Inovação Sustentável: o caso do fruto nativo do cerrado – Cumbaru – no assentamento Andalucia (Mato Grosso do Sul) ## Sustainable Innovation: the case of the cerrado native fruit – Cumbaru – in the Andalucia settlement (Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil)

A maior preocupação em promover o Desenvolvimento Sustentável (DS) tem levado à ascensão das inovações sustentáveis, entendidas como as que integram benefícios ambientais, sociais e econômicos, e como diferencial competitivo. Em Mato Grosso do Sul, os abundantes frutos nativos do Cerrado, como o cumbaru, têm sido fonte de renda para famílias, contribuindo para a conservação da biodiversidade. O extrativismo do cumbaru no Assentamento Andalucia, em Nioaque (MS) ocorre desde 2005, onde a sua produção conquistou certificação do Instituto Biodinâmico (IBD) e foi criado o Centro de Produção Pesquisa e Capacitação do Cerrado (CEPPEC). O objetivo desta pesquisa foi descrever como são as caraterísticas das inovações sustentáveis na castanha de cumbaru no Assentamento Andalucia. Por meio de um estudo de caso, apoiado em entrevistas, observação e pesquisa documental, levantaram-se as inovações de produto e processo relacionadas à castanha; verificou-se existência de inovação aberta; identificaram-se inovações referentes à rotulagem ambiental; classificaram-se as inovações identificadas e associaram-se as inovações classificadas às dimensões fundamentais do DS. A extração e produção da castanha de cumbaru é hoje uma das atividades que impulsiona a vida dos assentados como importante complemento de renda. A própria castanha de cumbaru é entendida como uma inovação e o conhecimento adquirido, especialmente na parceria com outras instituições, incluindo universidade, permeou a inovação aberta e sustentável, associada a outros tipos de inovação. O estudo reforça as evidências de outros estudos em organizações rurais do cerrado brasileiro e contribui para o fortalecimento do campo da inovação aberta e sustentável em países em desenvolvimento como o Brasil.ABSTRACTThe growing concern in promoting Sustainable Development (SD) has led to the rise of sustainable innovations, understood as innovations that integrate environmental, social, and economic benefits, as well as a competitive differential. In the state of Mato Grosso do Sul (MS) (Brazil), abundant native fruits of the Cerrado, such as cumbaru, have been a source of income for families, contributing to the conservation of biodiversity. Cumbaru has been extracted since 2005 in the Andalucia Settlement, Nioaque (MS), where its production was certified by the Instituto Biodinâmico (IBD) and was created the Cerrado Research and Training Production Center (CEPPEC). This study investigated the sustainable characteristics of innovations in cumbaru chestnut in the Andalucia Settlement. We conducted a case study, supported by interviews and observations, to study process innovations related to cumbaru chestnut. The existence of open innovation was observed. Innovations related to environmental labeling were identified, which were classified and associated to the fundamental dimensions of SD. The extraction and production of cumbaru chestnut is currently one of the activities that propels living conditions of settlers of Andalucia, as an important income supplement. The cumbaru chestnut itself is understood as an innovation for the settlers and the knowledge acquired, mainly in partnership with other institutions, such as university, based on open and sustainable innovation, associated with another types of innovation. The study reinforces the results of other studies in rural organizations in Brazilian cerrado and contributes to the strengthening of studies on open and sustainable innovation in developing countries like Brazil.

A Study on the Residents’ Attitudes towards Tourism: Also on the Tobacco Problem in Fengjian Watertown

Community residents are an important factor influencing the sustainable development of rural tourism destinations, and the attitudes of residents in tourism destinations have a significant impact on the development of rural tourism. This paper takes Fengjian Watertown, Shunde District, Foshan City as an example. It designs a scale from three dimensions including social capital, sense of place, and heritage protection, uses questionnaire surveys and in-depth interviews to study the residents’ attitudes towards tourism, puts forward four hypotheses and verifies them one by one. It also extracts the representative ideas of residents from in-depth interviews and finds some problems in the development of tourism in Fengjian Watertown: complex attitudes of residents towards tourism, mentality imbalance of residents caused by capital intervention, no mutual complementation between tourism and business formats, weak cohesion of residential communities, losing trust in grassroots rural organizations, etc., And found that rural tourist destinations did not properly ban smoking in public places.

