Plenary Sessions
Marie Stenseke - Beyond Conservation: Addressing the nature crisis through a landscape approach
Nature is being degraded world-wide at a rate and scale unprecedented in human history. The primary reason for biodiversity loss is changes in the use of land and water, including agricultural expansion, a doubling of the urban area since 1992 and an enormous expansion of infrastructure. While humanity has dramatically reconfigured the fabric of life of the planet, the degradation of nature and nature’s contributions to people correlates with increasing global inequalities. This presentation concerns how these negative trends can be changed, focusing on how the nature crisis is framed, building on my engagement in the scientific lead of the Intergovernmental science-policy platform on biodiversity and ecosystem services (IPBES).
Development of the biodiversity discourse from leaning heavily towards biology to integrating more interdisciplinary insights will be displayed, together with remaining needs for conceptual evolutions. A holistic landscape approach is suggested as a way forward and described in theory and practice. Successful nature conservation and the strive for sustainable land and water use inevitably includes tackling a great variety of place-specific contexts. Inspired by Torsten Hägerstrand’s thinking, a piece of landscape could be understood as a limitless continuum, where physical elements integrate through co-evolution with socio-economic features, institutional components and intangible aspects such as values and knowledge. Taking a landscape approach implies departing from the situation in our contemporary global and mobile society and reconsidering concepts commonly used in nature conservation, such as ‘local’, and ‘traditional’ and challenging the dominant system approach. As such the approach widens the horizon for solutions.
Eleonora Panizza - Involuntary mobility in disaster risk contexts: from data and models towards policies. Insights from the CIMA Research Foundation
Rural Systems in an Age of Tourism Mobilities
Pina, Helena; Samora-Arvela, André; Martins, Felisbela - Rural Tourism in the Douro Demarcated Region: A Strategic Investment Supporting Demographic Revitalisation
In a world immersed in a complex geostrategic and economic web, rural spaces are profoundly affected. Having been predominantly "monofunctional" and "static", these spaces are currently undergoing significant transformations. In Portugal, these dynamics are intensifying, with considerable regional variations. In areas where a deficient economic and social framework drove intense population flows towards major metropolitan centres, a strategic focus on tourism within a multifunctional context has stimulated the revitalisation of these spaces, albeit limited, yet innovative and sustainable. This is precisely what is occurring in the Douro Demarcated Region. While vineyards and wine remain the mainstays of these idyllic landscapes, tourism, in its various forms, has emerged as a strategy to mitigate diverse deficiencies and encourage the settlement of younger, technically trained populations. These newcomers originate both from the Douro region itself and from urban areas, seeking respite from urban pressures. This research evaluates the impact of Six Senses Douro Valley, a five-star tourist development set amidst vineyards overlooking the Douro River, within a 19th-century manor house. We combined extensive bibliographical and documentary research with intensive fieldwork, including semi-structured interviews with hotel management, local residents, and other stakeholders, alongside analysis of the hotel's archives. The development's impact is unquestionable across environmental, energy, economic, cultural, and social dimensions. Socially, the hotel employs approximately 230 predominantly young, well-trained staff. Since only 50% originate from the region, the development has attracted the remaining workforce, who have relocated and settled locally. This dynamic revitalises the Douro region within a framework of holistic sustainability.
Phan, Cao-Nguyen; Kim, Doo-Chul - Tourism Stakeholder Adaptation to Multi-Dimensional Risks: Evidence from Rural Destinations in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam
The Mekong Delta, Vietnam, a region emblematic of the Global South’s climate vulnerability, faces multi-dimensional risks driven by environmental stressors and volatile socio-economic pathways. In this context, rural tourism has emerged as a potential strategy for diversifying livelihoods, yet it remains highly sensitive to these compounding pressures. This study aims to explore how rural tourism stakeholders in the Mekong Delta perceive and adapt to these multi-dimensional risks to ensure the sustainability of rural tourism destinations. Grounded in the IPCC risk framework, the research deconstructs risk into hazards, exposure, and vulnerability (including sensitivity and adaptive capacity gaps) to interpret how these components interact and shape the resilience of the rural tourism destination. Methodologically, this study utilizes a qualitative approach, combining scientific observation with secondary data analysis to synthesize adaptation mechanisms. It explores the shift from reactive coping to proactive adaptation, analyzing how stakeholders mobilize resources against cascading threats. By identifying gaps between risk perception and adaptive action, the study offers policy implications for strengthening adaptation of rural tourism in the face of climate change and socio-economic uncertainty.
Mangano, Stefania; Piana, Pietro; Porcelloni, Leonardo - Walking Routes as Rural Territorial Systems: Slow Tourism Along the Via del Sale Varzi-Portofino (Ligurian Apennines)
Walking routes have gained increasing visibility in Italy as instruments for slow tourism, heritage enhancement and the revitalisation of rural and inner areas. This growing institutional relevance has recently been confirmed by the approval of the Italian national framework law on walking routes, which recognises “cammini” as a strategic component of sustainable tourism and territorial development. However, walking routes should not be understood only as linear infrastructures or recreational trails. They are complex territorial systems, in which historical mobility, landscape, hospitality, local communities, environmental fragilities and governance arrangements interact. This paper discusses these issues through the case of the Via del Sale Varzi-Portofino, a walking route rooted in a broader historical context of mobility and exchange between the Ligurian coast and the Po Valley across the Ligurian Apennines. The route has recently attracted growing attention as a slow tourism product capable of linking coastal and inland areas, supporting seasonal diversification and offering an alternative to high-pressure tourism models concentrated along the Riviera. At the same time, the Via del Sale remains a partly bottom-up and weakly institutionalised route, relying on local associations, hospitality operators and fragmented interregional coordination. The paper argues that the main challenge is to move beyond the trail as a simple line on the map and to interpret walking routes as wider rural systems. This means considering not only the physical track, but also the surrounding territories, service networks, heritage resources, host communities, accessibility conditions, seasonal dynamics and forms of governance. In this perspective, the Via del Sale offers a valuable case for discussing the opportunities and limits of walking routes as models of rural innovation, sustainable mobility and balanced tourism development in contemporary Italy.
Barcus, Holly - “Heritage” Mobilities and Local Identities: “Re-Placing” as a Process of Rural Development in the U.S.
Rural communities in the United States continue to struggle to balance competing interests and identities of new and longtime residents. In communities with strong tourism-based economies, seasonal residents and fluctuating flows of second home owners, questions of place and identity often yield a commodified branding oriented towards promoting greater tourism investment. Rural identities, however, are highly varied, often historic, reflecting dominant lifeways or economies from by-gone eras. As rural areas begin to attract new populations, through changes in economic structure or through tourism and second-home ownership, new community branding or place identities may emerge or be intentionally developed. One potential outcome of these processes is the gentrifying of local place, including a rise in second home ownership, new in-migrants, changing demographics and economics, which fostered a more consumer-driven branding of place shaped by narratives of place invented to attract a particular type of migrant and tourist. This presentation investigates the changing narratives of place in rural Wisconsin, utilizing the concept of “re-placing”. Specifically, this presentation utilizes the concept of “re-placing” to trace the historic commodification of three rural communities in the upper Midwest. Re-placing, as a concept, describes how rural communities create a community identity based on evolving ideas of place and who occupies that place. In the process of re-placing, some local identities are suppressed while others are highlighted and celebrated.
