What is the new rural paradigm? Its main characteristics are a focus on places rather than sectors and an emphasis on investments rather than subsidies. In an era of reduced agricultural employment, this report highlights the important and diverse challenges facing rural areas, their unused potential, and the inability of sectoral policy to address this. It also provides an overview of the main socio-economic trends affecting rural areas across the OECD. Further, it addresses the governance requirements of the new cross-sectoral approach to rural policy.