An integrated perspective on rural regional learning

Wellbrock, Wiebke; Roep, D.; Wiskerke, J.S.C.

doi:10.2478/v10091-012-0010-y

Cited by 29 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…In order to sustain rural development and economic growth, institutional environments are to be developed that encourage private and social learning by individual workers, firms and government bodies (Wellbrock and Roep, 2012). In an environment that is conductive to development it is not only individuals that should learnsocial learning is also particularly relevant: 'the learning that takes place when divergentoftentimes conflicting-interests, norms, values and constructions of reality meet' (Eernstman and Wals 2007:388).…”

Section: /88mentioning

confidence: 99%

Making a living: Grassroots development initiatives, natural resource management and institutional support in Galicia, Spain

García¹,

Swagemakers²,

Fernández³

2012

European Countryside

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European policy increasingly supports territorially based rural development in which local actors play a decisive role in realising economically, socially and ecologically responsible development. This paper makes use of four case-studies, from a largely depopulated mountainous area in Galicia, Spain, where local people strive to combine the creation of new businesses with the revitalisation of the natural resource base. The paper, in analysing local knowledge infrastructure and its interface with policy, reveals the dominant role of grassroots development initiatives in effecting regional learning and capacity building. Further it is acknowledged that in Galicia progress is brokered in practice by individual stakeholders who manage structural constraints, cross boundaries and construct new cross-cutting, bridging networks. It is also apparent that these niche-actors constitute a largely untapped reservoir of knowledge brokers that could be used much more effectively if more direct cooperation with policymakers and the existing knowledge infrastructure could be achieved.Keywords: EU support schemes, endogenous knowledge, interface analysis, natural resource management, rural development, rural economy, transition processesResumen: Las políticas europeas apoyan cada vez más un desarrollo rural territorial en el que los actores locales juegan un papel decisivo al realizar un desarrollo económico, social y ecológicamente responsable. Este artículo utiliza cuatro estudios de caso localizados en un área con problemas de despoblación en Galicia, España. En los cuatro casos los actores luchan por combinar la creación de nuevas empresas con la revitalización de la base local de recursos naturales. El artículo analiza la infraestructura de conocimiento local y sus interfaces con el ámbito político. De esta forma revela el papel dominante que las iniciativas de desarrollo enraizadas en lo local tienen en la construcción del conocimiento regional y de la capacidad de implementación. En Galicia el progreso se construye a nivel práctico gracias a la 18/88 labor individual de actores que son capaces de manejar limitaciones estructurales, cruzar límites y construir nuevas redes que facilitan sus objetivos. Así, estos actores-nicho constituyen una amplia y no del todo estudiada reserva de conocimiento, que podría utilizarse de forma más efectiva si se lograse una cooperación más directa con los hacedores de política y la infraestructura de conocimiento ya existentes.Palabras clave: programas de apoyo europeo, conocimiento endógeno, análisis de interfaces, manejo de recursos naturales, desarrollo rural, economía rural, procesos de transición.

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Section: /88mentioning

confidence: 99%

Making a living: Grassroots development initiatives, natural resource management and institutional support in Galicia, Spain

García¹,

Swagemakers²,

Fernández³

2012

European Countryside

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Also, their willingness to invest time and capital to improve the 'liveability' of their habitat deteriorates. Highly educated persons are often the fi rst to leave, causing a so-called 'brain-drain' which leads to rural areas with low potential (Stockdale, 2006;Wellbrock et al, 2012). On the other hand, there are rural regions which are successful in seizing the opportunities arising from globalisation and thus are referred as 'hot-spots' of development (Wiskerke, 2007, quoted by Wellbrock et al, 2012;BBR 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Highly educated persons are often the fi rst to leave, causing a so-called 'brain-drain' which leads to rural areas with low potential (Stockdale, 2006;Wellbrock et al, 2012). On the other hand, there are rural regions which are successful in seizing the opportunities arising from globalisation and thus are referred as 'hot-spots' of development (Wiskerke, 2007, quoted by Wellbrock et al, 2012;BBR 2008). Faced with the complexity and variety of rural development paths it is common to stress the uniqueness of each individual rural area (Copus et al, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This matches with the Europe 2020 Strategy's priority of smart growth (EC, 2010) and leads to the question, how could the creation of smart places be supported by state-driven opportunity structures? Such a policy must be able to address very different problem situations, because the support required for innovation in rural areas is highly context dependent and problem specifi c (Tovey, 2008;Wellbrock et al, 2012). The success of the support depends on the establishment of effective, co-operative and operational partnerships between different actors (Wellbrock et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such a policy must be able to address very different problem situations, because the support required for innovation in rural areas is highly context dependent and problem specifi c (Tovey, 2008;Wellbrock et al, 2012). The success of the support depends on the establishment of effective, co-operative and operational partnerships between different actors (Wellbrock et al, 2012). The support for fostering the 'smartness' of rural areas is connected with the concept of social innovation, which was born from the ongoing debate and critique on traditional innovation theory with its focus on material and technological inventions, scientifi c knowledge and the economic rationale of innovation (Bock, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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