Rural Systems in an Age of Cross-Border Mobilities
Niwa, Takahito; Takahashi, Shinichi; Shirakawa, Chihiro; Yokoyama, Satoshi; Pongvongsa, Tiengkham; Lasaphonh, Angkhana; Inthisith, Monethong - From Translocal to Transnational? Evidence from a Lao Village in the Laos-Thailand Migration
Demographic dynamics in rural Laos are closely linked to labor migration to Thailand. Remittances earned through such migration have supported improvements in household livelihoods and are also associated with an expanding cash economy. I have previously argued that mobility to Thailand that relies on social capital, together with enclave formation through residential concentration in Bangkok, is best understood as translocal migration. Meanwhile, some migrants marry in Thailand and begin long-term residence or permanent settlement. This suggests that mobility may be shifting from translocal migration to transnational migration. This presentation examines the trends in international migration at a micro level, based on a case study of one rain-fed rice farming village, and explores the factors driving this shift at a regional level. Based on fieldwork conducted in rural Laos and among temporary out-migrants in Bangkok, we identified more than ten cases of international marriage with Thai spouses. In addition, we found some Lao couples whose children are enrolled in educational institutions in Thailand. These findings can be interpreted as signs of a reconfiguration of living bases and a shift toward longer-term residence, extending beyond circular labor migration. External factors—such as border controls associated with COVID-19 and changes in Thailand’s immigration policies—may have had significant effects on both migration tendencies and migrants’ relationships with their home village. Because fieldwork with long-term residents in Thailand has not yet been conducted, migrants’ decision-making mechanisms will be examined in detail in future research.
Pettenati, Giacomo; Brusatelli, Elena; Martone, Vittorio; Uleri, Francesca - Reimagining rural areas through temporary mobility for higher education: Insights from the UNITA Rural Mobility program in Italy and Spain
Inbound and outbound mobility flows have long played a crucial role in shaping the evolution of rural societies, cultures, and economies. In contemporary Europe, these movements continue to hold significant potential for revitalizing rural areas by fostering diversity, innovation, and new development possibilities. However, much of the current discourse on inbound mobility focuses on neo-rural migration and back-to-the-land movements, overlooking emerging flows such as that of temporary student mobility for higher education in rural areas. In this framework, this contribution examines the Rural Mobility Program launched by the network of universities “UNITA Montium Alliance”, which offers academic internships for students in rural territories across Europe. Focusing on the specific cases of Spain (Aragon) and Italy (Piedmont), through qualitative analysis, the article explores the motivations and expectations of both students and host organizations involved in these initiatives, shedding light on the interconnections among these categories. Drawing on the literature on rural imaginaries, the paper argues that the mobility program is contributing to reshaping the representation of the shrinking rural areas involved in the study, challenging misconceptions about rurality. The program acts as a catalyst for rural development by fostering material and immaterial connections among diverse actors; it thus emphasizes the importance of linking rural and external actors to support long-term rural regeneration through education and mobility initiatives.
Vila-Lage, Roberto; Otero-Varela, Alejandro; Amado, Alexander - Cross-Border Cooperation as a Response to Rural Depopulation? A Comparative Analysis of Two Experiences along the Spain-Portugal Border
In the interior of the Iberian Peninsula, along the Spain–Portugal border, rural territories have long been shaped by sustained demographic decline, population ageing and economic restructuring. Since the mid-twentieth century, emigration has progressively weakened local social and economic structures, generating increasing difficulties in maintaining basic services and infrastructure. In recent years, cross-border cooperation initiatives have gradually emerged in these areas within the broader paradigm of European integration. This research explores how cross-border cooperation is perceived and framed at the local level as a response to demographic and economic decline through a comparative analysis of two experiences along this border. The first case focuses on the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) known as the Gateway to Europe Eurocity, formally established in 2023 between municipalities in Castilla y León (Spain) and the Centro region (Portugal). The second case addresses the forthcoming Raia Seca Gerês/Xurés EGTC, located in the inland section of the border between Galicia (Spain) and Northern Portugal. The territory covered by this future EGTC displays low population densities and long-term demographic loss. Although migration balances have slightly improved in recent years, the arrival of newcomers does not compensate for decades of emigration. Drawing on semi-structured interviews conducted in both contexts, the analysis shows that cross-border cooperation is locally conceived as a strategy to attract population and foster economic dynamism.
Casano, Gabriele - Turkana: a territory on the move. Navigating territorial uncertainties and imbalances in Kenya’s northwestern frontier
This contribution looks, from a geographical point of view, at the so-called climate-migration-conflict nexus and its spatial and social implications. Territorialisation and community resilience have been adopted as functional frameworks for investigating how to address these complexities in the territorial setting of Turkana County, Kenya. Through an updated conceptualisation of community resilience and a clarification of its relationship with processes of territorialisation, this contribution outlines the evolution of local spatial configurations, both from a diachronic and synchronic perspective. Ultimately, it suggests how to support local adaptation and coping strategies, giving voice to the needs highlighted by the Turkana community members, and protecting the peculiarities of the social and territorial contexts considered.
Rural Systems in an Age of Urban and Rural Mobilities
Morimoto, Takehiro - Reconfiguring Rural Systems through Multiple Mobilities: Terraced Paddy Conservation in Japan
Rural areas in Japan have experienced increasing farmland abandonment due to depopulation and ageing, particularly in less-favored hilly/mountainous regions. This study examines the conservation of terraced paddy fields in Kamogawa City, located just outside the Tokyo metropolitan area, focusing on how different forms of mobility have supported and expanded these practices. The area has undergone a significant transformation in its relative accessibility following infrastructure development, which has reshaped its connections with urban regions and facilitated more frequent and diverse interactions between urban and rural actors. Based on field observations, document analysis, and interviews with key actors, the study shows that the conservation system has been sustained not only by local farmers but also by diverse actors connected through multiple mobilities. A local nonprofit organization plays a central role in the conservation activities. It welcomes urban residents, companies, and groups to participate in various forms of agricultural events centered on rice cultivation, and channels the revenue generated from these activities back to landowners and workers maintaining the farmland under its management. Other stakeholders include independent migrants engaged in small-scale farming and rural entrepreneurship, as well as companies that incorporate rural values into their business and branding strategies. Together, these actors are shaped by multiple mobilities, involving not only the movement of people but also flows of knowledge, values, and capital, contributing to the diversification of practices, the expansion of activities beyond rice cultivation, and the re-evaluation of rural landscapes and resources. Repeated short-term visits, long-distance participation, and mediated forms of engagement through information networks have played a crucial role in sustaining these practices. At the same time, the study highlights a contrasting trend. The decline of return migration associated with the raising the retirement age, together with demographic ageing, has reduced the availability of local labor that underpins the organization’s conservation activities. This has created a structural imbalance between expanding external engagement and weakening local support systems, generating increasing sustainability risks. The findings suggest that rural systems are increasingly shaped by intersecting mobilities, which both enable new forms of rural revitalization and produce new vulnerabilities in their long-term maintenance. More broadly, terraced paddy conservation can itself be understood as a reconfigured form of rural systems, and this study highlights how multiple mobilities shape such reconfiguration in specific ways.
