Risultati per " Development"

Towards an integrated tourism model for Campania. Local tourism and the Cilento area. – The 2019 health emergency has produced severe impacts on the tourist economy. The first signs of a recovery in the sector came from short-range and short-term trips to uncrowded locations later defined as “proximity tourism”. In Campania, some of these small villages are distributed in the hinterland of geographical areas peripheral to the main relational circuits, such as the Cilento National Park district. This area has great attraction, as it is a short distance from the Salerno coast. Starting from this consideration, the contribution intends to focus attention on the current configuration and future prospects of the sea routes that connect the coastal capitals of Campania to the numerous coastal centers of Campania. Then, reflecting on the possible interactions between “proximity tourism” and “foreign tourism”, in development in the post-pandemic phase, the contribution pays attention to the phenomenon of the rediscovery of the attractiveness of smaller villages, to show how an intensification of maritime routes can contribute to sustainable tourism development, not only from a “proximity” perspective, but by intervening in the rebalancing of the regional tourist movement.
The case study of Bitti (Sardinia): Risk perception and local best practices. – In alignment with Goal 13 of the UN 2030 Agenda, strengthening risk awareness within local communities can provide a framework for effective citizenship in managing extreme weather and climate events. In Sardinia, the community of Bitti (an inland area in the province of Nuoro, northeastern Sardinia) experienced a devastating flood in 2020. In response, local institutions and the community demonstrated resilience and implemented sound institutional practices. Following a field survey initiated through meetings with local authorities, this work presents the results of research aimed at understanding the risk perception among the municipality’s population. This insight aims to support the future implementation of participatory processes and citizen science tools designed to foster the development of communities resilient to meteorological disasters.
Beyond the Anthropocene: Industry 5.0 for Territorial Co-Design. – The present proposal, which has its basis on the concept of territorial co-design in connection with the possibilities of the Industry 5.0, aims to understand how this revolution can help geography with new instruments in order to ac-tively take part in the debate about ecology; and re-think the ways we live the territory and in the territory. The context is that of the global challenges that grip us, as climate change and geopolitical transformations. The proposal examines some works of global leaders, such as AVEVA Industrial Software, and of some important authors, like Kate Raworth with her concept of Doughnut Economics. The focus will be on the re-organization of territory in a way that can be sustainable, resilient and human-centric – as the three principles of Industry 5.0 are framed as.
Major sporting events, discussed legacies and host destination transformations. –Among the various interpretations with which one can look at events, one possibility is to understand their legacy, understood as what remains in the territory at the end of the event itself in terms of symbols and values, or structures and systems; and if this legacy often becomes more important than the event itself. The article aims to examine the case of the Barcolana, an annual sailing event and regatta that takes place in the Gulf of Trieste. It is one of the largest and most famous sailing regattas in Europe and the world. The regatta attracts thousands of participants and spectators, mak-ing it a significant cultural and sporting event in the region. The Barcolana is known for its unique format, which involves a mass start in which hundreds of boats of various sizes and classes participate in a single regatta. Almost eighteen hundred boats were registered for the fifty-fifth edition last year. The event lasts a week with events on land and at sea, as well as the sailing competition which takes place on Sunday. After a review of the literature relating to the topic under study, through a qualitative methodology the factors that together create those effects, often positive but not only, on the territories involved in the event were analysed. The “on the move” interviews with some event participants were useful for understanding the involvement and quality of the event itself, and how to guarantee its continuous and gradual development.
The bitumen mine of Monte Camicia (Gran Sasso - Abruzzi): a geosite to develop. – The presence of geological and historical landmarks on the southern slopes of Monte Camicia (Gran Sasso Massif, Abruzzo, Italy) makes this area a candidate for site development and preservation. This paper aims to illustrate the links between geology and the history of the area, to highlight its societal value. Key features are three Aragonese coat-of-arms engraved in limestone boulders or on limestone cliffs and the “Miniera di Lignite”, a bitumen extraction plant that was built but never in operation. The story of the geological studies in the area – dating back at least to the first half of the 1800s is summarized, including the tragic events that led to the death of three geologists who were researching in the area in 1958. In conclusion, it is suggested that the area become a geosite in connection with the development of the Fonte Vetica and Campo Imperatore areas.
Climate change as an opportunity for a new “habitability” of the mountains: the Orobic massif system. – Rising temperatures in many cities are altering their habitability, leading to the return of urban populations to the countryside and generating new opportunities for mountain areas. To trigger a new habitability of these areas, it is necessary to have a more correct geo-historical and territorial reading of them. Geo-historical and territorial interpretation based on the systemic culture of massive and the reticularity between different valleys. The Orobic Massif is an exemplary case of such dynamics and leads to the development of a change of perspective, bringing to light the material and intangible heritage still widely diffused and contrasting its valley disarticulation. To guarantee the habitability of the mountain it is also necessary to activate co-designing actions that transform the inhabit-ants into stakeholders in the role of planners and evaluators. The contri-bution presents the first results emerging from the research conducted by the authors within the framework of the PRIN 2022: “Governance for mountain reticularity: co-design and activation of a “contratto d’abitare” for the territorial regeneration of the Seriana Valley”.
The participatory process of community tourism in Oscata for the enhancement of Alta Irpinia. - Tourism is one of the most disruptive phenomena on a global scale, both as concerns intensity in terms of the flows of people it moves and for the economic, social and environmental transformations it brings. The exploitation of territorial resources and the effects tourism produces can at times result irreversible on the environmental system of reference. This element has often been underestimated by the tourism industry remaining unable to prevent the negative consequences of mass tourism which, on the one hand, damages resources and, on the other, corrodes the socio-territorial fabric. Consequently, a rethinking of the processes of development in the sector is necessary from the perspective of sustainability through local community participation.
The paper, based on the experience of Oscata, a rural village situated in Alta Irpinia, aims to reflect on alternative forms of tourism such as community tourism which welcomes visitors offering them hospitality underpinned by emotional and culturally interesting involvement thus triggering integration and participation in the local community's routine activities and mainstream social events.
Mountain Villages and Resources for Sustainable Development: The Role of Traditional Water Systems in the Tourism-Cultural Ecosystem in Oman. – Prior to the advent of the Coronavirus pandemic, the Hajar Mountains, which are renowned for their distinctive peaked hills (Jebel Akhdar and Jebel Shams), were primarily frequented by the local community. However, recent years have seen a significant rise in international visitors, particularly to the mountain villages of northern Oman, known for their unique natural and cultural heritage. Key elements include the wadis, seasonal riverbeds, and the aflaj, ancient irrigation channels crucial for agriculture and daily life. Among the most significant aflaj are Falaj al-Khatmeen (Birkat Al Mouz) and Falaj Daris (Nizwa), both UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Despite their cultural value, these sites experience short tourist stays, usually not exceeding two days. This study explores tourist flows, visitor motivations, and local tour guides’ perspectives, using archival research, field surveys, and semi-structured interviews. The findings highlight the need for a new tourism strategy, shifting from a transit-based model to a sustainable tourism approach. Proposed itineraries integrating Birkat Al Mouz and Nizwa aim to extend tourist stays, enhance engagement with the region’s cultural and natural assets, and generate lasting economic benefits for local communities. By promoting responsible tourism, this study advocates for the protection of UNESCO sites, cultural heritage preservation, and the active involvement of local populations in tourism development.
The global south as a transcalar geopolitical construction site: african profiles. – The last two years, with the post-Covid adjustments, the climate transition and two ongoing wars of global impact, have been marked by intense international attention towards the African continent, despite its vastness and diversity. On the one hand, this may please Africans, for the help that can come to the solution of their many problems; on the other hand, it worries them, given the historical precedents. There seems to be a new scramble for Africa underway due to the crumbling of the European and, more broadly, Western presence, against the backdrop of a more general reshuffling of the international order. In this reshuffling, the “Global South” seems to be playing an increasingly important role. Who will lead and how will the world’s economic, cultural and political evolution unfold? The game is complex, but Africa is certainly one of the main arenas of contention. As an immense reserve of raw materials - minerals, energy, agro-forestry - the Continent is emerging as the world’s leading area of demographic development while acquiring growing geopolitical relevance, due to the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian crisis, the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, but also, due to the conflicting profiles that are emerging in the Indo-Pacific, between China and the United States. In this fermenting context, heterogeneous events have taken place over the past couple of years (2023/24) that have recorded an impressive acceleration: two coups in Francophone Africa, three world summits that evoke a pan-African partnership (Russia-Africa, China-Africa, Piano Mattei), two geopolitical summits in Johannesburg and Nairobi (unified African position on climate change, September 2023). It is worth trying to trace a coherent geopolitical profile of this heterogeneous set of events.
Il 10 e l’11 novembre 2022 si è tenuto a Firenze il convegno internazionale Cultural Heritage in Fragile Contexts. Development Cooperation in Afghanistan and Neighboring Countries, un momento di confronto tra ricercatori e operatori della cooperazione sulle relazioni tra tutela del patrimonio culturale e possibili attivazioni di processi di sviluppo sostenibile in contesti fragili. Le discussioni svoltesi in quell’occasione e le ricerche sul terreno, soprattutto in Afghanistan, sono all’origine del libro.
The new opportunities offered by immersive and inclusive technologies to represent and rediscover the complex relationship between human communities and water resources. – In order to know, represent and interpret the complex relationship between water landscapes and human communities the new technologies (immersive cartography, three-dimensional web, augmented reality, 3D environments) represent extraordinary and functional tools both for research and for territorial information and promotion actions in terms of tourism. Evidence of this is the project “Tourist Itineraries to Discover the Waters of Italy”, conceived and promoted by the GECOAGRI LANDITALY Interuniversity Research Group Association and financed by ACEA, aimed at promoting a process of water resource enhancement in the dimension of environmental, economic and social sustainability. The authors through some exemplifications and using a methodology of operational analysis, characterized by new syntaxes, reconstruct with the help of augmented reality and immersive technologies, as well as the canonical geocartographic and documentary sources, the material and immaterial dimension of the water resource in the Conca reatina, Umbilicus Italiae, where the sociocultural dynamics underlying the relationship between water and population, narrate experiences of vulnerability and development, participation and conflict, protection and threat. Through 10 ten interactive and implementable totem-stations, it is possible to embark on an inclusive and participatory journey that allows people to explore even inaccessible places. Not only video and audio, historical and thematic cartographies, photos and three-dimensional images, but also drone shots from which to observe from above what nature and culture have achieved and, if necessary, to land in particular places reconstructed through augmented reality that allows one to observe them as they were and as they are today, making clear the processes of transformation of which signs and sedimentations remain in the landscape palimpsest.
Proximity tourism. The perception of locations as rediscovery and development of local destinations. – The Covid-19 pandemic fundamentally reshaped the concept of mobility across the globe. People had to rethink their own lives and above all their usual mobility spaces. After restrictions, people could move to nearby rediscovering a proximity tourism which is characterized by an increased emphasis on local and regional experiences. It reflects a desire for safer, more sustainable, and easily accessible travel options, as tourists prioritize health concerns, lower carbon footprints, and less crowded environments. In this article we are going to understand how some locations have been changed due to pandemic and which geographical transformation have experienced.
Comparative Experiences of Equestrian Sports Events in the Metropolitan Area of Rome. – Sports events offer an opportunity for regeneration, visibility, and international repositioning for the hosting territories as they can lead to the creation of cultural districts, displaying the territory’s self-representation and specialization. While these events require significant organizational and financial commitments, they also present strategic opportunities with various effects, such as economic diversification and cultural enrichment. This study examines the territorial impacts of two equestrian sports events in the Rome metropolitan area: the 2022 World Equestrian Games and the Piazza di Siena horse show. Despite
performing the same sport discipline, these events have different economic, social, and environmental impacts, as well as varying dynamics related to managing territorial conflicts. The reflection aims to analyse how to reconcile the goals of tourism-economic development and environmental protection in areas with significant natural value, by identifying programmatic actions and best practices.
Strategic planning and local tourism: the case of Grecìa Salentina. – The XXVI edition of the Report on Italian Tourism from the Institute of Sciences of Cultural Heritage of the National Research Council (CNR ISPC) revealed that in 2022 (Marasco et al., 2023), out of the 70.1 billion euros spent by Italian tourists within the country, only 15.2 billion euros remained within the visitors' home regions. This marked a decrease of about 0.5 percentage points compared to 2019, showing a negative trend for local tourism. Despite this, proximity tourism shows strong potential, especially in marginal and inland areas, which can contribute to these places' development and cultural awareness. To achieve this, it is important to integrate local tourism into a long-term process led by the local community, emphasizing environmental, cultural, economic, and social sustainability as outlined in Agenda 2030. This approach is exemplified by the Strategic Plan for Tourism Development for the Union of Municipalities of the Grecìa Salentina, which aims to promote sustainable tourism.

