scholarly journals Place-Based Policies for Sustainability and Rural Development: The Case of a Portuguese Village “Spun” in Traditional Linen

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vasta ◽  
Figueiredo ◽  
Valente ◽  
Vihinen ◽  
Nieto-Romero

In recent decades, European rural development policies have transitioned toward a more place-based approach. This claim rests on the assumption that the diversity of resources within rural areas can be a potential source for place-shaping practices and sustainability. Moreover, this shift away from a top-down sectorial toward a more territorial focus has also shed light on the importance of agency, relations, and how people engage. Many rural areas in Europe, and particularly in Portugal, have seen a withdrawal of focus away from agriculture toward more diversified activities, where place-based approaches can untap local potential, stimulate sustainable place-shaping practices, and create significant well-being. However, some rural communities have difficulties in capitalizing on them due to unfavorable demographics such as depopulation and aging, a focus on traditional industries, and a lack of technical knowledge. The aim of the article is to discuss the role of place-based policies for enabling place-shaping practices revolving around traditional resources in rural areas and their contribution to sustainability. The study briefly highlights the recent debate around European rural development policies and illustrates their implementation through place-shaping practices via a case study in a Portuguese rural village—Várzea de Calde. The village revalorized itself and is trying to tackle marginalization processes through its traditional linen, which is a local material and immaterial resource, via collective agency and a strong sense of identity. The case study will provide empirical insights in discussing the effects of sustainable place-shaping practices stimulating by place-based policy instruments. Our conclusions highlight the positive contributions toward sustainability through improvements in social (e.g., identity) and economic well-being.

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 15-21
Author(s):  
Miklós Pakurár ◽  
Judit Oláh ◽  
András Nábrádi

New Sources of Employment to Promote the Wealth-Generating Capacity of Rural Communities (acronym: RuralJobs) is a collaborative research project partly funded under the European Commission Research and Development 7th Framework Program. The Rural Jobs consortium consists of partners drawn from eight European Union (EU) countries (Bulgaria, France, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Romania, Spain and UK). The project began on February 2008 and finished in October 2010. RuralJobs quantified labour market, demographic and economic trends, and the impact of employment creation measures and policies in seven, representative “reference areas” across the EU, and used the information to demonstrate how rural development measures can be better targeted and how rural development policies should evolve.We identified labour market, demographic and economic trends in rural areas across EU-27 and the potential for newsources of employment outside traditional primary and secondary sector activities, and examined the interaction between different types of rural area (peri-urban, remote, high environmental/amenity value etc.). We identified employment growth areas where rural development programmes can be targeted to increase their contribution to employment creation. Our strategic objectives were the following: review of employment policies and programmes, scenarios for new sources of employment according to rural typologies, recommendations for better targeting of strategies, dissemination and mainstreaming. The main outcome expected is that the results will allow a better targeting of rural development measures and future evolution of rural development policies in line with the Lisbon Strategy.


2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcello De Rosa ◽  
Gerard McElwee

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to provide an analysis of the adoption of Rural Development Policies (Rdp) as the result of entrepreneurial behaviours carried out by family farms with a focus on the Lazio Region of Italy. Family farming is the backbone of the European model of agriculture. Rdp provide family farms with a set of opportunities which, if well exploited, could drum up farm’s development. Design/methodology/approach – An empirical analysis of a data base provided by the Lazion region of Italy on the adoption of Rdp by family farms in the Lazio region for the period of 2007-2013. Cluster analysis is the main analytical tool used. Findings – The results evidence significant differences in the adoption of rural policy on the basis of family life cycle and the composition of the family farm. The empirical analysis underlines the low degree of coherence by farms located in rural areas. Practical implications – Farmers’ success in accessing funds requires them to be proactive and take a strategic perspective to convince funders that they have a coherent strategy which meets the requirements of the particular Rdp which they are trying to access. Social implications – In terms of policy, a more nuanced understanding of the entrepreneurial nature of some practices in a rural setting and how they require multi-agency investigation. Originality/value – The paper is unique, in that it considers the consumption of policy by farmers who are entrepreneurial in their vision. By consumption of Rdp, we mean the farmer’s strategic capability to obtain funds from regional funding pots for rural development.


2021 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 9-37
Author(s):  
Lucas Olmedo ◽  
Mara van Twuijver ◽  
Mary O’Shaughnessy ◽  
Alan Sloane

Abstract There is a growing recognition of the role that social enterprises play in rural areas. In Ireland this is formally acknowledged in recent social enterprises and rural development policies which commit to developing a suite of supports to realise the potential of social enterprises and strengthen their contribution to place-based sustainable rural development. However, these policies offer a generalised approach to social enterprises, compounded to date by the considerable gaps in our knowledge of these organisations. The main purpose of this article is to fill a gap in our understanding of Irish rural social enterprises. Using Defourny & Nyssens’ meso-level framework (2017), this paper presents an analysis of surveys completed by 258 Irish rural social enterprises. Our findings illustrate five clusters which represent different types of Irish rural social enterprises. The findings confirm the validity of applying a meso-level approach for capturing in-country heterogeneity within the social enterprise sector and for informing policy supports for these significant actors in place-based sustainable rural development.