Haslam McKenzie, Fiona - De-population and re-population in regional Australia: The complexities of energy transition, productivity and shifting demographics
From the 1980s Australian rural, regional and remote (3R) communities experienced rapid de-population due to the impact of neoliberal government policies, and the presumption that urban centres would henceforth be the technical and financial engine room of the Australian economy. From 2001, the Australian economy experienced two decades of outstanding growth and prosperity, principally from a resources boom, fuelled by almost insatiable international demand for Australian resources, including coal, iron-ore, energy and agricultural products. The Australia population increased 12% in 15 years. The outcomes for people living in 3R communities were mixed with the impacts not always beneficial due to intense demand for housing, infrastructure, services and labour driving up prices. The decades-long neglect of regional services and infrastructure impeded responsive development. Businesses resorted to fly-in/fly-out (FIFO) practices, building temporary work camps adjacent to mines and other businesses and flying their workforce from cities, often considerable distance away. The practice did little to address 3R infrastructure and services shortfalls. The lack of 3R investment is now even more pressing with the current Australian government seeking to transition away from a dependence on fossil fuels towards a more carbon neutral economy, presenting complex and multi-scale challenges for 3R communities. The practical implications of the national policies demanding large-scale renewable energy projects in regional Australia for the benefit of the entire nation are acutely felt at the local level. Approval and regulation processes are complex; community engagement is fragmented; there remains a lack of the necessary workforce to build and drive the environmental targets.
Cingia, Maristella - The Expansion of the Metropolitan Frontier: Neoliberal Governance and Spatial Injustice in Rural-Urban Mobilities in the Bolognese Apennines (Italy)
This paper presents collateral results from a research project conducted within the PRIN project "APENNINESCAPE," coordinated by Professors Andrea Gaucci and Matteo Proto of the University of Bologna. While the primary project examines Etruscan heritage management and the regeneration of historical sites, this study specifically investigates collective memory-making practices as reflections of territorial governance from the perspectives of both institutional and community actors. The paper explores how Bologna's neoliberal governance model extends market-oriented development strategies into the surrounding Apennine hinterland, redefining access and rights of habitability in mountain territories. The analysis adopts an epistemological framework drawing on Soja's (2007) theory of the third space to interpret territory as a lived space where real and imaginary dimensions merge. While utilizing planetary urbanization (Brenner and Schmid 2015) as a functional lens to define the urban as a process transcending traditional boundaries, the study focuses on territorial marginality arising from "systemic margins" and expulsion processes inherent in the industrial model (Sassen 2015; Varotto 2020). It highlights the patrimonialization paradigm, where the "tourist gaze" (Urry 1995) and the simplification of territorial complexity into "landmarks" facilitate a commodification of peripherality (Sabatini 2023). In light of the rural-urban mobilities paradigm, the research reveals a significant tension between the institutional promotion of external accessibility for consumption and the infrastructural neglect experienced by residents. Through the emblematic cases of the historical park of Monte Sole and the regeneration of the ex-Cartiera Burgo into a "smart-city" outpost, the study illustrates how metropolitan branding often prioritizes the needs of external "mobile consumers" over the resident "fundamental economy." Finally, the paper identifies "repair practices" (Bandiera and Autorino 2022) and "convivial conservation" models emerging from local community actors as bottom-up alternatives that challenge extractive valorization. These alternatives advocate for a post-capitalist approach to spatial justice, prioritizing the right to inhabit over the right to consume.
Priarone, Enrico - Creating new landscapes: contemporary farming in the ‘organic valley’ (Val di Vara, Italy)
This paper explores the new landscapes that contemporary practices in the upper Vara Valley (Liguria, Italy) are creating. The establishment of the ‘Organic Valley’ brand, promoted in the late 1990s and reinforced by the establishment of the Val di Vara ‘Valle del Biologico’ Biodistrict in 2013, represented a historic turning point for the valley’s farming economy, although, almost thirty years on, it has been received in different ways by both producers and residents. The research is based on a series of interviews and ‘stories’, through which I will retrace the positive and negative aspects of organic certification and explore key issues of contemporary rural life. The first story illustrates the mobility of a family who moved to the Riviera for work but never lost touch with their homeland and finally decided to return permanently in the valley; it then highlights the experience of a young man who took over the family farm and plans to expand its scope, with the primary stated aim of taking care of the land that raised him. The second story explores a cornerstone of the valley’s organic supply chain, namely livestock farming, through two different approaches adopted by the two cooperatives: meat production and dairy production. The third story touches the topics of neo-ruralism, (non-)organic fruit and vegetable supply chain, adaptation to climate change and agritourism, showing the experience of three families hailing from other parts of Italy who decided to settle in the upper Vara Valley to start a new life in agriculture and the agritourism market. Finally, the fourth story explores a topic that is growing rapidly in inner areas, namely female entrepreneurship in agriculture, particularly in the dairy sector, through the story of two farmers. In the background, the topic of rural abandonment and return in the valley shows up through the four stories, highlighting how variable this dynamic is.
Secăreanu, George; Cracu, George-Marius; Nicoară, Raluca-Gabriela; Paraschiv, Mirela; Schvab, Andrei; Văidianu, Natașa; Cantir, Angela; Chiriac, Ioana; Crivova, Olga; Curcubat, Stela; Sirodoev, Ghennadi; Sîrodoev, Igor - Post-communist and post-pandemic impact on peripheral regions: Assessment of changes in demographic behavior of rural population in Dobrogea (Romania)
With the fall of communism in 1989, Romanian society experienced extensive paradigm shifts in macroeconomic ensembles. Accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union, as well as the Financial Crisis of early 2008 and the COVID pandemic, have all left their mark on the nation's demographic behavior. Among Romania’s historical regions, Dobrogea is distinctive for its combination of opposing features. It includes the Danube Delta, one of the most sparsely populated and remote regions of Europe, and the Black Sea coast, which offers good logistics and tourist infrastructure, while also encompassing one of Romania’s main crop-production areas (Constanța County). In this context, our study examines how post-communist (and post-pandemic) changes have affected local demographic resources in the region, which are crucial for agricultural activities and rural development. Based on data from four post-communist censuses and annual statistical records, we examine regional disparities in declining fertility, demographic aging, more pronounced out-migration from rural areas, and suburbanization. Our findings reveal close links between rural development and rurbanization and suburbanization along the southern seacoast, depopulation of rural areas in central Dobrogea, and in the Danube Delta, etc. These results provide a better understanding of demographic processes affecting rural areas in peripheral regions such as Dobrogea and their implications for the implementation of policies for agricultural and rural development. Acknowledgment. This work was supported by a grant of the Ministry of Research, Innovation and Digitization, CNCS UEFISCDI, project number PN-IV-PCB-RO-MD-2024-0511, within PNCDI IV”.