The Italian Unesco Biosphere Reserves and proximity (eco)tourism: What are the criticalities and possibilities? – During the pandemic, outdoor recreational practices received particular attention and saw an increase in the number of users, especially in areas close to everyday life, as it was considered accessible, safe and “natural”. However, tourism negatively affects the climate and environment, highlighting the complex relationship between humans and nature in the Anthropocene. Reducing travel distances or using environmentally friendly transportation is not enough. Despite greater integration of nature and culture, the idea of unspoilt nature that must be preserved persists, encouraging the commodification of nature. UNESCO Biosphere Reserves seek to overcome this dichotomy by promoting conservation alongside sustainable development and involving local communities. By analyzing three Italian reserves, we assess the proximity tourism that occurs there, how these dichotomies are addressed, and whether they can mitigate the negative impacts of tourism. The research shows that success depends on the actors involved, community participation, and more explicit management of tourism by the MAB reserves.

Water resources as an engine of local development: the case of the “water villages” of Rasiglia and Borghetto. – There are several cities have made water their hall-mark of tourist attractiveness and socio-economic development. In Italy, this category includes all the large coastal cities (such as Venice, Naples, Cagliari or Palermo) or those crossed by large rivers (Bologna, Florence, Rome), the centers that have sprung up on the edges of large lakes (Riva del Garda, Bolsena, Bracciano, etc. ) or those known because they are linked to the presence of hot springs (Saturnia, Montecatini, Fiuggi Acqui, etc.), but also the localities that bear precisely the title of “water village” and thus make it a distinctive and characteristic element. It is precisely these small and charming villages, hamlets of municipalities in inland areas, scattered in the various regions of Italy that over time have been able to enhance water both as a landscape element but also as an element of production and economic development, that are the subject of this contribution. Among these, the cases of Rasiglia and Borghetto will be analyzed to describe the role that technology in the past has played in building the relationship of these localities with water, the role it has today and could have in the next future to contribute to their path toward building a circular economy and thus sustainable development.
Re-think Rome, re-generate the peripheries. The Jubilee 2025. – The importance of major events for the territorial development of Rome highlights how they have influenced urban planning choices throughout history. Rome has alternated between positive and cautious approaches toward such events over time. In particular, the Jubilee, whether in its regular or extraordinary programming, demands a planning approach that balances Rome’s identity as both a capital and an apostolic seat. The Jubilee 2025 offers an opportunity to rethink and regenerate the urban development of Rome, not only in the central neighborhoods but also in the peripheries. This contribution focuses on the urban planning project for Jubilee 2025, with particular emphasis on the southeastern quadrant of the city, to evaluate whether the proposed actions can effectively address the socio-territorial challenges faced by areas such as Tor Vergata and Tor Bella Monaca.
Remote, inner, left behind? The actors, social infrastructures and multivelevel governance of remote habitability. – This paper focuses on the assemblage of material and immaterial infrastructures, actors and multilevel policies that enhance (or impair) what we define as “remote habitability” in left-behind, remote areas. Applying the ethnographic sensitivity urged by Tomaney et al. (2024) for understanding in-depth the “making, unmaking and remaking” of contested social infrastructures in left-behind places, we present theoretical reflections and empirical evidence that draw upon a multisite fieldwork in the municipalities that compose the “Gran Sasso-Valle Subequana” subgroup within the Italian “National Strategy for Inner Areas” national policy framework (SNAI). The archival research, semi-structured inter-views and empirical observations that engaged institutional and non-institutional actors let emerge patterns of action, discourse and perception of social infrastructures and resources that are necessary for grappling with the identification and conceptualization of “remote habitability”.
Urban green spaces as proximity tourism destinations: the potential of the Maredolce - La Favara complex between care practices and heritage enhancement. – Proximity tourism allows residents to experience familiar places in new ways and to perceive otherness in an elsewhere that does not imply distance. In urban settings, green spaces offer an evocative appeal that can be emphasized when combined with interest in the presence of heritage emergencies. Therefore, it is possible to reflect on the potential of green areas in urban settings and the implications for tourism and sustainability challenges. Green spaces in cities generate crucial connections that strengthen communities while contributing to local development. This article aims to analyze the role of heritage communities in the care and enhancement of urban green spaces as destinations with the aim of promoting critical tools useful for more equitable and sustainable planning of green space enhancement strategies for tourism. This research explores the case of the Maredolce - La Favara complex (Palermo) with a qualitative methodology that included participant observation and field survey. The green space is subject to processes of care put in place for decades by a group of inhabitants who work for the enhancement and involvement of the area in the representation and governance policies of the city. The processes and dynamics related to the context under study are analyzed to highlight how heritage walks, as effective practices of proximity tourism, can contribute to sustainable urban development that enhances local in-stances of signification and affective belonging to places.
Territorial gap and sustainability of tourism in Italy. Proximity tourism as a possibility? – Tourism is one of the most relevant factor of impact on development and sustainability. In Italy tourism generated strong territorial gaps, as we’ll show through several maps of tourism densities, migration dynamic, house rents and basic services levels of accessibility. This paper is aimed to discuss the near-home tourism as a possible key of sustainable development, with particular focus on Apennines in Lazio and Abruzzo regions.
Proximity tourism in a peripheral area: the case of the Pistoia mountains. – The Pistoia mountains represented the traditional holiday destination for the towns of Pistoia, Florence and Prato that reached its peak in the Seventies and declined in the following decades. However, since the pandemic crisis a flow of tourists has been reborn.
How to transform a temporary event into a permanent new model of tourism? This is the research question of our study.
The paper describes the characteristics of tourist supply and demand, the decline of family-run hotels in favor of B&Bs and the role of proximity tourism.
The study also qualifies the tourism supply by interviewing local operators, managing two focus groups, defining a SWOT analysis. The results can be used for some policy proposals to exploit the strengths of the territory, reduce its weaknesses, seize the opportunities of the sustainable tourism and avoid the threats of the social scenario and climate change.
Territorial education through the rivers. The “Flowing with the rivers” public engagement project. – The contribution reflects on how the value of water resources in the ecological transition can be shared and strengthened through geo-graphical education. In particular, the Public Engagement project “Flow-ing with the rivers”, financed with 48,500 euros by the University of Turin, whose objective was the development of an educational model to sustainably reconstruct the relationships between human communities and territory around water as a resource and fundamental element in all relationships between natural and human systems. The project activities developed between 2021 and 2023, concentrating the action on the territory between Turin and Savigliano, in particular between the Po, Tanaro and Maira rivers, and involved universities, associations, schools with teachers, students and parents, citizens, media and local administrations. The involvement of local communities was considered a basis of geographical education, starting from the idea that through awareness of the ecological, cultural and economic value of rivers it is possible to arrive at a plan for life, care and sustainable development that produces a social and cultural change in the valorization and management of water resources. The interdisciplinary working group, scientifically directed by Cristiano Giorda, involved fifteen researchers from six different departments and scientific areas. The main methodology followed was that of territorial education through outdoor education and place and art based learning activities, ca-pable of territorialising the scientific and artistic dimensions with skills linked to territorial values, landscape, sustainable development -bile and active citizenship.
Remote sensing methods for burnout mapping and burn severity evaluation. The case of Trieste and Gorizia karst area in the summer of 2022. – Human beings are the principal agents of forest fires. In Friuli Venezia Giulia more than 90% of fires are of arson origin although the fire development and impact depend on land cover and weather conditions. During the second half of 2022, a serious fire broke out in Doberdò del Lago and blazed for a good ten days in a transnational karst area among Trieste, Gorizia and Sezana. During the fire, over 4000 hectares of forest went up in smoke. This paper shows the use of Remote Sensing methodology in a GIS environment to measure the effects of the fire, i.e. to map the burnt area. The 2022 event has been assessed by elaborating some pre and post fire ESA Sentinel 2 imagery (Copernicus project). The authors mapped the burnt areas and compared the result with the official mapping, surveyed in the field by the public authorities. They also made a spatial evaluation
Home tourism for a destination proposal: the Prenestini Mountains. – The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a significant shift in tourism patterns, particularly favoring domestic and proximity-based travel. This study investigates the impact of these changes on the Prenestini Mountains, a mountainous area near Rome. By analyzing data on tourism infrastructure, local initiatives, and community engagement, it is explored how the region has adapted to the new tourism landscape. Findings reveal that while the pandemic initially disrupted the tourism industry, it also presented opportunities for local development. The Prenestini Mountains has seen an increase in near-home tourism, particularly among hikers. The study highlights the importance of local products, cultural heritage, and sustainable tourism practices in attracting visitors. Furthermore, it is discussed the role of local communities, institutions, and networks in shaping the region’s tourism future. By leveraging its natural beauty, agricultural heritage, and proximity to Rome, the Prenestini Mountains has the potential to become a destination for sustainable and experiential tourism.
Inland, trails and local tourism as a tool for local development: the case of Centola in Campania. – The municipality of Centola, in Campania, in his hinterland is rich in naturalistic resources, in particular linked to paths and slow routes, which are rather marginal when compared to the popularity of the coastal area. In the framework of a proximity tourism oriented to the rediscovery of less valued resources (paths, green ways, nature trails, etc.), this contribution, through a field survey and the aid of qualitative instruments, investigates the underestimated potential of some paths, located in the immediate surroundings of the most popular coastal attractions in the municipality of Centola. The work aims to understand how the potential of slow and proximity tourism can be seized for the valorisation of the areas investigated in view of new forms of local development
Rationalities and socio-spatial effects of hydraulic infrastructure in Sardinia. – The infrastructural processes of the water system unfold over extended periods, often resulting in nonlinearities within the processes themselves, despite originating as explicit projects aimed at material control over resources and territorial development. These constructions give rise to various interpretations of irrigation systems, intersectoral conflicts, and power struggles among the different actors involved in their management and use. The aim of this article is to engage in dialogue regarding the water infrastructure process in Sardinia, examining its intersection with the different rationales guiding water management and territorial development policies. It highlights both internal and external factors influencing these processes, as well as the significance of historical legacies.
Relational goods, imbalances, and the society-environment relationship. – The interactions between the economy, the environment, and territorial systems form a complex network that influences the structure and development of regions. The reflection is carried out both in relation to imbalances and in the reinterpretation of ecological and socio-spatial relations, collaborative processes, and the organisation and reorganisation of space as relational goods. The issue of territorial imbalances is linked to the question of conflicts within political ecology. The objective of this paper is, therefore, to present a theoretical reflection that aims to deepen the relationship between the economy, the environment, and territorial systems, focusing specifically on relational goods in the context of two spatiotemporal dimensions and referring to a territorial system as an alternative approach. The complexity of the territorial system, therefore, suggests taking into account the communicative and relational interdependencies between local actors, that influence economic growth and sustainable development. Finally, the responsible use of territorial resources requires public policies that reduce spatial inequalities, promote the active participation of territorial actors and the sustainable management of resources as components of local development.
Urban regeneration and tourism in peripheral neighbourhoods: the case of Bagnoli (Naples). – This article deals with the relationship between suburbs, urban regeneration and tourism development by addressing the case of Bagnoli, a former industrial district on the western outskirts of Naples. Bagnoli is a coastal neighbourhood which preserves the dismissed facilities and the social landscape from its industrial past and is still struggling to fully implement a regeneration process that would allow it to regain its ancient tourist vocation. However, the new debate and the new planning ferment that seem to be developing around the issue today perhaps justify cautious optimism: If good intentions are followed by concrete facts, it could actually be possible to get out of this thirty-year impasse and enhance the territorial resources of Bagnoli, which range from sea bathing to thermalism, from traditional to innovative kinds of cultural tourism.
Agreements on the use of water, cooperation, policies and conflicts: river contracts in Italy. – The paper aims to explore the concept of river contract as a tool for participatory management of water resources, analyzing in this context the key role of conservation and management of their naturalness. The main objective of the research is to understand how river contracting can facilitate the conservation, enhancement and transmission of cultural heritage while promoting the sustainable development of local communities. The methodology is based on a review of the available literature on the river contract concept, its role in cultural heritage enhancement, and the need for the geo-mediation phase as an important moment of shared and participatory planning. The results of the research, in addition to highlighting regional differences in the application of River Contracts in Italy, indicate that the river contract although not widespread can act as a catalyst for the management and enhancement of cultural heritage, actively involving local communities in the conservation of their territories. The implications of the research may be useful for scholars, practitioners and institutions interested in the conservation and enhancement of water resources through the implementation of planning strategies by identifying the figure of the geomediator as a facilitator of performative processes.
Proximity tourism and enhancement of the returning artistic-cultural heritage. – In marginal contexts, it is conceivable to think of a reflection on proximity tourism through artistic-cultural initiatives that dialogue with the landscape, highlighting the disparities in development between territories. Within the framework of this approach, the activity of relocating artworks emerges as an innovative strategy to transform the artistic heritage into an engine of revitalization and alternative fruition, while promoting local tourism. This approach is evident in various projects, including that of the MIC called “100 artworks come home”. This initiative aims to return artworks preserved in the deposits of 14 Italian museums, moving them to their places of creation to reconnect them to the historical and cultural context that inspired them. This study aims to explore the potential of this practice, analyzing some experiences to try to understand whether relocation (from the museum to the place of creation or first location) has generated ways of use capable of stimulating tourist dynamics and contributing to the attractiveness of villages and small towns. The lines of reflection that we intend to propose are therefore to seek a possible reading of proximity tourism with a view to enhancing the widespread artistic-cultural heritage and to reason precisely on the link between territory and heritage in terms of reconfiguring the dynamics of concentration (flows, cultural heritage...)
