Highlighting the important role of rural development, this paper represents a review of rural policies. Data were generated, including a broad literature research and online survey on existing and future, post-2020 rural development policies. The survey was shared among project partners from six different EU Member States including eleven regions, all from the Alpine Space. The number of total policies covered in this review paper, together with policy projects, programs or actions, is 114. Based on these, key policy findings and future recommendations are provided, attributing to the future studies on this topic as well as for policymakers at the local, regional, national and EU levels.
Initially, the concept of Smart Cities (urban settlement) originated from the Internet of Things (IoT) technology, however, the use of IoT technology can be extended to the concept of Smart Villages (rural settlement) as well, improving the life of the villagers, and the communities as a whole. Yet, the rural settlements have slightly different requirements than the urban like settlements. If application of IoT in Smart Cities can be characterized by densification of IoT to day-to-day life, following cities’ structural characteristics of being densely settled places, IoT empowered Smart Villages are usually a system of dispersion and deficiency. In this manner, this research paper will address and discuss different application areas of IoT technology, identifying differences, but also similarities in both ecosystems, while trying to illuminate the standardization efforts that can be applicable in both contexts. In our text we will propose the following IoT application domains, which will also serve as a base for research on smart villages: 1. Natural Resources and Energy, 2. Transport and Mobility, 3. Smart Building, 4. Daily Life, 5. Government, and 6. Economy and Society. By providing an overview of technical solutions that support smart solutions in Smart Cities and Smart Villages this research paper will evaluate how, with IoT empowered Smart Villages and Smart Cities, an overall improvement of quality of life of their inhabitants can be achieved.
One of the possible solutions of rural development is rural Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs). Rural DIHs represent an efficient way of improving local environments in a more sustainable way, by affecting local businesses, people and local authorities. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the concept of a rural DIH by exploring the following elements: business model, digital technology and competences, and the policy instrument. We investigate the above-mentioned conceptual elements by conducting a literature review study and synthesizing the findings. Additionally, we provide a case study of the Divina Wine Hub Šmarje as an example of a rural DIH, whose activities are aimed at supporting rural businesses and individuals. The results show that a rural DIH does have a positive impact on local businesses, in particular regarding their sustainability aspect. The local DIH explained in the case study provides possibilities for local businesses to use innovative technological solutions, by supporting them with the right technological equipment and skilled people. From an economic point of view on sustainability, this resulted in business processes optimization, cost reduction, employment opportunities, as well as the strengthening of sustainable consumption and marketing for the winegrowers. Furthermore, it adds to environmental sustainability by adequately assessing the conditions in the vineyards to determine the optimal time and location of effective action, resulting in reducing the environmental footprint. All of this together also contributes to social sustainability by providing fairer distribution of social opportunities and digital inclusion. In this manner, we conclude that rural DIHs should be part of the Smart transformations of rural areas and included in rural development policies.
Abstract:As stated by Giorgio Agamben, in Western philosophy, potentiality is part of a very long tradition. Potentiality represents one of the central concepts of Western philosophy, already claiming this status with Aristotle, who posited potentiality against actuality, framing it into a specific register of knowledge, to a specific mode of anthropogenesis, to an anthropological machine. However, what does this mean for the politics of potentiality, if, as shown by Marina Gržinić in her book Estetika kibersveta in učinki derealizacije [Aaesthetics of the Cyber World and Effects of Derealisation], in the chapter Zunaj biti [Beyond Being], potentiality is thematised through the tradition of metaphysics as a process that never really comes to an end, incessantly deciding upon what counts as human and what does not. In this respect the aim of this text is threefold: first, to suggest that potentiality is to be examined within the context of the process of anthropogenesis as put forward by Agamben in The Open: Man and Animal; second, in order to show their inadequacy, to critically evaluate political ontologies of potentiality within the Western anthropological machine; third, following Achille Mbembe's political figure of "becoming the Negro of the world", to (de)articulate the concept of potentiality, consequently positing it beyond the Western anthropological machine and offering its decolonial articulation.
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