Kumer, Peter - Geographical factors of longevity: Blue and Red Zones in Rural and Urban Areas
Research on longevity shows that reaching very old age is shaped by a combination of genetic, behavioural and environmental factors. Key influences include resilience to stress and illness, healthy nutrition, conflict avoidance, moderate physical activity, and strong family and religious ties. In Europe, the number of centenarians is expected to increase fivefold by 2050, and Italy is among the countries with the fastest-ageing population. In 2022, it had around 20,000 centenarians, more than four-fifths of whom were women. Studies also reveal that centenarians tend to cluster in so-called blue zones, where environmental conditions such as climate, topography and ecological characteristics positively affect gene expression and thus health. Alongside well-known examples such as Ogliastra (Sardinia) and Cilento (Campania), Trieste also stands out. The city on the Slovenian border, with roughly 204,000 inhabitants, recorded 148 centenarians in 2020. This paper examines the role of geographical factors that contribute to the exceptional longevity of Trieste’s population. To this end, in-depth semi-structured interviews with nonagenarians in Trieste and surrounding areas were conducted, transcribed and analysed using ATLAS.ti. The findings highlight regular physical activity, clean air and intergenerational interaction as crucial for longevity and healthy ageing, supported by favourable environmental conditions and the cultural milieu of Trieste and its hinterland. One important contextual element is the persistent gap in life expectancy between rural and urban areas, with rural regions generally showing lower longevity due to reduced access to services and health resources.
Zanolin, Giacomo; Giunchi, Carlo; Mazza, Giampietro; Sciutto, Andrea - Living the Rural Valleys of the Metropolitan area of Genoa: the Case of Valbrevenna (Italy)
The concept of “metropolitan mountain”, which has recently gained significant traction in academic discussions, encourages the reflection on the relationship between center and periphery, aiming to transcend traditional oppositions between metropolitan and mountain areas. Moving away from the city, the territorial processes reveal increasingly distinct dynamics that may offer valuable insights into the potential of these mountainous regions within the metropolitan context. In this presentation, the municipality of Valbrevenna (in the Metropolitan City of Genoa) is studied to explore the territorial re-configurations of cotemporary lives, moving beyond dichotomous perspectives to embrace a nuanced view of the social, economic, and demographic complexities that define this territory. Based on the results of extensive qual-itative field research, this study offers contextualized reflections aimed at stimulating further discussion on the specific configurations of a “metropolitan mountain” within the Genoa area also for what concerns the challenges offered by the climate changes.
Liu, Jingjing; Longyang, Huang; Wenwen, Wang; Jie, Xin; Lu, Dan; Enyu, Chang - Factor Mobilities and Agricultural Sustainability in China's Yellow River Basin: Unravelling Reconfigurations in the Urban-Rural Interface
The pursuit of agricultural sustainability in an era of intensified urban-rural mobility requires understanding how cross-boundary flows reconfigure socio-ecological systems. This study investigates how the interactive mobilities of land, capital, and labor—core drivers of urban-rural transformation—jointly shape agricultural sustainability in the ecologically vulnerable Yellow River Basin (YRB). Moving beyond single-factor analyses and siloed administrative perspectives, we develop an integrated framework that treats these mobilities as a fundamental force reshaping the sustainability landscape. Methodologically, we employ a combination of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) and a Spatial Durbin Model (SDM) to disentangle the complex interdependencies among factor mobilities and their spatial spillover effects on sustainability outcomes. Our analysis yields three pivotal findings that reveal the nuanced pathways to sustainability. First, factor mobilities generate profound trade-offs; capital mobility, for example, stimulates economic viability but simultaneously drives land-use change that can undermine ecological integrity—a core dilemma of sustainability. Second, the mechanisms governing these trade-offs and synergies exhibit a distinct “regional succession”, varying critically across the YRB’s upper, middle, and lower reaches, highlighting that sustainability is context-specific and spatially contingent. Third, the pervasive cross-boundary spillovers expose the fundamental mismatch between the fluid reality of factor mobilities and the rigid, administrative-boundary constraints of conventional governance. We conclude that steering the urban-rural interface towards sustainability necessitates a paradigm shift toward integrated and translocal governance. Effective policy must proactively manage spatial externalities and the intrinsic trade-offs among sustainability dimensions, with interventions precisely calibrated to regional contexts. This research advances the theoretical conceptualization of agricultural systems as complex socio-ecological systems co-produced by mobility, providing a transferable framework for navigating sustainability transitions in regions worldwide undergoing similar boundary-blurring transformations.
Copello, Luciano; Albaladejo, Christophe - From Central Places of Agricultural Labour to Places of Life Projects: Pampean Villages in the New Rural-Urban Relationships (Tandil, Argentina)
In recent decades, rural–urban relations in Latin America have undergone profound transformations, challenging traditional dichotomies between city and countryside. This paper analyzes the reconfiguration of rural–urban mobilities in the district of Tandil, an intermediate city in the Pampas region of Argentina, focusing on the changing role of rural villages. Historically, Pampas villages were tightly articulated to agricultural labor systems, railway infrastructures, and regional productive circuits. They functioned as service nodes structured by work, seasonal labor, and agro-industrial flows. Today, however, local actors increasingly describe these villages not primarily as spaces of production, but as spaces of life choice. Through new residential mobilities, environmental aspirations, and changing representations of rurality, villages are being reimagined as personal and family life projects rather than merely labor settlements. In this paper, we examine the case of six villages in the district of Tandil, 500 km from the city of Buenos Aires. An area of agriculture and beef and dairy cattle farming, this district is very popular with tourists and is seeing a surge in new projects offering a lifestyle in contact with the countryside and nature. Drawing on participatory territorial foresight workshops conducted between 2020 and 2023 —combining interviews, social cartography, and the “Territory Game” methodology— this paper foregrounds actors’ narratives and prospective visions. Our findings reveal a dual dynamic: while functional dependencies with the town of Tandil remain strong (services, education, employment), villages are simultaneously redefining their position through tourism, local food production, heritage valorization, and neo-rural migration. Tandil itself (137.000 inhabitants), increasingly open and globally connected, reshapes these mobilities by acting both as a centralizing hub and as a platform enabling new forms of rural re-embedding. Rather than simply reinforcing territorial asymmetries, rural–urban mobilities in this territorial context become mechanisms through which rural identity and future trajectories are renegotiated. We discuss the scope of concepts such as agrotowns and rural towns considering the new relationships between rural and urban areas in the Latin American context, and more specifically in that of the pampas. In conclusion, the Pampas case invites comparison with certain Northern contexts—such as central France—where small towns near intermediate cities also shift from production-based functions toward residential and lifestyle roles. However, differences in demographic scale, welfare regimes, and historical trajectories suggest distinct pathways of rural transformation.