Promoting socio-cultural integration through a sustainable proximity tourism: the case of Pisino and its surroundings. – Istria is a historical region, stretching from the Gulf of Trieste and the Gulf of Quarnaro in the Adriatic Sea and the Julian Alps and the Dinaric Alps. Nowadays it is politically subdivided in three State entities; the largest part beloning to Croatia, the rest to Slovenia (mainly some cities in the coast) and to Italy (mainly the municipalities of Muggia and San Dorligo della Valle). In the past, this territory has been home for many different populations and object of many territorial disputes. This heavy cultural heritage has often caused difficulties of socio-cultural and economic integration.
Pasin, with approximately 9000 inhabitants, is the administrative main city of the region. Located in the centre of Istria, it has been isolated for a long time. Now improvements in transport infrastructure allows it to open to a niche tourism, based on its cultural heritage and its natural attactivenesses.
This paper analyses how a sustainable proximity tourism promotion in the region can contribute to understand the cultural differences, but also the common roots of the people now living in this territory, fostering social and economic development.
Water as a resource and as a value: territories in competition and the need for protection as a strategic tool. – The aime of this work the value of water as a primary good, focusing the attention on the sustainability and value of water as a limited and not infinite resource, to arouse a new awareness. The protection of water resources and aquatic ecosystems is one of the cornerstones of environmental protection. The value of water is the result of both the complex interactions between natural and anthropic factors distributed across the territory, and of their dynamics over time. The Danube region is facing several challenges and a new development protection strategy aimed at promoting economic development and envi-ronmental protection. A truly important step for the protection of biodi-versity and the environment. UNESCO has designated the Danube River as “the first 5-country Biosphere Reserve in the world”. The adhering States undertake to administer with particular attention to resources and sustainable development, with the full involvement of local communities. Is underlined the need for balance taking into account the multiple val-ues of water: biological, social, environmental, symbolic and cultural.
Nearby tourism and local development. The unexpressed potential of the Lazio lakes. – In the last few years, due to global events, traveling has become increasingly complex. These difficulties have produced the birth of a new type of tourism: slow and proximity tourism. A type of tourism directed to nearby and little-known places. a type of tourism looking for outdoor activities, uncontaminated territories, a different way of appreciating local culture and the landscape. The Lazio Region is a large container of this type of tourism: historic villages, religious destinations, typical products and a landscape rich in rivers and lakes. In 2021, ARPA Lazio detected the presence of 20 lakes, different in geomorphological and hydrogeological characteristics, located throughout the regional territory, which are perfect for welcoming tourists looking for slow and proximity tourism. These lakes are exploited for tourism purposes only to a small extent. The objective of this contribution is to start a reflection on what has been done and what should be done, placing lakes at the center of sustainable development projects.
Dantesque Geography as a genre of the Italian geography between nineteenth and twentieth centuries. – In Italian geography between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries developed the “dantesque geography” which appears to be not a mere research topic, but a real genre that shared to characterize the history of the discipline in that period. It is circumscribed nearly by the two sixth centenaries of the Dante’s birth and death or more precisely between the Italian unification and the coming of fascism. The essay reconstruct its origin and development from Covino (1865) to Revelli (1922). The “dantesque geography” dealt with the Dante’s cosmology, geographical and cartographical knowledges, also for the contributions, among others, of Dalla Vedova, Bertacchi, Mori, Magnaghi. Its main purpose, however, is to shape an image of Italy as a natural and linguistic region that present itself as a prophecy and historical legitimation of contemporary Italy and its territorial aspirations and so it produced also some maps of “dantesque Italy”. The theme of the Italian boundaries according Dante, particularly the northeastern border, is therefore central.
The rediscovery of transhumance routes in the Matese area of Campania. Paths and economic chains. – The Matese mountain complex is part of the southern Apennines chain and currently divides the Campania and Molise regions. Inhabited since the pre-Roman age by Samnite people, throughout history it has represented a place of transit between the Campania plain and the Adriatic side. With the establishment and regulation of the Regi Trat-turi in the Aragonese era, part of the ancient walkways that crossed the Matese were used by the shepherds of the Campania side to connect with the main Pescasseroli-Candela sheep track that surrounds the mountain complex in the Molise part. Until the 18th century, sheep breeding and the production of woolen cloths represented among the most important items for the economy of the territories located on the Campania side of Matese. Centers such as Piedimonte d'Alife (today Piedimonte Matese), Cerreto Sannita, Cusano and Morcone based their economic well-being on these activities for a long time, so much so that they are considered among the most active centers of the ancient Kingdom. The purpose of this study is the rediscovery of this network of paths and of the ancient connected economic chains as a fundamental prerequisite for a development proposal for the area, which is currently experiencing a period of profound economic stagnation with consequent depopulation. The methodology used refers to the analysis of historical documentary and cartographic sources and the GIS will be used for the identification and tracing of these paths.
Sustainable Development Goals: the contribution of companies and museums
Transhumance paths in the Tuscan Maremma: community and territorial development. – The practice of transhumance in Tuscany, now reinterpreted beyond its pastoral context, serves as an opportunity for territorial development. The CamBio Via project in Tuscany, for instance, aims to enhance transhumance routes by integrating cultural Heritage and landscape. The decline of transhumance is correlated to socio-economic changes and the abandonment of rural areas, however, projects like CamBio Via seek to preserve and promote this tradition by fostering sus-tainable routes and providing training for shepherds. Transhumance, alt-hough declining, continues to play a crucial role in the relationship be-tween rural life and mountain environments, contributing to biodiversity conservation and sustainable natural resource management. The tourist
valorisation of transhumance routes, as emphasized by initiatives like the Cammini, represents an opportunity to preserve and transmit this ancient rural practice. This overall purpose can be achieved also through means such as short films and documentaries able to narrate its history and current challenges.
Territorial disparities and SNAI criteria: re-thinking the classification criteria of inner peripheral areas– The concept of periphery can be defined at different scales (cities, regions, states) and according to multiple aspects which, over time, have attenuated the meaning of spatial position to favor the condition of socioeconomic marginality. In the regional context, there is a tendency to underline the decline in population and economic competitiveness, and the social decline of a territory in terms of poor relationships, often attributing them to the lack of opportunities and services, other times to poor accessibility. Some of these new meanings have been adopted by the National Strategy for Inner Areas (SNAI in Italian matter), launched in 2012 and revised in 2020, to identify and classify peripheral municipalities, i.e. those municipalities that suffer from the distance from some public basic services offered by the larger cities. This conceptualization has stimulated a large debate on the choice of classification criteria and applied methodology that directly influence the elaboration of territorial rebalancing policies. Considering this debate, the authors of this paper have analyzed the criteria underlying the SNAI classification as a pretext for exploring the different narratives of peripheral areas that have been following one another for several decades, sometimes overlapping, other times integrating and flanking each other. According to all this, the authors propose a revision of SNAI criteria and methodology to consider the accessibility of areas and their resources and endowments, recognizing the inner and peripheral areas as a place of opportunities.
Transhumance for legality: a case study in the Sicily region. – The article discusses the recognition of transhumance as intangible cultural heritage of humanity and its importance in safeguarding and promoting territories. The study focuses on transhumance within the project “Parks, Shepherds, Transhumance, and the Great Ways of Civilization”, highlighting the role of transhumance in driving economic development, even in situations where it has been in decline. The specific study area is Troina, a town located on the Sicilian Island, where transhumance is characterized by the exclusive use of horse breeds, particularly Ragusan donkeys. This practice carries symbolic significance for the municipality and the community involved as it symbolizes the reclaiming of land once controlled by organized crime. The collective practice of transhumance in this particular context reinforces the idea of legality. The study employs a comprehensive approach, including a review of relevant literature, a qualitative methodology involving field interviews with key participants in transhumance, and the analysis of historical and geographical data. Through these methods, the study aims to shed light on the current understanding of this equestrian practice and its impact on the local community.
Cambiamenti socio-spaziali ed economici nel paesaggio rurale del Brasile e Italia. – The present work aims to understand, through qualitative research, the socio-spatial and economic changes in the rural landscape of Brazil and Italy, observing rural tourism as a very strong potential of the rural landscape in the two countries studied. In this sense, the role of landscape is analyzed as a structuring element in rural space which, through its marks left in space, tells the story of different areas over time and contributes to adding material and symbolic value to the development of rural tourism. Therefore, as it is a process that has been occurring worldwide in recent decades, we will identify in a comparative way the different aspects related to rural tourism and landscape in Brazil and Italy. In this sense, in the face of historical-geographical research, we will analyze the main elements of the landscape for Geography and how rural tourism appropriates them for its development, relating it to the socio-spatial and economic aspects of each country.
Dante, Celestino and the Forgiveness: from the Comedy to a destination branding. – Despite references to Celestino V on the Divine Comedy are not clear, the lives of Dante Alighieri and the Pope are certainly intertwined. Dante’s expectations on a spiritual renewal of the Roman Church, disappointed by Celestino’s resignation, seem to find acknowledgment today in a series of actions devoted to promoting his main bequest, the Forgiveness, a new territorial brand that is also serving the purpose to help the territory of L’Aquila recover from the 2009 earthquake, especially in trying to fostering a tourism development around Celestino’s figure.
Geographers and cartographers from Sicily between the 16th and 19th centuries. – The study aims to analyze the development of geo-cartographic culture in Sicily between the 16th and 19th centuries in relation to the evolution of geographical studies in Europe induced by the progress of scientific knowledge and the discovery of new territories, the result of great geographical explorations.
After a brief examination of the affirmation of Geography between the Renaissance and the modern age in the various European countries and in Italy, the study will proceed in the delineation of the development of geo-cartographic culture in Sicily through the examination of the production of Sicilian geographers and cartographers, certainly minors and often misunderstood, active on the island between the 16th and 19th centuries, trying to grasp the most significant aspects in relation to the various events which, over time, have conditioned the island’s culture.
They are often exponents of the local aristocracy and of the clerical class open to culture and relationships with scholars from other countries who, acknowledging scientific progress, devoted themselves to geographical studies and elaborated cartographic surveys no less significant than those produced outside the Isola, certainly stimulated by the desire to know the peculiarities of the island in different historical moments, but sometimes by the need to study and graphically represent the changes induced on the land structure by natural events, such as volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and plagues, or by episodes of war that exploded between the various political forces which tended to impose their power on the island.
Requalification of peripheries with an industrial background: the case-study of Mirafiori in Turin. – The paper intends to develop a reflection, starting from the case of the Mirafiori neighbourhood in Turin, on the role that the peripheries can adopt as a laboratory of transversal innovation in the field of urban design, policy, governance, active citizenship and overall the global themes of Agenda 2030 (United Nations, 2015). The Mirafiori neighbourhood can be highlighted as an emblematic case, since it is an industrial suburb closely connected with the former FIAT (now Stellantis) industrial plant. Over the years, the neighbourhood has suffered a socio-demographic and identity crisis, and over time numerous projects have been launched to address these crises. Participation in European projects insisting on the neighbourhood allows us to be privileged observers and actors for: the re-designing and re-qualification of Mirafiori Sud through the realisation of Nature-based Solutions, useful to strengthen and increase the connection of the food system, a tool for social inclusion and territorial development, as well as to increase the envi-ronmental value of the already existing natural elements; to address activities with a Place-based Education approach, useful in the redesigning of spaces. The analysis of projects settled in Mirafiori is needed in order to assess the possibility of constructing new urban centralities starting from marginal places.
Enhancement policies of sheep tracks network and local development: a renewed challenge for Abruzzo. − Abruzzo cultural landscape has been shaped by the practice of transhumance, which supported the process of urban transformation and economically sustained the social fabric. The inclusion, in 2019, of transhumance in the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritage gave a chance to rethink regional initiatives aimed at defining projects for the enhancement of sheep tracks which testify the will to create new tourist opportunities and to activate broader local development projects. The “Parcovie 2030 - The Transhumance that unites” project fits into this context. The aim of this paper is to verify the progress of this project (with a critical assessment of the role played by governance), considering the potentialities of the territory, also with regard to the demographic and socio-economic capital endowment shown by the areas crossed by these paths.
Bounce-back or new development paths? Some reflections on the concept of generative resilience in the post-pandemic phase. - Bounce-back or new development paths? Some reflections on the concept of generative resilience in the post-pandemic phase. – The concept of resilience, derived from scientific-technological disciplines, has been increasingly used in regional and geographic sciences as an interpretative tool, at territorial level, for analyzing the evolution of crisis situations. In particular, in the period of emergency after the pandemic, the term was widely used in the Italian National Recovery and Resilience Plan, in particular to identify those investments and actions that can promote recovery dynamics after shock and orient places towards new development trajectories. Starting from a theoretical study on the notion of resilience, this work explores the different factors that can influence the ability of systems to react to shocks and to activate new generative practices. Particular attention is given to two components that can affect the dynamics of resilience, especially in peripheral areas: the role of local actors and different forms of agency; the potential connected to socio-technological transformation and digitalization processes.
Beyond the metropolis. The employment trajectories of medium-sized cities in Lombardy, Lazio and Campania (2001-2019). – The importance of medium-sized cities for the cohesion of regional spaces and the promotion of more sustainable development models is often emphasised. However, their evolutionary trajectories are less investigated than those of the metropolises, considered the main hubs of innovation and the knowledge economy. This paper analyses the dynamics of jobs between 2001 and 2019 in a group of 175 medium-sized cities (20,000-200-000 inhabitants) located in Lombardy, Lazio and Campania. Significant differences in employment performance and sectoral specialisation profiles are found, concerning the different insertion of medium-sized cities in the settlement system (polarities and non-polarities of Local Labour Systems). Medium-sized cities have not always been as dynamic as metropolitan poles, which have grown stronger over the last two decades. Furthermore, greater difficulties emerge for cities with an economic base linked to the manufacturing industry, especially in Lombardy.
The Queen’s Bodies: Transcalarity, Transmedia storytelling, Media events. – On 8 September 2022, Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and also head of the British Commonwealth of Nations, passed away at the age of 96, after 70 years of reign. The funeral took place 11 days later, and constituted a mighty “media event”, involving some 4.5 / 5 billion spectators, for a ceremony lasting over 13 hours. In this context, the “queen’s bodies” are articulated in a composition that we can perhaps indicate as “binary duplicity”. On the one hand, following the classic path of Kantorowicz (1957), we observe the double body: physical and mystical. On the other hand, the corporal emblem rests on a double scalar reference: the nation and the empire. This essay, precisely, illustrates and interprets the model of the binary duplicity of the “queen’s body”, with the main purpose of: i) explore transcalarity as a geographical form of transmediality; ii) reflect on the role of the territorialization process in the constitution, development and outcome of media events.
