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Policies and strategies to develop renewable energy and the rates of successful deployment vary from country to country. Academic literature is rife with examples of recurring problems and malpractice in the implementation of renewable energy projects. We could see each national and sectoral effort as an 'experiment' in the early phase of our attempted transition to a low carbon energy system. What lessons can we learn from a comparative analysis of these experiments? This paper seeks to draw generic lessons not from what has gone wrong but from national case studies that stand out in a best way. Through a European academic network, we have selected and analysed 51 'smart practice' case studies of renewable energy development from 20 countries. We present the outcomes of both qualitative and quantitative analysis of these case studies (smart practice criteria) and discuss a set of generic findings concerning specific types of smart practices and problems of potential transferability of projects to other regions. With regards to policy relevance, the findings can be used for evaluating portfolios of renewable energy projects developed to date and for setting guiding principles for project design, spatial planning and consent by means of cross-national learning and fertilization.

Based on evidence from nine countries (UK, ), this special issue analyses the fabrics of farm tourism in Europe. It identifies two main development trends: on one hand, a small scale and dispersed activities, at the other hand a product in response to tourist market demand. A brief overview of existing farm tourism practices in the European rural areas indicated an interesting interface between the forms and dimension of farm tourism embeddedness in local environment and at the same time, the ways and range of internationalization of farm tourism business.

At present, several obstacles to tourism development have been identified in developing countries. These include: poor infrastructure; shortage of facilities; a weak tourist image; a lack of know‐how with regard to how to welcome visitors and market tourism services; and the scarcity of available capital. In the research reported on in this paper, we explore the involvement of microcredit institutions to alleviate these issues. Because tourism is not yet developed in our study area of West Cameroon, action research was considered the only way to validate (by action) the recommendations of both the actors and the researchers. Action research permits the researchers to study the complex issues that typify the management of tourist destinations, including, for example, governance problems. It allows for networking and capacity to change the ways in which actions are carried out. The paper explores possible synergies between microfinance institutions (MFIs) and small and medium tourism businesses in an African rural community. First, we emphasise the obstacles to the formation of partnerships between MFIs and tourism businesses and we suggest ways to minimise them. Second, we describe how we facilitated networking between tourism actors and MFIs, which enabled the development of tourism products through new partnerships. As a result, four businesses are currently operating. From a research perspective, we point out the strengths and weaknesses of different types of associations and list the challenges. The results indicate that asymmetry of information and a lack of entrepreneurial spirit emerge as key concerns. The action research has promoted place and community based development. However, we underline that proper tourism development also requires the participation of stakeholders acting at different spatial scales.

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With its marginal practices and diversified services, agritourism is a complex subject of study. In some European rural areas it is seen as a smart diversification solution. Even though agritourism is rather weak on the Walloon tourist market level, it is important for farmers for whom it is often a means of supplementary income. Based on crossed data concerning potential tourists, local tenants, privileged witnesses and promotional information, the position of agritourism on the Walloon tourist market is analysed. It is shown that agritourism is a multiple micro-niche market primarily complementary to other sources of tourist supply. This paper underscores how the assets of demand, of the region and of the farm all shape agritourist diversification. Instead of providing a standardized well-known product, agritourism in Wallonia is richly diverse, which creates difficulties in branding this tourist market sector. Résumé:Pratiques marginales et services diversifiés, l'agritourisme est un sujet d'étude complexe. Dans certaines zones rurales européennes on le voit comme une solution magique de diversification. Même s'il est relativement faible sur le marché touristique wallon, l'agritourisme est important pour les agriculteurs pour qui c'est souvent une source de revenus complémentaires. Basée sur des données croisées concernant des touristes potentiels, des tenanciers, des témoins privilégiés et des informations promotionnelles, la position de l'agritourisme sur le marché touristique wallon est analysée. On montre que l'agritourisme est un marché de multiples micro-niches, complémentaire d'autres offres touristiques. L'article souligne que les caractéristiques de la demande, de la région et de la ferme influencent la diversification agritouristique. A la place d'un produit standardisé bien connu, l'agritourisme est multiple en Wallonie. Cette diversité et cette richesse induisent des difficultés à promouvoir cette branche du marché touristique.Mots clés: agritourisme, tourisme à la ferme, Wallonie, marchés de niche, tourisme rural.

Abstract

This study investigates the experience of a gold mining community two decades after corporate mining activities ceased and were replaced by informal subcontract small‐scale mining in Itogon, Philippines. Drawing on David Harvey’s accumulation by dispossession and Daanish Mustafa’s hazardscape, we consider the lasting effects, from 1903, of dispossession upon the establishment of the first commercial mines in the Philippines as experienced by traditional miners in Itogon. Despite the closure of mining operations, mineral lands remain privately owned, resulting in the persistence of legal land dispossession among local small‐scale gold miners. Mining activities still continue as small‐scale miners are able to access abandoned mines through subcontract mining. Subcontract mining has changed the source of capital that funds mining activities from mining corporation to rent‐seeking small‐scale mining financiers, but the new economic relations still benefit from the capitalist logic of low natural resources and labour value. We argue that the production of hazardscapes is a consequence of accumulation by dispossession through (1) processes of expropriation of mineral lands and the consequent creation of free labour among local miners; (2) the externalisation environmental cost as an accumulation strategy that results in the production of socionatural hazards; and (3) exploitation of those who labour and who are made to work in precarious work environment while contributing to the production of hazardscapes.