Šišak, Ivan; Lukić, Aleksandar; Radeljak Kaufmann, Petra - The Future of Rural Services Provision in a Functional Urban Area: An Example from the Zagreb Region, Croatia
The provision of rural services has been strongly influenced by various transformations in social, economic, political, technological, environmental, and other spheres. Therefore, the future of rural services provision is uncertain and challenging to predict. Building alternative academic scenarios is often used to provide a set of well-documented and reasonable assumptions to possible future pathways. The aim of this work is to construct exploratory scenarios for the future of general services (SGI) provision in the settlements of the Zagreb functional urban region. The input data for the scenario method comprise three components. The first component includes quantitative data on the number of services in settlements within the region, covering essential services of general interest, other social services, and mobility services, as well as their spatial accessibility. These data were combined into composite indicators and, using cluster analysis, settlements were categorised into seven groups. The second component consists of the results of a face-to-face questionnaire survey (200 respondents) on the attitudes of service users conducted in two rural clusters with the greatest extremes in service accessibility (1. suburban shadow settlements, 2. rural peripheries). The third component comprises the results of qualitative analysis based on semi-structured interviews with service providers, who shared their views on the functionality of services, their relationship with users, and the factors influencing their operation today and in the future. Similar to previous research that led to the development of scenarios for rural futures in Croatia, innovation (digital and green transition) and the demographic and economic transformation have emerged as the main factors influencing the service provision system. Based on these two factors, four scenarios have been developed. The paper specifically examines a key cross-cutting topic: the approach to ensuring overall service accessibility, considering current and future intra-regional differences within each of four scenarios.
Rural Systems in an Age of Labor Mobilities
Bicalho, Ana Maria; Hoefle, Scott William - Beyond Fleeing from Poverty: Solidarity Economy versus Agribusiness and Logistical Export Activities in Maranhão State, Brazil
Maranhão is the Brazilian state with the highest levels of poverty. It is also the most peasant of states and farm size fragmentation over time has caused large-scale out-migration, particularly to the Amazon. During decades of research in the Amazon the authors encountered a disproportionate number of highly mobile Maranhenses engaged in gold prospecting and unsustainable peasant farming situated along highways. Intrigued by this and by graphic descriptions of the extreme poverty from which the frontier farmers fled, we undertook research in Maranhão in 2022. We found that the state has dynamic agribusiness and logistical sectors tied to global markets and financial capital, which are incapable of resolving structural poverty and reducing out-migration. Against these sectors, the Solidarity Economy presents an alternative way for overcoming socio-structural barriers by boosting interrelated agricultural and non-agricultural activities of economically marginalized rural and urban populations. Agricultural activities are usually undertaken for self-provisioning to guarantee food security and for meeting local demand. Important among non-agricultural activities are agri-art handicrafts made with agricultural and extractive materials which provide income by accessing tourists in the state capital through the solidarity movement. This work strives to understand how agri-art handicrafts undertaken within the solidarity movement encourage collective social organization of artisans linked to government sectors and civil entities that develop effective action and practices aimed at social inclusion and poverty alleviation. Spatial trends for both the export sectors and the solidarity economy are presented that show how the latter is more evenly distributed through the state.
Tonts, Alice; Jones, Roy; Tonts, Matthew - Global and Local Mobilities: a Case Study of the Western Australian Native Forest Timber Industry
From the mid nineteenth to the early twenty first century, the eucalyptus forests of the South West of Western Australia supported a thriving, but changing, hardwood timber industry. Its unique tree species, and in particular, jarrah (which became known as “Swan River mahogany”) were a source of exceptionally strong and durable structural timbers. These were first exploited by the early British colonists for their local needs, but an imperial export trade soon developed as the value of jarrah as a resilient railway sleeper was recognised and as railway networks were being developed throughout the British Empire. The growth of this industry was facilitated globally by the development of steamship technology and locally by the development of first railway and then motorised road transport. Initially, the timber was accessed and transported to and from local mills by draught animals but, from the late nineteenth century, timber concession holders developed first railway and then road networks to access the forests. As local mobility levels grew, the initial pattern of scattered and small timber mills and associated timber communities became ever more centralised. In recent decades, concerns have been raised over the sustainability of the industry and over its environmental impact and native forest logging is being largely discontinued. Our presentation will outline the changes in the Western Australian timber industry over this period with particular reference to the impacts of changing levels of mobility at the global and local scales.
Taborda, Célia - Seasonal labor mobilities: gender and viticulture in the Douro Region (Portugal)
The Douro Demarcated Region depends on a labor-intensive viticultural system, especially during the grape harvest (Pereira, 1991), when seasonal labor mobility increases sharply. Although research on the Douro highlights the long-standing role of migrant and seasonal workers, gender remains insufficiently addressed. This study examines women’s labor mobilities in Douro viticulture, linking gender inequalities, rural change and current mobility patterns. It draws on academic literature (Vaquinhas, 2018), recent agricultural statistics and empirical studies on female seasonal work in Portugal. Findings show that women—both local and migrant—are central to the harvest and other manual tasks, often working under insecure contracts, low wages and limited social protection. These vulnerabilities are reinforced by population ageing, limited public transport, informal employment and the region’s growing reliance on foreign labor. Yet the study also identifies forms of female agency, including the rising presence of women as farm managers, leaders of agricultural holdings and entrepreneurs in wine tourism. The analysis concludes that incorporating a gender perspective into the study of seasonal mobility is crucial to understanding the social sustainability of Douro viticulture and to shaping public policies that promote greater equity and recognition of women’s work in wine-growing regions.