NRRP and Inland Areas. A Reflection on Inclusion and Cohesion Strategies in tge Grecanica Subregion. – The work aims to analyse the possible role that the PNRR (National Recovery and Resilience Plan) may have for the Inner Grecanica Area (Calabria Region), in the margins of the work plan implemented by the SNAI (National Strategy for Inner Areas). The objective of this contribution is therefore twofold. On the one hand, to map the main results of the local development plan of the SNAI in the Grecanici territories; on the other hand, to verify the current needs of the area in question within the framework of Missions 4 and 5 of the PNRR, with particular regard to the components related to: i) the strengthening of the supply of educational services linked to the re-appropriation of the Grecanici language and culture; ii) social infrastructures; iii) special interventions for territorial cohesion. Through semi-structured interviews administered to institutional actors and to the component of cultural associations, social promotion, foundations, and non-profit organisations of the local community, an attempt will be made to identify social, educational and cultural developments and marginalities in the Grecanica Area and thus to verify whether they can find a response from the reforms envisaged by the PNRR. By means of GIS mapping, the scientific community and those who are working in the sector will be provided with a picture of the Grecanica area, following the policies launched by the SNAI, from which to reflect on the “reforms” envisaged by the PNRR for the Region of Calabria.
Informal Work: Proposing a Dialogue between Development Studies and Labour Geography. The Case of East and Southeast Asia. – The paper brings into dialogue selected streams of critical analysis on the ILO concept of informal labour – especially from the fields of political economy and development studies – with some major insights on labour and its transformations from labour geography. Focusing on the case of East and Southeast Asia, and resorting to the multiscalar notion of “labour regime”, the pa-per details crucial actors and devices that underlie specific ways of organ-izing work, its exploitation – and its informalization – in key export industries such as garment and electronics. More specifically, informalization processes are analyzed at the intersection between international capital mobility, the state and labor organizations, and in relation to the capacity of international capital to exploit pre-existing context-specific differentials, especially along the gender and rural-urban axes. Overall, the paper discloses key labour dynamics characterizing pivotal areas of the so-called “global factory”, while more generally highlighting the co-constitutive role that spatial, territorial and scalar configurations play in the processes of labour informalisation.
The use of force in interstate relations: theory and evolutions in geo-political practice. – The use of force in relations between states and other players on the world stage: theory, practice and developments in political geography. Based on the experiences of the twentieth century (world wars, genocides, ideological-totalitarian degenerations, decolonization processes), the geopolitical thought of late modernity, starting from the 1960s, essentially develops in a “critical” sense. Then it assumes, among its favorite themes, the discussion on the essence of power (whether or not it is intrinsically “bad”), of the state and of politics (if they inevitably have to rely on the use of force); then it starts the development of a method targeted to regulation and prevention of conflicts, based on a process of deconstruction of alleged “false” ideas of power, to prevent the effects of escalation that have led the whole of humanity to the risk of destruction and self-destruction. These needs are translated operationally into the search for the so-called “insider” factors, that is, those that, in a certain scenario, beyond an immanent and self-evident “casus belli”, cause effects of permanent and out of control conflict, to the point of making war an element that justifies itself (an end, rather than a means). Effects that confuse any causal chain, which make it difficult to identify links and motivations, and therefore the search for a solution, and with it the pacification of crisis scenarios (which in fact tend to perpetuate themselves in areas of “endemic” conflictuality. All this proceeding on the basis of a neo-Enlightenment (possibly neo-liberal) assumption, which almost deterministically assumes the affirmation of an open society, refractory to violence, and the assimilation of “evil” to the mechanisms of democratization, to open market and capitalist prosperity. All this in a context of multilateral policy development, the establishment of international organizations, and the consolidation of a trans-national geo-economic apparatus, of civil society as an “answer to war”, with the aim of progressively limiting, up to cancel the same occasions of conflict; and this to the point that an idea of war as something obsolete spreads (perhaps in an illusory way). The latest events, however, and recent developments, seem to contradict this trend, re-proposing themes and tensions that ge-ographic-political theory seemed to have abandoned for some time. A fact made even more evident by the current invasion of Ukraine, which leaves you dismayed, like aggression to troglodytic times, when the invasion did not need to have a justification; it seems to cause deliberate violence and destruction on a large scale, so much so as to question the entire “critical” paradigm. Putin 24th February discourse deliberately denies the right of Ukraine to survive as a national human community. Evolutions that make it necessary to rethink the practices of limitation and regulation, of the intervention and prevention devices of war, and of the same method of study of the scenarios; perhaps a return to models that, just until a few months ago, were considered outdated.
Potential Impacts of NRRP Investments in Italian Mono-functional or Desertified Realities: Threats and Opportunities. – The contribution aims to reflect on the impact of PNRR plans and programs with particular attention to the sustainability of rural and mountain tourist regions, highlighting territorial criticalities and suggesting greater emphasis on the concept of adaptation and the possible role for activities related to education for the territory. The PNRR provides for a € 6.68 billion loan in the “tourism and culture” sector, which will make it possible to develop innovative actions to implement local development through the new ecological transition criterion. Much emphasis is placed on the digital transition and physical measures of renewal. Many realities of those compatible with these funds fall within rural and mountain areas, often characterized by negative situations up to conditions of real demographic and economic desertification. The poor economic and social sustainability of many peripheral and mono-functional territories, investigated by recent studies in the field, seems to link the transformation of these areas to actions of economic adaptation and diversification linked to climate change, with respect to which climate maps suggest an increase of the impacts in the coming decades. An investment in these areas, perhaps aimed at restoring or physical-functional de-velopment actions, runs the risk of producing little benefits if it is not accompanied by new forms of social, economic and even demographic attractiveness. The systemic vision can make it possible to operate in a more suitable way to the specific local territorial system, while the development of educational paths to the territory open to stakeholders active in the field can increase the possibility of investment success through the sharing and production of open local knowledge to the reproduction and renewal of territorial values as a project for the future of the subjects who live there and who work there.
Conflict mitigation goes (also) through ecological economy. – «It is foreseeable that, once certain resources have been depleted, the scene will be set for new wars, albeit under the guise of noble claims»: this recent quote by Pope Francis (Laudato Sì, p. 57) has once again drawn the attention of world public opinion to the issue of the limitation of available resources, which already is one of the main causes of war and violence, and it is likely to cause even more in the future. The more the depletion of non-renewable sources, the higher the number of the conflicts, as well as their seriousness. In 2022, the Earth Overshoot Day underlined that mankind has depleted all the resources annually available on July 28th (a day earlier than 2021); moreover, land grabbing is out of control due to hyper-connection at the basis of global production chains. These processes also continued during the pandemic that, on one hand, mitigated overexploits thanks to lock-downs but, on the other hand, it has not driven to a U-turn in attitudes towards the environment and access to resources. In this essay, after a preliminary analysis of global value chains and of the social consequences with regard to the increase of fear and violence indirectly provoked by the quest to sources, we discuss an in-depth study of an ecological and circular economic development model, based on the regionalization of exchanges for the exploitation of domestic resources.
The Italian Small Islands in the PNRR Missions. A vision of the future. – The paper aims to understand the possible effects of the PNRR on the Italian Small Islands. The relationship between insiders and external actors, as well as the relationship of interdependence with the mainland, highlight the Italian Small Islands as a promising “laboratory” for investigation, not only as case studies but also as a complex and articulated spatial and territorial context in which some of the general dynamics tend to be emphasised. The peripheral dimension of the Italian Small Islands (Turco, 1980) has meant that since the Second World War they have been included among the “underdeveloped areas” and subject to the interventions of the Cassa per il Mezzogiorno. Within this scenario, the smaller islands were the subject of specific funding or actions, in some cases emphasising their dependence on the mainland. This dependence has also been recorded in the policies of the National Strategy for Internal Areas (SNAI), which classifies island municipalities as peripheral or ultraperipheral, without however taking into account deeper local dynamics that effectively cancel out these conditions of peripheralisation. The PNRR proposes some missions explicitly addressed to small island territories, such as the achievement of a circular economy, forms of development that dialogue between tourism and sustainability, but also more general actions aimed, for example, at the mitigation of territorial gaps. The paper seeks to connect PNRR, tourism development and the challenge of Small Islands’ seasonal geographies.
The Youth of the Inner Areas and the Italian NRRP. – The Italian NRRP provides considerable financial resources to promote a green transition and a digital transformation of people and territories. Young people living in the inner areas of Italy have an opportunity to overcome marginality and become key actors of development, making of diversity an asset rather than a source of inequality and epistemic injustice. Based on these premises, the research illustrates the youth policies and the strategies for inner areas within the framework of the Italian NRRP, then focuses on the peculiarities of young people living in inner areas. The analysis highlights the need to create new jobs in peripheral territories, to make migration an opportunity rather than a necessity. Specifically, it is important to approach the issue of employment in inner areas with the lens of youth policies, that is, by developing bottom-up approaches to discover latent and untapped potential to be used to achieve sustainability.
The Protection and the Development of Mountain Areas in the Perspective of the Italian National Plan of Recovery and Resilience. – In Italy, implementing the cohesion and territorial development strategies displayed by the National Plan of Recovery and Resilience (PNRR) is complex because of its increasing socio-economic divides. In particular, the mountain areas – traditionally left on the margins of the national development strategies – ask for careful consideration. The traumatic experience of the pandemic, the lockdowns and the ecological transition challenge have awakened the political and media attention to these vital but fragile territories that produce natural resources and ecosystem services for the benefit of the whole community. The contribution discusses whether the NRRP contains adequate invest-ment indications and priority of intervention for the protection, long-term development and functional integration of mountain areas with the rest of the national territory. Concerning the methodology, the paper develops a qualitative analysis of the evaluation reports on the NRRP published by some leading mountain associations (UNCEM, ASVIS, INU, CAIRE) and the communication of a specific NRRP call (call “Villages” on Action 2.1 Village Attractiveness) employed to communicate and promote some calls.
The Society of Anthropocene in the material and immaterial diffusion of violence. – The contribution aims to reflect on the social dimensions of violence linked to the elements of the physical transformations of the Anthropocene. The hypothesis is that in the material and immaterial diffusion of violence there is a growing interaction and hybridization between the two dimensions and this is largely due to the globalization and the technology with a new spatio-temporal, transcalar and autopoietic configuration. This is called the Social Anthropocene.
This configuration is moving Anthropocene society into a dimension in which the abstract subsystems of the anthroposphere (society, economy, culture, politics) are increasingly dependent on the technosphere, a phenomenon already considered by other disciplines in an evolutionary dimension and extended to other living species.
From a geographical perspective, this dependence generates new relationships between abstract subsystems that relate resources, men and machines in an interdependence that generates violence, from the material to the immaterial world and in the interconnections between countries at different levels of development. This perspective, which can be explained empirically using data through the metaphorical potential of the Anthropocene, by not denying it shifts the theme of violence from a territorial perspective, linked to the individual local culture (interpersonal, familiar) and social (of an urban district, of a city or region) to a global one. It also shifts attention from a political to a biopolitic perspective.
Aviation, airports and territory. – Transport geography deals with the movement of freight, people and information, seeking to link the spatial constraints and attributes with the origin, destination, extent, nature and purpose of movements
Within this view, the paper analyses the cross-relationships between territories and transport, identifying how transports influence territories.
In this paper, particular attention is paid to aviation, an element that contributes to shaping interactions in geographical spaces.
Methodologically, the first part highlights the development and charac-teristics of air transport, emphasizing the relationship between transport and economic systems.
Then the analysis focuses on the topic of accessibility and airport struc-tures, outlining the distinctive features that characterize transport, i.e. di- stances and territories, since the purpose of transport is to overcome space, which is limited by human and physical constraints such as dis-tance, time, administrative divisions and territory.
The Mission Tourism and Culture in the PNRR: Unrepeatable Opportunity for the Sustainability of Italian Tourist Development. – The pandemic Covid19 has brought down tourism and the Italian Government, thanks to the funds made available by the European Union through the NextGenerationEU programme, has given to this sector a strong boost in the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), granting a series of investments and financing useful for a new restarting, included in the culture and tourism mission. The article, therefore, will analyze the main guidelines on which this mission is based, trying to outline the future scenarios, highlighting the costs and benefits for Italy as a whole and for inland areas and old towns, which are currently very compromised due to the sharp demographic decrease and the ageing of the population. The funds available in the PNRR could be used to launch a different phase in Italy’s tourism development, completely overturning the geography of flows that until now have been concentrated on two main routes, namely cities of art and seaside tourism, with consequent environmental and social impacts. In conclusion, the PNRR may constitute a major turning point in this sector, allowing for a spread of tourist flows, easing the impact on the now traditional destinations, but also giving development opportunities to the marginal areas of our country, expanding tourist products vertically and innovating the entire system in a sustainable manner.
Geographical observations on the Gilet jaunes movement: from inner-city violence to protest roundabouts. – Against a backdrop of economic crisis, climate catastrophe and anti-globalisation struggles, social protests characterised by a strong spatial rootedness have developed in the recent past. The contribution aimed to analyse the influence of spatial differences on the development and articulation of social movements, with particular reference to the role of space in violent expressions. In particular, the Gilet jaunes movement was analysed, which in terms of the complexity of political protest and the dialogue between protest demands and spatial context, seems to be a particularly significant case not only in terms of political symbolism but also in terms of spatial semiotics. Indeed, the movement developed in two main spatial contexts whose differentiations generated different declinations of the protest and different perceptual and representational processes.

