Approaches to Environmental Gerontology in the Mediterranean Europe and Latin America: Policy and Practice on Ageing and Place

The Mediterranean agro-food systems need to be properly managed. A promising pathway is the transition towards more sustainable food systems through agroecology, which represents the ecology of food systems. In this paper, the state-of-the-art of agroecology is described for three representative euro-Mediterranean countries: Italy, Greece, and Spain. The analysis has been partly based on results of a dedicated literature search and partly on grey literature and expert knowledge. After an overview of the history of agroecology, targeted research and education, collective action (political and social), and some agroecological practices in the three countries are presented. These countries share a rather similar use of the term “agroecology”, but they differ regarding (i) the existence/extent of strong civil and social movements; (ii) the type of study/educational programmes, and the relative importance of different scientific disciplines and their evolution; (iii) the development of political support and legal frameworks; and (iv) the elaboration of concepts to rediscover traditional practices and apply new ones, often taken from the organic agriculture sector. Agroecology is an emerging concept for the Mediterranean agricultural sector, with huge potential due to the peculiar socio-cultural, bio-physical, and political-economic features of the region. To boost agroecology in Mediterranean Europe, better networking and engagement of different actors within a coherent institutional framework supporting the transition is strongly needed.

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Les politiques méditerranéennes de l'Espagne à la recherche d'un équilibre entre l'impératif de la sécurité et l'éthique de l'interdépendance (Note)

Études internationales ◽

10.7202/703458ar ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 26 (2) ◽

pp. 315-327

Author(s):

Bernard Labatut

Keyword(s):

Latin America ◽

Arab World ◽

International System ◽

Transition To Democracy ◽

The World ◽

Security Problem ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

The Many

Franco's Spain flattered itself as enjoying a preferential relationship with the Arab World, as with Latin America as well - a kind of compensation for Spain's lack of normalization within the international System. With its transition to democracy, Spain's place in the world has been redefined and, consequently, so have its relations in the Mediterranean. This has taken place in a context made difficult by Spain's integration into European and Western institutions, an integration that holsters it but no longer lets it take advantage of its different status. This redefinition has also occurred as Spain faces increased risks of destabilization from countries along the southern shoreline, which pose a very direct security problem for Spain. The policies it has implemented expose the divisions between several kinds of logic. They also reveal the many constraints Spain must face in a region split along different lines and in which it finds itself completely immersed.

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Reforming Higher Education in Latin America: Policy and Practice

Latin American Research Review ◽

10.1353/lar.2006.0017 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 41 (2) ◽

pp. 228-246 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Jorge Balan

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Latin America ◽

Policy And Practice

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Mapping Margins in the Mediterranean: Europe, Africa, and Richard Johnson’s The Seven Champions of Christendom

Early Modern Constructions of Europe ◽

10.4324/9781315679686-14 ◽

2016 ◽

pp. 121-146

Keyword(s):

Mediterranean Europe ◽

The Mediterranean

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6. The Global Wave of Democratization

Democratization ◽

10.1093/hepl/9780198732280.003.0006 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 82-100

Author(s):

John Markoff ◽

Daniel Burridge

Keyword(s):

Latin America ◽

Western Europe ◽

First Century ◽

Colonial Rule ◽

Authoritarian Rule ◽

Early Twenty ◽

The World ◽

Mediterranean Europe ◽

Twenty First Century ◽

Eastern Half

This chapter focuses on the great wave of democracy that had touched every continent. In the early 1970s, Western Europe was home to several non-democratic countries, most of Latin America was under military or other forms of authoritarian rule, the eastern half of Europe was ruled by communist parties, much of Asia was undemocratic, and in Africa colonial rule was largely being succeeded by authoritarian regimes. By the early twenty-first century, things had changed considerably, albeit to different degrees in different places. The chapter looks at regions of the world that underwent significant change in democracy between 1972 and 2004, including Mediterranean Europe, Latin America, Soviet/Communist Bloc, Asia, and Africa. It considers what was distinctive about each region’s democratization and what they had in common. It concludes with an overview of challenges faced by democracy in the early twenty-first century.

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