Opinion: Estonia's Rural and Fertility Rescue Programme ERARE Remained Unimplemented

Medical doctor Jaak Uibu reflects on why Estonia's Population Recovery Regional Programme (ERARE) failed to be implemented. The programme linked fertility, regional policy and homeownership, offering a solution to rural decline and population concentration in cities. These problems have remained unsolved in Estonia for thirty years.

For thirty years, Estonia has been seeking an answer to how to halt rural decline and population concentration in cities. Medical doctor Jaak Uibu examines Estonia's Population Recovery Regional Programme — abbreviated as ERARE — which once offered a bold and comprehensive vision for solving these problems, but unfortunately remained unimplemented.

What Was ERARE?

At the heart of ERARE lay the idea of linking three major challenges: declining birth rates, declining rural areas and the opportunity for young families to build homes outside major cities. The programme was based on the understanding that these three problems were not separate — they could and should be solved as one integrated policy. Such an approach differed markedly from conventional policymaking, where sectors often operate independently of each other.

Why Did the Plan Not Go Ahead?

According to Jaak Uibu, ERARE failed to be implemented not due to any substantive weakness, but due to a lack of political will. Regional policy and population issues have repeatedly come onto the agenda in Estonia over the decades, but systematic and long-term solutions have been sparsely implemented. The result is a situation where rural regions continue to empty and urbanisation accelerates.

The Problem's Continued Relevance

Declining birth rates and rural decline remain acute problems in Estonia. Young families move to cities in pursuit of jobs and services, causing smaller communities to gradually lose both people and vitality. In Uibu's view, the story of ERARE shows that thoughtful and bold proposals do not always reach decision-makers — and in the longer term, this has proved costly for Estonia.