Economic growth and human development: From “theoretical” reflection to the opportunities of the “NewgenerationEU” plan. – With the publication by Serge Latouche, of “La décroissance” (2006) and even before with “Les dangers du marché planetaire” (1998), the need for a drastic change in the perspective of development followed by the Western world is felt, to be achieved through a clear modification of the fundamental parameters of economic growth. In the years immediately following, a group of scholars coordinated by geographer M.G. Lucia, published in-depth research on the interaction that crosses economy, environment and society in the link between “weak” and “strong” sustainibility. Starting from these bases, the contribution, through a careful survey of the literature on the subject, delves into a topical aspect of the expected process of “ecological transition” according to the geo-economic prospects related to the creation of new job opportunities in the area of the so-called “Good jobs”.

Considerations on the regional landscape plan of Sardinia: a contribution from internal areas. – The concept of landscape is at the core of many geographical studies and is rich in different meanings that over time have given rise to numerous interpretations. According to the European Landscape Convention adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in 2000, landscape is a combination of natural and cultural elements in continuous transformation. Transformations that, if not planned attentively, can give rise to processes of deterioration and loss of quality of landscape configurations. In a Europe where there is still a significant dualism between urbanized and rural areas and in an environmental, economic and social era marked by the objectives of sustainability dictated by the 2030 Agenda, it is therefore necessary to adopt and strengthen policies and strategies for a more cohesive development and planning of the territory. The contribution, after a brief review of the literature on European and national policies on the landscape, wants to focus on the ability of regional realities to activate reconstructive interventions and environmental improvements from the adoption of Landscape Plans. In particular, the attention wants to focus on the Sardinian regional context, the first reality in Italy to have adopted a Landscape Plan in 2006. A plan that, to date, has identified only in the coastal areas the areas to be protected and enhanced. However, in the light of the priorities for a sustainable future, the Plan needs to be reviewed and a new plan that can also include the internal areas that are still not sufficiently integrated in the development process of the island.