Characterization of Rural Organizations in a Forest-Based Economy: A Socio-Institutional Approach

We used a socio-institutional approach to characterize rural organizations in forest-based communities in North West Tunisia. This approach builds on the imperatives of a social system, the conservation of rural capital, and the role of social capital. The resulting model was used to characterize rural organizations based on key socio-institutional attributes. The paper used a Participatory Rural Appraisal (focus groups mainly) to conduct in-depth analysis in nine forest communities. Results reveal the following : 1) in Development Committees there is a strong belief in state intervention and moderate natural capital appropriation, weak conflict management, weak capacity to sanction, and low trust in the organization; 2) in active Agricultural Development Groups there exists a strong potential for conflict management, trust in the organization, and natural capital appropriation, but a lower level of degradation responsibility and capacity to sanction; and 3) in the Inactive Agricultural Development Groups there is the strongest perception of state intervention and overall weak performances in terms of conflict management, trust in organization, and degradation responsibility. These features indicate the organization’s attributes for sustainable local development and specifically for common forest resources management.

Social Classes and Capital Accumulation in Recent Argentina: The 2008 Agrarian Conflict

In March 2008, the passage of a law to amend grain export taxes in Argentina led to a clash between rural organizations and the national administration. Given its characteristics and political consequences, this clash was one of the most significant events of the Kirchnerist administrations and one of the most outstanding agrarian conflicts in Argentine history. An analysis of it in the context of Argentina’s specific pattern of capital accumulation, in which land appropriation by the industrial sector is significant in explaining valorization capacity, shows how economic determinations affected the political actions of the pertinent social subjects and how the conflict was resolved in favor of the rural bloc. En marzo de 2008, la aprobación de una ley para modificar los impuestos a la exportación de granos en Argentina condujo a un enfrentamiento entre las organizaciones rurales y la administración nacional. Dadas sus características y consecuencias políticas, este choque fue uno de los más significativos durante las administraciones kirchneristas y uno de los conflictos agrarios más destacados de la historia argentina. Un análisis del mismo en el contexto del patrón específico de acumulación de capital en la Argentina, en el que la apropiación de la renta de la tierra por parte del sector industrial ayuda a explicar la capacidad de valorización, da cuenta de cómo los factores económicos afectaron las acciones políticas de sujetos sociales pertinentes y cómo fue que se resolvió el conflicto a favor del bloque rural.

Déjà Vu?

The 1980s saw a grassroots movement that capitalized on the disintegration of collective institutions and the weakening of the planned economy to reclaim religious sites in Rui’an and Wenzhou, a highly symbolic moment that reversed the trend of destruction and expropriation of traditional ritual space since 1898. Yet the movement was not just about religion. It occurred as a social response to a larger issue—the instability of property rights during decollectivization—and has dramatically revitalized traditional rural organizations. The co-option and repackaging of Elderly People Associations (EPAs) as a proxy for temple reclamation allowed local residents to reinvent communal religion, circumventing the problem of legality and securing a stable existence for territorial temples. However, local EPAs have grown beyond their early role as a cover for religious activities. As they grow socially and economically, drawing retired cadres and other village elites, they are moving toward the center of village politics.

Construcción participativa de modelos de negocios en organizaciones rurales

This article exposes the tool “Model your easy business” for the construction of participatory business models in rural organizations, based on the characteristics of the rural context in Colombia. The tool is part of the Runin-Ruta methodology for the success of innovative rural businesses-, which integrates four tools that make it easier for organizations to enter specialized markets that demand added value in their products. The theoretical foundation of the tool is based on authors such as Osterwalder and Pigneur (2010), Ries (2011), Maurya (2014), Blank and Dorf (2012), who propose the principles of business models that are based on Lean Japanese Manufacturing, a management model that arises from the culture adopted by Japanese companies that aimed to implement improvements in the manufacturing plant based on efficiency, speed and agility in decision-making in the face of changes in the market. In the methodological design the research approach - action or mode 2 was used, in which the community, in addition to being the object of research, participates and influences the results according to their needs, as part of the conclusions the need is highlighted to carry out processes of adaptation of methodologies related to the business models that were created and validated in contexts of Europe and the United States; with the purpose of achieving effective results in the Colombian rural context.

Home and Community-Based Service Organizations’ Capacity for and Experiences With Quality Improvement Initiatives

Few studies have examined quality improvement (QI) initiatives among home and community-based service (HCBS) providers. Study objectives were to (1) examine HCBS organizations’ QI capacity, (2) explore organizational differences in providers’ QI experiences, and (3) explore the impact of a state’s QI initiatives on providers’ efforts. A survey assessing HCBS providers’ experiences and QI capacity was administered. Overall, respondents reported a moderate amount of previous QI experience. In terms of QI capacity, smaller and rural organizations were more likely to report inadequate support for project implementation ( p < .05). Larger organizations were more likely to report challenges with staffing. Smaller organizations reported less of a perceived impact of the state’s initiative ( p < .05). Smaller and rural providers need individualized support to overcome lack of QI experience and resources.