1992 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-116
Author(s):  
Joyce E. Allen

A discussion of rural development policy could focus on a number of issues surrounding the economic well-being of rural communities and rural residents. Research shows that rural America is experiencing many problems including widespread stagnation in job creation, reduced rates of population growth, substantial outmigration, and underdeveloped human resources (Brown et al.). According to Rasmussen, the first rural development efforts (e.g., improving physical characteristics of rural areas) met with quick and quantifiable success, but unemployment, persistent poverty, and inadequate housing may be more intractable.


Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 280 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Francisco Rangel-Preciado ◽  
Francisco M. Parejo-Moruno ◽  
Esteban Cruz-Hidalgo ◽  
Francisco J. Castellano-Álvarez

The strategy of the institutionalization and development of business agglomerations, in any of its analytical aspects (industrial district, local production system, cluster, etc.), has not had great results in Spanish regions with low business-density, probably due to the difficulty of finding an adequate implementation framework in administrative, geographic, and institutional terms. Based on the limitations presented by the identification methodologies of business agglomerations in low business-density territories, in this work we propose some methodological corrections that allow for reconciling these economic realities with the institutional and geographical framework offered by the local action groups (LAGs). This reconciliation is a useful tool to take advantage of the economies of agglomeration and, consequently, to explore the possibilities of endogenous development in rural areas, so that it can be a factor to take into account when planning and executing the public strategy of local and rural development. Finally, the results obtained for the specific case of Extremadura, the only Spanish region listed as a less developed one in European rural development policies, are presented.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hà Triệu Huy

In the era of modernization and international integration, Vietnam must tackle the relation between cultural identity and traditional and modern development which are very important today. Vietnam’s culture not only is created by Viet people but ethnic minorities play a key role to diversify national identity. Thereby, researching village structure, social organization, and customs of the northern mountainous villages is very important. Researching traditional village models plays a key role to preserve positive values of minority culture, simultaneously, some proposed policies of modern villages may be applied for villages which lie in remote areas in Vietnam. This is a repercussion of the policy of making rural areas closer to urban areas and eliminating the disparity between the rich and the impoverished, cultural differences, and consolidating the national solidarity. Due to that, it is proposed to develop new rural development policies for the Northwest ethnic minorities in Vietnam. Because of the word limit of the article only the Mong people and the Thai people are the main case studies.


Author(s):  
Dr. Boidurjo Mukhopadhyay

This paper reviews how renewable energy applications in rural areas could reduce poverty, create income generating enterprises, and improve overall well-being of communities. In addition to highlighting a wide range of cases from developing countries, the research also points out to multifarious applications of solar energy technologies for rural development. The conventional myths that the poor cannot afford nor manage smart technologies are not true, as evidenced in the cases presented in this paper. Another objective of this paper is to highlight and emphasise the role of institutions, both formal and informal, with their nested partnerships in supporting, promoting and enhancing the use renewable energy technology-based solutions in rural communities of developing and emerging (BRICs) economies. KEY WORDS: solar energy, climate change, renewable energy, rural development, energy-poverty, sustainability, institutions, livelihoods, capacity building


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 205031211985040 ◽  
Author(s):  
Subash Thapa ◽  
Shivani Bhattarai ◽  
Arja R Aro

Objective: Unhealthy menstrual practices and the contexts surrounding them should be explored and clearly understood; this information could be useful while developing and implementing interventions to increase hygienic practices during menstruation and consequently increase health and well-being of women. Therefore, this study was conducted to explore traditional menstrual practices and the contextual factors surrounding the practices in the rural communities of far-western Nepal. Methods: This was a qualitative case study conducted in the Achham district of Nepal. Semi-structured interviews were conducted among four women, three men and two female community health volunteers to collect data and thematic analysis was performed to analyze the data. Results: We found two commonly reported menstrual practices: seclusion practice (Chhaupadi) and separation practice. In the Chhaupadi practice, women are secluded to stay in a small shed away from the house and restricted to wash or take a bath in public water sources for 5–7 days of the periods, whereas in the separation practice, women can stay in the house, but they still have several restrictions. The contextual factors that were reported to influence the cultural practices are as follows: cultural beliefs that symbolize menstruation as impure, menstrual stigma, poverty, illiteracy, the influence of traditional healers and family members, and limited effect of Chhaupadi elimination interventions. We also found that some development in the reduction of cultural myths and practices is happening, but the rate of change is rather slow. Conclusion: Most of the Nepalese women, especially in the rural areas of far-western Nepal, are forced to follow the harmful menstrual practices because of the socio-cultural context surrounding their lives. We believe the findings of this study would be relevant in terms of developing and implementing further menstrual health-related, community-based interventions that will be responsive to the local cultural context, beliefs, and practices.


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