Functions and benefits of green infrastructure: from contrast to climate change to the tourist positioning of cities. – Cities, in addition to being the main protagonists of global competition, represent those territorial contexts in which the effects of climate change become more evident. Among the sustainable urban planning tools supporting them are green infrastructures that can provide useful solutions capable of strengthening their resilience, transforming them into more pleasant and liveable environments. In light of these considerations, the contribution addresses the role played by green infrastructures also for the purposes of a more effective tourist positioning of cities in compliance with the sustainable development goals.

 

The wind farm as a symbolic landscape. – Wind energy has had a remarkable development in Italy in recent years, despite severe criticism on the environmental and social impact of the plants. In particular, numerous studies and research have been conducted on the subject of the visual impact of wind turbines, mostly giving space to those who consider them a territorial realization that disfigures the landscape. The widespread construction of what today in Italy are commonly called wind parks must however lead us to consider that just as many are those who see in the plants not so much an element of visual disturbance but, on the contrary, an element of the landscape with an acceptable aesthetic value, and in some cases even positive. The research focuses on two wind farms – Monte d’Aria in Marche and Cinque Stelle in Liguria – close to established Italian tourist regions with the primary aim of giving a voice to those who, residents or tourists, consider them symbol and flag of a new, correct approach of society towards the natural environment.

Thermal and SPA tourism in Italy: evolution, impacts and future perspectives. – Thermalism is a complex and articulated sector that in Italy over the years has changed its positioning. This study aims to identify the SPA tourism evolution and its contribution to the development of local economies, as well as how it can generates and increase a value proposition for the local sys-tems in the post pandemic. The data confirm the assumption of the importance of the SPA tourism in the sustainable development of the local economies that have specific resources. Furthermore, this contribution aims to state the objectives, which need to be achieved to reinvest, and regenerate territories devoted to SPA tourism in order to benefit from the possibility of reconstructing new models as a unique opportunity offered by the pandemic for this tourism sector, which represents an important resource in social and economic terms.
Development without interactions Face To Face
Some “precedents” of Covid-19 amidst geography, history, diffusion, and contain-ment. – The epidemics which throughout history have caused the deaths of thousands of people always find a common denominator in the travelling and moving about of people and goods. The contrasting actions re-call consolidated procedures, the memory of which has since been lost. Covid-19 has shed light on these aspects, related here to two historical cases: the plague of 1348 that from Asia reached Italy and Europe, and the one that spread to Alghero in 1582, relevant for the way in which the containment measures adopted – a sort of compulsory quarantine, similar to our red zones and lockdowns but applied with greater severity – succeeded in preventing the spread of the contagion beyond the city walls. By re-interpreting the data in geographical terms, this work aims to contribute to the analysis of the plagues from a geo-historic perspective, with the intention of verifying whether the spread, development and ef-fects of these phenomena have common trends, while taking into ac-count the different socio-economic and territorial aspects that characterize the various contexts.

For a model of governance of Cultural Routes: Territorial Business Systems. The case study of the Via Francigena between Monti Prenestini ed Ernici. – Cultural routes and way are gradually assuming a leading role in territorial planning policies because on the one hand they are capable of responding to the criteria of environmental, social and economic sustainability and, on the other, of favoring an expansion of the tourist offer with a strong connotation identity. The study aims to support the hypothesis that a geographical approach by aggregates can represent the indispensable premise for the development of a governance model which, through the itinerary and the way, guarantees the implementation of actions aimed at enhancing and managing extended coherent territorial areas.

