advisory system, whereas the most serious informal barriers are: the farmers' reluctance to form associations, their lack of initiative and creativity, and lack of confidence in their own abilities. In the conclusion of the article the author presents suggestions concerning actions that are necessary to ensure fuller utilisation of funds available under the Plan for the Development of Rural Areas.

The article presents a universal and convenient method of classification of resources existing in every environment, regardless of its size (a region, a commune, a town, a village, a hamlet or a street). The article also describes factors that limit the effectiveness of actions launched at a local level and their consequences. The authors of the article present the principal assumptions of the decision-making process and the ties linking it with the activity of human capital. They propose a method for determining the resources at hand, which makes use of the essential aspects of the SWOT (strong points, weak points, opportunities, threats) analysis as a synthetic and uncomplicated tool that can serve the practical purpose of evaluation of local assets and help establish the actual level of needs and ways of satisfying them.

The article presents the results of research concerning life orientations of rural youth from the region of Podkarpacie. The author distinguishes three basic types of attitudes that correspond with axiological orders prevailing in the period of great changes and that can be linked to the traditional society, modern society and the society in the late stage of modern development. In the surveyed population it is possible to distinguish a private-stabilisation orientation, which is characterised by the desire to preserve the traditional values and by opposition to the occurring changes. The second of the discerned orientations can be described as a mercantile orientation characteristic of societies in the early stage of modern development. The third of the distinguished orientations is called "self-fulfilment" and it characterises societies in the late stage of modern development. The three orientations are rooted in the existing social structure. The private-stabilisation orientation dominates among school students with a low social status, which means that they represent the "old man". Students with a medium social status represent a mercantile mentality and are the embodiment of a "new man". Young people with a high social status, in turn, constitute a substratum for a "post-modern man" who is guided by post-material values. The conducted research has proved that young people in rural areas live to "different rhythms" and belong to "different worlds" that can be linked to the past, present time and to the future. The rhythm of the young people's life will be largely determined then by their social status, that is by the cultural, psychological, social and material capital they have been equipped with. In the period of great changes these resources allow individuals to successfully adapt to the requirements of modern development.