Kim, Doo-Chul; Nguyen, The Hung - Rural Industrialization and the Emergence of Non-Peripheral Regional Labor Markets in Vietnam: A Comparative Perspective with Japan and South Korea
In rapidly growing Vietnam, the expansion of corporate investment into rural areas has accelerated rural industrialization and fostered the emergence of regional labor markets. On the demand side, these markets are dominated by labor-intensive manufacturing, similar to Japan and South Korea. On the supply side, however, they display distinctive characteristics: workers are predominantly relatively well-educated young men who remain resident in their home villages and commute daily to nearby factories by motorcycle. This configuration contrasts with the formation of “peripheral labor markets” and the progressive marginalization of rural areas historically associated with rural industrialization in advanced East Asian economies. This paper argues that, despite Vietnam’s position within global supply chains as a peripheral economy, rural industrialization has generated regional labor markets that are not characterized by spatial or social marginalization. Instead, these markets support locally embedded employment, household livelihood strategies. The paper characterizes this configuration as an “in-situ deagrarianizing labor market,” in which rural residents shift away from agriculture while remaining spatially anchored within their communities. Drawing on comparative fieldwork conducted in Phu Ho commune, Hue Province, the study empirically examines the structure of these labor markets and their impacts on rural society. The findings highlight a pathway of rural transformation that can be understood as a form of non-peripheral development, with important implications for debates on rural transformation. By situating Vietnam’s experience within the broader East Asian context, the study also offers a critical reappraisal of dominant interpretations of rural industrialization derived from the Japanese and South Korean experiences.
Rural Systems in an Age of Climate Mobilities
Nyaega, Lilian; Kibugi, Robert; Kithiia, Shadrack - Pluralistic Water Tenure and Resource Governance: Navigating Climate-Induced Mobilities in the Ewaso Ng'iro River Basin, Kenya
In the Ewaso Ng'iro River Basin, water governance is defined by the intersection of formal statutory laws and deeply embedded customary tenure systems. As anthropogenic climate change intensifies resource scarcity, "climate mobilities - primarily pastoralist migrations - are increasingly clashing with rigid, state-centric water allocation frameworks. This research examines the friction between formal water permits and indigenous "cultural allocation mechanisms, analyzing how this institutional misalignment shapes "conflict mobilities" across the basin. Adopting a lens of legal pluralism, the study investigates how current water tenure models, which frequently prioritize sedentary commercial use, marginalize the fluid, and the communal water rights essential for nomadic livelihoods. These tensions often undermine traditional resource-sharing protocols, transforming adaptive mobility into a catalyst for upstream-downstream disputes. The research argues that the systematic exclusion of cultural tenure from formal policy frameworks exacerbates the vulnerability of mobile populations and diminishes landscape-level resilience. The findings advocate for a transition toward pluralistic governance models that formally recognize and integrate customary allocation mechanisms. By embedding indigenous protocols into statutory frameworks, water governance can provide the institutional flexibility required to accommodate seasonal mobilities and mitigate resource-based conflict. This study contributes to the discourse on rural systems by demonstrating that equitable water tenure is a fundamental prerequisite for stabilizing socio-ecological systems in climate-stressed arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs).
Goel, Abhineety - Climate Mobility and Youth Aspirations in Forest Communities in Proposed Omkareshwar National Park, India
Climate mobility is not only characterized as physical movement, but also how mobility connects and intertwines people’s lived experiences situated within everyday precarious contexts, rather than just individual sporadic events (Temenos 2025). Recently unpredictable effects of climate change are reframing how and where rural people live and work. Rural Central India is well-known for its dense forest cover, rain-fed agriculture economy, income from forest based products and significant indigenous forest dependent population. Increasing variability in temperature and rainfall patterns are resulting in declining income from non-timber forest products and agriculture. While earlier generation normally adapted to the existing traditional livelihood systems, growing unpredictable annual livelihood patterns and opportunities reinforced by the lack of development in rural areas are forcing the youth to migrate and reimagine their future, thus reshaping the socio-cultural geographies of forest communities. Hence, through surveys and in-depth interviews, this study examines how climate uncertainty influences youth aspirations and their mobility decisions among indigenous communities of proposed Omkareshwar National Park Complex. Originally part of famous Narmada Dam Project, the region has witnessed land dispossession, territoriality, social marginalization and state intervention, hence reproducing exclusionary vulnerable patterns. These overlapping contextual experiences or polycrisis (economic marginalization, climatic variability, and restructuring) amplify and produce compounded unpredictable futures of youth thus affecting the whole ecosystem. With marginal landholdings, decreasing forest based income, the communities are increasingly engaging in labour commodification and outmigration to towns for construction, brick kilns, factory work, or gig labor, not as a choice but as a constraint.
Schmitz, Serge - Shifting Tourist Flows Under Climate Change: Challenges and Opportunities for Rural Regions
Climate change is causing significant disruptions in rural areas worldwide, resulting from altered climatic conditions and an increase in extreme events such as storms, droughts, fires, and intense rainfall. Few regions remain unaffected. Few, if any, regions are spared. Multiple sectors, including agriculture and forestry, are and will continue to be substantially impacted. The living conditions and quality of life of many urban and rural inhabitants will be affected. These changes prompt concerns regarding the habitability of extensive areas of the planet and contribute to the emergence or intensification of migratory flows across various spatial and temporal scales. This paper examines the redistribution of tourist flows, which, while less tragic than other challenges, will have a significant impact on many regions. At the European level, a redistribution of tourist flows is already underway, favoring more northerly regions as tourists seek cooler climates. At a more local level, mountain regions and rural areas, particularly those with forests or bodies of water, are attracting new tourists and day-trippers seeking to escape urban heat islands. After providing an overview of the European context, this paper analyzes two recent reports on vulnerability and adaptation to climate change: one commissioned by the Walloon Air and Climate Agency and another by the Belgian Province of Luxembourg. In both reports, a dedicated chapter on tourism explores changes in tourist flows and behaviors, considers climate change as both a constraint and an opportunity, and urges stakeholders to adapt their tourism offerings.
Rural Systems in an Age of Digital Mobilities
Dmochowska, Karolina; Wójcik, Marcin - From Orchards to Algorithms: Bridging Generational Divides Through Digital Knowledge Mobility in European Fruit Cultivation
European fruit cultivation embodies centuries of accumulated local knowledge, yet generational discontinuity threatens this heritage as young farmers increasingly migrate to urban areas. This presentation explores how digital agricultural platforms create new forms of socio-cultural mobility that simultaneously preserve traditional knowledge and enable innovation. Based on University of Łódź leadership of AgriDataValue fruit production pilots, we examine the intersection of tacit knowledge, digital codification, and intergenerational knowledge transfer across diverse European contexts. Our research documents how experienced fruit growers' practices (pruning timing, disease recognition, microclimate interpretation) are captured through IoT sensors and explained through AI systems, creating "mobile" knowledge assets accessible to young farmers without requiring physical apprenticeship. This digital mobility transforms agricultural education: knowledge moves from embodied practice to explainable AI recommendations, from place-bound to regionally transferable, from oral tradition to machine-readable models. Field studies with fruit growers across multiple generations reveal complex negotiations between traditional wisdom and algorithmic advice, highlighting both tensions and synergies in knowledge co-production. We demonstrate how explainable AI creates dialogue between generations rather than replacement, supporting rural cultural continuity while enabling adaptation to new climatic and economic realities. Sub-theme: Socio-Cultural Mobilities.