Redefine tourism model. Reflection: critical issues emerged during Covid-19. – The new emergency we are facing with current spread of coronavirus imposes restrictions in everyday life and mobility across different territories and countries; we are globally compelled to face mutual problems, regardless of unilateral positions and this is giving strength to globalization just when a crisis of the globalized world model seemed to be consolidat-ing. Even modern tourism in the pre-pandemic economic and political situation was building a path of progressive quantitative growth and showing positive signs even in the most difficult moments of the recent international economic crisis. However, global tourism is now displaying an overall weakness as never happened in the pasts and it is starting featuring negative data and forecasts showing how this emergency is affecting a substantial portion of the Italian economy, which has reached 13,2% of GDP in 2018 with subsequent significant meaning also in terms of employment. Although it is difficult to foresee future tourism developments, this paper wants to suggest a reflection on the possible scenarios that could be configured out in the medium term, starting from considerations on the role that the national corporate system in tourism has played within the Italian supply chain.

Making a roundabout happen. Rondabout, unlilly location an autonomous politi-sation. – The article looks back at the daily experience of some sixty activists on a roundabout in the Isère region that was occupied continuously from November 2018 to March 2020. The ethnographic point of view assumes the double empirical posture of engagement in the yellow vest movement and a participatory observation methodology with about sixty interviews. On the roundabout, the yellow jackets show a constancy in participation, debates, popular education workshops, own actions or convergences with other organizations. The interaction between the development of the «no place» of the roundabouts and the construction of a new public space for living and deliberation is the source of a new creativity and political maturation opening up an instituting process of individual and collective autonomy in Cornelius Castoriadis’ sense.

What remains of the legacy of Matera 2019 after Covid-19. – The health crisis, which brought with it a consequent economic and socio-cultural crisis, dramatically revealed the vulnerability of our economic and production model, which is not very resilient to sudden and sudden changes. The coronavirus crisis requires, in fact, to take the lens of sustainable development and the 17 Sdgs grid to "inspire" the restart, proposing and taking better choices for the future, thus avoiding wasting resources and perpetrating in secular errors. Nothing will be like before for the sectors that have suffered and are experiencing the uncertainty of tomorrow: first of all, tourism. Tourism and, more generally, the entire hospitality, catering and culture sector are among the sectors most affected by the Coronavirus crisis. Some particularly critical situations are above all in cities that add culture, business and congresses. The case of Matera, ready to manage and reap the legacy of the extraordinary year from ECoC, clearly poses the urgency of the convinced turn towards the 2030 Agenda, to make our territories more sustainable, resilient and inclusive.

Sport, Tourism and environment: rethinking local development in the times of Covid-19. – The contribution aims to try to imagine possible territorial development paths starting from the relaunch of individual and team sports, from sporting events driving tourism and from the environment, parks and biodiversity. The costs, in social and economic terms, that Covid-19 is causing on sport and tourism, can only be absorbed if we can quickly identify new forms and new methods of practice and social consumption. The organizational reconfigurations that will concern three major sporting events such as the Tokyo Olympics, the Winter Olympics in Cortina, the Ryder Cup in Rome can serve as a laboratory to rethink a new local development that serves as a basis for rebuilding trust in a global dimension that today it seems tarnished.

 

Geographies of Covid-19. – A first analysis of the scenario occurred as a consequence of the Covid-19 pandemic puts in evidence the changes in the way people deal with the spatial-time dimension, in the human rela-tions and in the consequent socio-territorial configurations.
Since the first moments of the pandemic geography gave an important contribution in the study of the phenomenon and in the analysis of its territorial consequences, useful to elaborate solutions from the global to the local scales.
In this path, the reflections made in the field of geography, and in partic-ular in this issue, regard on one side the global modifications on interna-tional assets, travels and mobility, globalization and borders, on the other side the changes in the daily way of living, furnishing tools useful to con-trast the pandemic and models for a sustainable development.

Landscape as vocation: an exploration of the development strategies of some Italian inner areas. – Going beyond a limiting approach of the protection of landscape as constraining, this might be interpreted as an asset for development. Building on this background, this contribution, analyzing the local development strategies produced by some of the project areas included in the Italian National Strategy for Inner Areas, investigates to what extent landscape is interpreted as a driver for development, or as vocation, in places where its preservation and protection are a matter of paramount importance.

Covid-19 and Tourism. Sardinia: opportunities and tourist development perspectives. – The global emergency due to the spread of Covid-19 has resulted in restrictive measures for the movement of goods and people and in the stop of large production sectors, including tourism. The crisis that has affected the tourism industry worldwide also has negative consequences in regions such as Sardinia, already suffering from structural problems, among which there are seasonality and the prevailing incidence of the seaside model. In the Italian regional scenario, the island is among the least affected by the spread of the virus and, in view of a remodeling of its offer system starting from the implementation of organizational and governance structures and the strengthening of other identity tourism products capable of integrating different territories and sectors, could exploit this element to reposition itself as a smart and safe destination.

Community Readiness for Local Covid-19 Management. – In these days, we are learning important lessons in citizen science. Today, local administrations must equip themselves with the management of infrastructures (unimaginable before Covid-19) for enforcing social distance and tracking positive cases. One of the tasks that geographers are expected to take up is the determination of the levels of societal readiness, the levels of integration in society of new technologies, products and services. The pandemic requires policies of social and cultural innovation that make communities ready to respond to catastrophic events on their territory through access to data, communities of practice, co-creation, reflection and inclusion. Finally, Covid-19 ought not to undermine the work done so far to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 1 (Poverty), 3 (Health), 4 (Education), 5 (Gender), 6 (Water), 8 (Work), 10 (Inequalities) and 16 (Peace). Pope Francis has made it clear: «This is the moment to see the poor».
Migrations: between imaginaries and transnational dynamics. Research ideas from Guinea Bissau – The article analyzes two aspects of the migration process. On the one hand, the role played by migratory imagination in the definition of emigration choices and strategies and, on the other hand, through the case study of Guinea Bissau, the role played by family, association and village networks in establishing transnational relations of mutual collabo-ration between the host country and the country of departure.
Breathing the Atmosphere of the Past. The “Strada dello stracchino e della pietra”. – Since many decades the cultural heritage has a very important role in the construction and development of territories. It can be tangible and intangible and it is a factor of the territorial production. Among them several cultural expressions, one of the most important is the typical magri-food production. In this article the attention is focused on the traditional production of stracchino and to its related civilization, which has produced tangible signs in the territories which today represent the authenticity of the territorial development. This is strictly connected to the new and modern forms of tourism, which compose the frame of a “total leisure experience”, such as the one of the valleys studied in this case study.
Il concetto di sviluppo sostenibile continua ad arricchirsi grazie a nuove sintesi del dibattito in corso a livello internazionale e a nuovi spunti di riflessione provenienti da numerosi ambiti disciplinari, non da ultimo da due libri pubblicati di recente: uno a firma di Enrico Giovannini, dal titolo L’Utopia Sostenibile (Laterza, 2018), l’altro scritto da Francesco Rutelli, Contro gli immediati (La Nave di Teseo, 2017).

Tourism in Malta archipelago: between the mass phenomenon and new sustainability hypotheses. – The territorial repercussions linked to the tourist practice can characterized as a source of stress for the destination, such as to undermine its territorial integrity. Therefore, forecast the effects are of fundamental importance to better understand the future developments of the phenomenon in order to prepare new and sustainable development strategies. Starting from the analysis of the latest tourism trends, the paper intends to focus attention on the characteristics that the phenomenon has taken in the Maltese archipelago. More specifically, will analyze the various forms that tourism has taken over the last decades, from the mass phenomenon to new hypothesis of sustainable models, and how they are sufficient or not to ensure the integrity of material and immaterial heritage on which the tourist appeal of the affected area is based.

Smart: Opportunities and Risks for Urban Development and Challenges for the African Continent. – In recent decades there has been a proliferation of studies, research and approaches to the “smart” theme, viewed with interest as the “new” frontier of sustainability, which seeks to combine technological development with territorial development, social inclusion with environmental protection. This seems very stimulating for the develop-ment of the poorest regions of the Earth, which, following political instability, or economic difficulties, or structural and infrastructural back-wardness, are lagging behind the richest and most stable regions, although in recent years they are witnessing a very fast GDP growth rate. Starting from some definitions of “city”, I will examine the concept of “smart city” and will try to identify the approaches that best respond not only to objective needs for the development of a territory, but also to its qualitative characteristics, in so that “smart” urban and territorial planning projects represent a real and effective instrument of integrated and lasting development, also in urban and rural Africa.
Abandonment, doubling, musealization: A Geography of the Grecanic Area from the 18th century to today. – The Grecanic Area occupies the most remote strip of the Ionian coast in Calabria. Since the beginning of the contemporary age, it has undergone a deep and steady process of depopulation which has led the original villages to different destinies. In this article, we investigate the case of Pentedattilo, a small village which after a permanent abandonment is now moving along a path of musealization, and two cases of “doubling”: Bova-Bova Marina and Africo-Africo Nuovo. While the first case concerns two villages still extant and playing a significant role for the entire area, the latter is a case in which the ancient village has disappeared. These three cases give us a spectrum of types within which we can include most other villages in the area. Specific focuses are then dedicated to the development of communication routes; to the main aspect of the Area’s identity, the Greko language; and to its most prestigious economic production, the bergamot.
Emotion, Religion and Local Development. The other Pompei. – The change in tourism competitive environment has transformed the sector in terms of demand and supply. Religious tourism, however, still oriented towards product, not inclined to innovation, seems to have only been marginally involved in this process. The growing awareness of the relevance of the demand and the benefits that can derive from it, in terms of sustainability, local development, protection and enhancement of historical artistic heritage, has aroused an adequate, albeit recent, attention to the phenomenon, urging new planning and cognitive requests that, however, have not yet fully translated into broad and organic research. The intent of the paper is to contribute to the enrichment of the informative panorama through the analysis of religious tourism in Pompei. The definition of the relevance of the religious component on the other tourist motivations and the description of the needs and characteristics of the demand, were the main intentions that guided the research.

