Addressing the interacting economic, social, and environmental problems of rural areas is a key area of regional science. A sectoral approach alone is rarely successful in tackling problems; an interdisciplinary and territorial approach, considering many aspects of analysis, is more likely to produce results. What is needed is an approach in which everyone has something to contribute to rural development in their own area of expertise, and in which these added values can be synergised in development policy practice. Rural development is not just a complex problem, solutions must usually be sought and applied in a context of sharply conflicting interests and values. The last three decades have witnessed an intensification of conflicts, compounded by economic interest structures that tend to negate the issue of long-term sustainability, which significantly reduce the chances of organic rural development. The aim of this study is to outline the nodes that may be factors of rural vulnerability in Hungary.