Lukic, Aleksandar - What is smart in Smart Village? Reflections on stakeholder perspectives on the implementation of the Smart Villages concept in the EU
In 2017, the European Commission launched the EU Action for Smart Villages. This was followed by several EU pilot projects such as Smart Eco-Social Villages (2018-2019), Smart Rural 21 (2019-2022) and Smart Rural 27 (2020-2023). These projects were designed to support rural communities across Europe in different ways to "develop smart solutions to deal with challenges in their local context." Using a participatory approach, and in particular through the use of innovations and solutions based on digital technologies, the Smart Villages should develop and implement strategies to improve their economic, social and environmental conditions. The author was involved as a "national expert" in two of the above-mentioned projects that support the implementation of the Smart Village concept in Croatia. Looking back, he sees his role as a kind of interface between theoretical concepts, the EU project framework and everyday rural practise. The author uses a variety of sources, e.g. publicly available project documentation, guidance documents and case study materials, but also his own personal notes and diaries from project meetings and participatory strategy development for a village in Croatia, to critically reflect on the whole process and in particular the use of the term "smart". The paper is embedded in the narratives of different paradigms of rural development, in particular the neo-endogenous approach exemplified by LEADER.
Samora-Arvela, André; Marques, Sibila; Eloy, Sara; Ferreira, Jorge; Pina, Helena - Smart Tourism App Development Approach: Integrating Spatial Analysis, Hazard Assessment, and Inclusive Design in Mediterranean Rural Landscapes
Mediterranean destinations face mounting challenges from increased fire hazard, extreme weather events, and thermal discomfort, whilst ageing populations require age-friendly design principles. Tourism development can no longer emphasise attractions without addressing visitor safety and age-friendliness, particularly as older adults represent a growing tourist segment. This research presents a methodological approach for developing a mobile application promoting hazard-safe and age-friendly tourism routes in Mediterranean rural landscapes, integrating spatial analysis, participatory research, and user-centred design within a Smart Tourism framework. Focusing on the Algarve region, this approach commences with spatial suitability assessment through Geographic Information Systems (GIS), incorporating structural fire hazard mapping alongside tourist preferences for nature-based and cultural activities. Multiple constraint layers, including hazard and ecological sensitivity areas, and fire hazard dynamics, determine suitability for optimal route locations, ensuring recreational spaces avoid high-risk zones whilst maximising healthy ageing attributes. Age-friendly design principles are systematically embedded through determinant factors, including accessible facilities, walkable gradients, and proximity to rural accommodation, cultural heritage sites, and amenities. App development employs collaborative design methodologies with critical integration of the Civil Protection Authority's alert system, enabling real-time risk communication adapted to tourists' linguistic profiles, synthesising environmental, didactic, and hedonic dimensions. Validation incorporates expert-driven assessment and pre-testing with diverse age cohorts, emphasising older adult usability. This framework operationalises Mediterranean destination resilience through digital innovation, demonstrating how spatial planning, hazard awareness, and inclusive design converge to promote safe, accessible rural tourism across Mediterranean regions.
Rural Systems in an Age of Environmental Mobilities
Steinhäuser, Cornelia - Living in the Plasticene: Emotional Geographies of Plastic Use in Agriculture
Plastic is so deeply embedded in everyday life that its presence and impacts are often overlooked. The term “Plasticene” refers to a planetary epoch in which plastic profoundly shapes and transforms the Earth’s systems. Its reference to the Anthropocene lies in the idea that this epoch is human-made, and the scale and complexity of its consequences, including ecological degradation and inequality, increasingly exceed human control. Plastic permeates life cycles to such an extent that it is virtually impossible to withdraw from them. The volume of visible plastic debris circulating and accumulating everywhere has become unmanageable worldwide. As micro- and nanoplastic, it is mostly imperceptible to direct human senses and becomes even more mobile. It is not only a component of rocks but also of the human body. The impacts on human health and ecosystem well-being remain uncertain. Various approaches seek regulation, awareness-raising, and even the integration of plastics into a sustainable circular economy. Yet they are often insufficient, and a dilemma emerges from plastic’s deep entanglement with everyday life and its global material flows, alongside the risks, uncertainties, and questions of individual responsibility — sometimes culminating in what has been termed “plastophobia.” This contribution explores the lens of Emotional Geographies for analyzing these phenomena. It presents initial findings from a study on the use and perception of plastics in agriculture and forestry. Practitioners across Germany were surveyed online about their expectations and concerns regarding plastic, and its alternatives, in their business and agroecosystem, highlighting both practical experiences and affective responses. By approaching plastic use through this perspective, the aim is to gain a deeper understanding of how perceptions, emotions, and attachments shape their decisions and practices.
Paül, Valerià - Obstacles Not for Humans but for Wolves? Disputed Cross-Border Mobilities and Nature Conservation along the Spain-Portugal Border
Along the Spain–Portugal border, and as part of the European integration project to which both states have belonged since the late 1980s, borders have effectively disappeared for people, capital, goods and services—mobilities that are, in essence, human centred. The removal of these obstacles has been accompanied by various initiatives implementing transboundary protected areas (including transboundary biosphere reserves). They seek to facilitate the conservation of shared natural environmental assets under the well known premise that “nature knows no borders”, thus lifting obstacles in this respect as well. In recent years, however, a growing divergence has emerged in the management of the wolf, an emblematic species in the Iberian Peninsula—particularly its population living in the north western sector, considered geographically and genetically isolated from other European wolf populations. As of 2025, wolf hunting has been permitted in Spain (following constant legislative shifts and divergent regional regulations), whereas in Portugal it has remained strictly prohibited due to its classification as an endangered species. Controversial rewilding initiatives on both sides of the border prioritise emblematic large mammals, typically wolves in the Iberian context. Yet these initiatives remain uncoordinated, despite proposing rewilding areas precisely in the borderlands between north-eastern Portugal (Trás-os-Montes and Beira Alta regions) and the Spanish region of León (provinces of Zamora and Salamanca). While the institutionalised Rewilding Portugal is implementing its programme in the Côa Valley, the aspirational proposal by Rewilding Iberia (Spain) seeks to establish Sierra de la Culebra as a wolf sanctuary—an ambition constrained by the presence of a hunting reserve and by recent large scale wildfires. This contribution seeks to bridge two emerging interdisciplinary fields: Border Studies and Animal Studies. While the former is rooted primarily in the Human and Social Sciences, the latter integrates both with Natural Sciences.
Gabellieri, Nicola; Piana, Pietro - From restoration to retro-innovation. Applied historical geography, rural areas and environmental planning
The growing emphasis on environmental planning fostered by recent European policies, particularly the Nature Restoration Law, calls for interdisciplinary approaches capable of integrating historical perspectives into ecosystem planning and management. Within this framework, this contribution explores the potential of historical geography and historical ecology as complementary fields of inquiry that provide both conceptual and operational tools for the design of ecological restoration strategies and sustainable landscape management. Drawing on two Italian case studies, the paper examines how the reconstruction of historical productive practices and the long-term interactions between society and the environment can help identify forms of landscape management that have contributed to the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystem functionality. the paper reflects on the potential of retro-innovation, understood as the reinterpretation and adaptation of historical knowledge, practices, and landscape configurations to address contemporary environmental challenges. The paper ultimately argues that historical perspectives represent a valuable resource for developing restoration policies grounded in an understanding of long-term territorial trajectories and the resilience of socio-ecological systems.