New Synergies Between Territories and Enterprises: The Benefit Corporation as Potential Actors of Sustainable Development. – Recently, in Italy, have been introduced the Benefit Corporation (BC), ie a new legal form once a formal recognition of those companies intending to pursue a different business model: the “for benefit”. These companies, in fact, are placed in a limbo between non-profit and for-profit, associating profit targets with requirements of transparency and accountability to a wider number of stakeholders such as employees and citizens, reaching the interest for the natural environment and the territory. The challenge launched by the BC is that to get a rapprochement between doing business and society that goes beyond a simple and residual integration of social concerns, introducing into the reasons of being of the company's one or more purposes turned to the common benefit. In this sense, the classical concept of corporate social responsibility undergoes a transformation and becomes more strong.
This study has two objectives, firstly to clarify the nature, the struc-ture and the geographic distribution of those enterprises, on the other hand it aims to check as this modern way of understanding the business may affect on the territory and the extent to which the context where the companies are placed can to contribute on their functioning. To achieve the ultimate goal will be analyzed recent experiences in the Italian system, taking into account some of the existing realities.

Geography of International Trade: An Empirical Analysis. – The development of economic relations between Italy and Egypt has ancient origins. However, recently researchers have focused their attention on opportunities and risks that have to face Italian firms operating in Egypt. This article is based on an empirical analysis of direct experience of Italian actors involved in internationalization strategies. The article, therefore, offers an original perspective on geography of trade between Italy and Egypt.

Cultural heritage and urban regeneration. Roma Capitale suburbs Announcement for the launch of a culture driven development. – The management and the rethinking of urban spaces, old and new, central and peripheral, in use or in assignment, is an essential and unavoidable challenge for the competitiveness of any urban systems. This implies a profound change of policy and relations between the actors and the stakeholders that act in it. In this challenge, the culture is a new, and so far underestimated, competitive advantage, able to act as a catalyst to encourage and stimulate creative and innovative processes of territorial development, starting from available local resources. In fact, in the current globalizing scenario, each territory must continually generate local revitalization processes, in order to remain economically competitive and culturally attractive. In this context, urban areas characterized by inadequate spaces and public services, in which there are abandoned structures with particular emphasis on those connoted by landscape features and historical architecture of a certain level, may represent flywheels and natural incubators with a cultural background from which starting to redefine the overall structure of any local systems. The recovery projects proposed for three areas of the northwest area of the city of Rome, falling in the suburbs Announcement recently presented by the municipality, fit in attempts to develop urban resilience proposals according to an approach of culture driven development.

Southern Italy and Euro-Mediterranean development. Cultural Routes for a new territorial vision – Cultural routes have assumed, for our country and especially for the South, a particularly important value and are becoming nowadays ever more instrument and opportunities for tourism innovation. The perception is that we are at the gates of a new historical phase in which a substantial reflection on new forms of enjoyment of territories contrasts with the aggression of the great cultural heritage.
To the south and along the trajectories of cultural and historical itineraries, the common Euro-Mediterranean root of crossed territories and the ties between communities deserve a different consideration, new forms of integrated tourism and a different narrative ability.
For these reasons an organic reflection on the prospects of territorial development, starting from the routes that run through and give life to the Southern Italy and Mediterranean tourist realities, erroneously defined minor, becomes particularly important nowadays, and probably one of the concrete sources of feasible sustainable development.

Regional development policies and spatial planning in Campania. Some reflections. – The article reconstructs just under half a century of studies, proposals and programs of the so-called policy of rebalancing, which is a set of policy decisions and actions, including successes and failures often, which marked the public intervention for development of the Campania‟s region in the establishment of the first regional government in 1971 until today. The first part is devoted to a comparison between the vision that the various planning documents give of regional planning regional and geographical reading of these same processes in their territorial dimension, proposing also part of the literature on the geography of urban development of the southern regions and, in particular, of Campania. The second part tries to give indications on the nature and causes of the regional gap and on which roads can be traveled to attempt, if not overcome, at least a reduction in the logic of policy of re-balancing.

Cross-Border Cooperation across Sicily and Tunisia: experiences and prospects. – The article presents the main results of a field research conducted between 2012 and 2013 on the Italy-Tunisia border, aimed at investigating regional development options through policies and practices of cross-border cooperation. Starting from the specific context of the Italy-Tunisia border, the article presents the main aims, achievements, limits and prospects for cross-border cooperation across the channel of Sicily, also in light of the perceptions and expectations of local private and public stakeholders. The priorities to be addressed at different scales in order to improve the impact of the cooperation between Sicily and Tunisia include, in our opinion, the support to democratization in Tunisia and to the local civil society; to pay attention to the social as well as the economic aspects of cooperation; to ensure to local actors both political and financial support; to improve the cross-border cooperation instrument through a better targeting; the setting of a coherent multilevel political framework for addressing each of these issues effectively.

The problem of the failure and/or unsatisfactory development of Southern Italy recurs insistently and from various point of view in the political and scientific debate. The contributions range from the analysis of the determinants of political ineffectiveness in promoting a better development path, to the proposition of formulas capable of correcting this situation and thereby establish paths of interregional convergence or catching-up. In this framework, is useful to studying Sardinia as a "laboratory" to examine the main institutional trends and variables at the base of the north-south dualism that characterizes the Italian economy, as well as to deepen and explore new approaches and solutions to the problem of interregional imbalances. The paper, moving from this assumption analyze the causes underlying the disappointing socio-economic development promoted in Sardinia. Moreover suggests possible reforming paths of political institutions and new economic measures of intervention with particular reference to the need for a re-enactment of the federalist principles and the idea of the guaranteed minimum income.

Social organization in space: a case of scientific neighbourliness. – Sociology, as a general science of social relations and interactions, shares with geography a call to work as an accepted consolidation pivot for contributions coming from different fields.

After showing how space as a topic is seen from the micro- and macro-sociological perspectives, the paper is mostly devoted to the Author’s studies on regional small industry development in so-called “third Italy”.

The research methodology includes references to different disciplinary fields, the unifying perspective being the combination of four regulation mechanisms for local economy: market, organization, reciprocity, political exchange.

The same methodology is then applied to Torino, an industrial city undergoing deep transformation. This kind of analysis has proved itself useful when private and public actors were engaged in strategic planning for the city.

Rural development and territorial well-being. – The paper analyzes the issue of the relationship between rural development and well-being. Taking into account the multifunctional dimension assumed by rural development over the last few years, the topic of the landscape play a central role. In fact, it is a common good which concerns the settled communities and those who use it. The theme of the rural landscape so connects to the themes of participation and democracy.

Useful agricultural area income indicators, processes and development.  a reading of rural landscape and its functions. – Since the last century has grown, local and global scale, the awareness of the multifunctional role of agriculture, which adds to the productive purposes of environmental protection, landscape conservation and management of resources. Transverse to the multiple functions is the pursuit of sustainability, whose social, economic and environmental dimensions, are put at risk by increasingly binding market dynamics and agricultural policies. It seems useful, therefore, to highlight some key points of these synergies with the possible indicators, including through the presentation of case studies, aimed at understanding trends in productivity and gradual reduction of SAU. 

Rural Development Index (RDI). Hypothesis for a synthetic indicator of rural development. – This paper contains proposals contributing to the compo-sition of a synthetic macroeconomic indicator able to measure/assess on a European, national and regional scale the effectiveness of rural development policies up to now implemented by the EU. Since Agenda 2000, the rural development program is the “second pillar” of the CAP and it aims to maintain the competitiveness of rural areas through a quality policy, promotion of employment (in particular for young people) as well as environmental and rural protection; the measure’s central theme is the search for synergies between productive activities and those based on the territory and the traditions of the rural environment. The contents of this research refers almost exclusively to rural Europe, because the framework of these reflections is the Common Agricultural Policy, but some hints can be generally considered for development assessment relating to rural areas outside Europe.

The CAR (Central African Republic) crisis. Transcalarity between violence and resilience. – The Central African Republic has been experiencing a sequence of political-military crisis starting from its constitution (with the death of B. Boganda) to the collapse of Séléka regime (2013) and the current transitional phase, which is leading by K. Samba Panza. The ingredients of this crisis are cross-scale, with mobile factors that easily pass from a scale to another. On the "domestic" scene, as it is in itself very complex and marked by a plurality of actors even foreigners, take place regional, pan-african and global dynamics. Facing this changing framework plagued by violence, the development of a cultural resilience assures the endurance of Central African Republic as political and social entity.

In the course of the time, the concept of «uncertainty» has been investigated from different points of view. The aim of this article is to provide an interpretational key of present territorial process – first of all starting off by the example of Rome town in the real estate market, to make a comparison with other Italian cities – basing on the idea of «geography of uncertainty». Such a conceptual formulation will be associated with uneven developments and oscillatory movements of modern occidental economy.

The “Via degli Abruzzi”. a key route to local development. – The renewed attention paid by Institutions, public authorities and scholars to main historical routes as well as their more serious consideration of rural areas’ development suggest the author to focus his interest on the ancient route of the “Via degli Abruzzi”, which played a crucial role for several centuries for religious, cultural and most importantly commercial purposes, connecting Central and Northern Italy to Southern Italy. This paper aims not only to discover again such a history, but also to let re-emerge nowadays a network of potential relationships and a renewed interest in the areas covered by this communication route, by stimulating new cultural tourism flows which could travel through this route again, and even envisaging a possible institutionalisation of its itinerary, for a more varied and efficient use of its environmental and cultural resources.

The importance of knowledge for the innovation process is widely recognized in the literature. The diffusion of it passes through the use of resources internal and external to the firm. The work focuses on two aspects. On one side it identifies the impact of internal and external resources on the innovation process. The other aim is to find an indicator that captures the combined effect of the two resources with the objective of demonstrating the importance of using these synergies for developing the firm in a given territory. The territory in this case emerges as a key element in the analysis as it is able to provide a complex set of elements: social, cultural and economic, which are able to support the development of enterprises. In some cases, they become determinants by allowing an area of become more competitive than another.
than another.