Depopulation in Spain and its educational treatment aimed at achieving sustainable ways of life and behaviour

Abstract

This communication aims to explain the origin, objectives, and format of educational materials developed by the authors for use in the classroom, specifically in geography or any subject dealing with knowledge and analysis, with students aged 14–18. It focuses on the depopulation process that has occurred in rural areas of Spain since the beginning of the 20th century (exemplified in the autonomous community of Aragon). This process has shaped their territory, population distribution, aging demographics, and the social issues that arise from it. To achieve this, its stages, characteristics, causes, consequences, and potential policies to halt depopulation are identified and analysed. To implement efficient teaching and learning processes aimed at students acquiring not only relevant and useful concepts but also skills or competencies in geographical knowledge techniques, an intensive use of Geographic Information Technologies (GIT) is proposed. Moreover, when GIT is integrated into educational strategies focused on competency-based didactic formulations (“know-how”). This transformation shifts geographical knowledge from rote memorization to a tool enabling the understanding of the environment in which students develop their lives and education. Thus, the educational materials presented here does not solely aim for an understanding of the depopulation process affecting the Spanish territory. Alongside this knowledge, the materials aim to facilitate competency acquisition in GIS (geographic information systems) and, consequently, in artificial intelligence.