Jiménez-Moreno, Marcela - (Im)Mobilities and Land Markets in Tatahuicapan: Socio-Environmental Tensions in a Southern Mexican Ejido
This study analyzes the relationships between migration and the land market in the ejido of Tatahuicapan, a rural community in southern Mexico where peasant life has lost centrality alongside increasing complexity of local (im)mobilities. Based on field visits and interviews conducted since 2019, local mobility trends from 1940 to 2020 were characterized, and the relationships between these trends and the emergence and evolution of a land market were examined. The results show the main changes over time in the configuration of both mobility dynamics and the land market, as well as the relationship between them. These processes have been shaped by social, economic, environmental, and public policy factors interacting across different scales. In turn, these dynamics have been traversed by intergenerational relationships —both familial and community-based— marked by their own tensions and complexities. Over the past two decades, the land market in Tatahuicapan, closely intertwined with mobility dynamics, has led to the loss of patrimony for many native families, as well as environmental degradation and a decline in food sovereignty.
Rural Systems in an Age of Social and Economic Mobilities
Robinson, Guy M. - Reversing the rural exodus? the role of creative villages/towns in Australia
Many rural areas worldwide are experiencing long-term depopulation through rural-urban migration, eroding services and generating economic decline, especially in areas remote from urban influence. One set of responses to arrest further decline has developed community-focused initiatives that leverage arts, culture, and technology to foster local development, economic growth, and social connection. Often termed ‘creative village’ initiatives, these take various forms with different objectives: including economic revitalization and cultural preservation and innovation, but based largely on endogenous development of rural areas. A broad aim is to build sustainable economies and vibrant local identities by connecting rural talent with broader markets and audiences. This paper examines key elements in this creative dynamic in Australia where 174 Local Government Areas experienced a population decline from 2001 to 2021, with 81% of these having a population of <10,000. The various initiatives examined will focus on multi-faceted research (interviews, participant observation) in the state of South Australia, including the growth of ‘silo art’ which features giant murals on grain silos and water towers in 18 townships; music and arts festivals (building on the earlier work of Chris Gibson and John Connell in New South Wales); the creation of sculpture and public art trails; gastronomic tourism (including the Epicurean Way, a popular, scenic food and wine road trip connecting four of the state's premier wine regions), and Slow Food initiatives. The paper assesses the success of these initiatives in terms of observable changes to the rural economy and society.
Cidrás Fernández, Diego - Forested Landscapes, Unequal Meanings. How Tree Monocultures Shape Everyday Living in Transforming Rural Systems
Residential environments are often assumed to benefit from proximity to green and forested landscapes, which are commonly associated with wellbeing. However, this assumption tends to treat green spaces as a homogeneous category, overlooking the social and territorial conflicts involved behind specific forms of land cover. This research project explored and measured how tree monocultures shape residential satisfaction in Galicia (Northwestern Spain), a region transformed by the exponential expansion of Eucalyptus spp. plantations over the last 50 years. While descriptive analyses suggest that living in forested areas correlates with higher levels of residential satisfaction, results from a binomial regression model revealed a contrasting pattern: a higher proportion of tree monocultures tend to be residentially perceived as a disamenity. By situating these findings within debates on landscape governance, the project suggests that not all forms of greening contribute to residential satisfaction. Tree monocultures operate as an "uneasy green": economically valued and politically promoted, yet socially contested and residentially undesired. This oral presentation contributes to broader discussions on rural change by showing how mobility of capital reshapes not only rural economies, but also the notion of residential life.
Sánchez-Martínez, José Domingo; Garrido-Almonacid, Antonio; Aranda Redondo, Manuel Eduardo - CAP subsidies activated by olive groves in the province of Jaén: what are the farms like and where do the beneficiaries live?
The aim of this study is to calculate in detail the subsidies activated for olive groves in the province of Jaén and to analyze some of the characteristics of their distribution. The source used is the Geographic Information System for the Identification of Agricultural Parcels (SIGPAC), corresponding to the management of payments for the 2024 anuality. The method applied involved the integration of alphanumeric and geographic information for each of the areas linked to the aid application, covering just over 530,000 ha and comprising some 76,000 olive farms. According to the calculations made, olive groves in Jaén recieve subsidies of around €320 million per year. In addition to reaching the 97 municipalities in the province, these funds are received by people residing in 936 other Spanish municipalities. The distribution of these subsidies generally favors small and medium-sized farms, discriminates favorably in favor of young farmers and individuals over legal entities. The effect is minor or non-existent in the case of less productive olive groves with higher operating costs. The conclusions highlight the importance of having this type of baseline scenario to assess the effects of aid and simulate changes in the next CAP reform, which would come into force in 2028.
Waleghwa, Beatrice; Heldt, Tobias - Engaging Communities in Sustainable Mobility Transitions: The Case of Lab Sälenfjällen, Sweden
This study presents the first research outcome from the newly established geographical transformation initiative Lab Sälenfjällen, part of Shift Sweden’s national program for developing innovative solutions for sustainable living environments. The program aims to support Sweden’s transition toward a fossil free and resource efficient society by exploring, testing, and scaling future-oriented solutions. As the only transition lab located outside an urban center, Lab Sälenfjällen addresses the unique challenge of guiding the development of Scandinavia’s largest mountain tourism destination. Its core mission is to integrate the built environment and mobility systems to demonstrate how a fossil free and resource conscious transition can be achieved in a rural mountain context. Once a declining rural area, Sälenfjällen has grown into a vibrant winter tourism hub—yet one that places pressure on ecosystems, infrastructure, and public services. Visitor numbers fluctuate seasonally, mobility is heavily car dependent, and the destination faces increasing demand for housing and reliable transport for approximately 7,000 seasonal workers. At the same time, the needs and everyday realities of the roughly 1,000 permanent residents of Sälen village must remain central to the transition process. This research focuses on how citizens and civil society organizations can be meaningfully engaged in planning processes to build a deeper understanding of local needs, conditions, and constraints in the transition toward a socially sustainable and attractive place to live, work, and visit. Methodologically, Public Participation Geographic Information Systems (PPGIS) constitute a central component of this first study within Lab Sälenfjällen. Previous research demonstrates PPGIS’s potential to broaden participation and strengthen engagement early in planning processes; however, how the method can best complement planning in this specific rural and tourism intensive context remains underexplored. Addressing this gap is the primary aim of the research.
Photo: Lorenzo Brocada