Neoendogenous Rural Development in Mountain Areas

Shaping New Rural and Mountain Narratives: Priorities for Challenges and Opportunities in Mountain Research

“…The belief that spatial problems do not stop at borders led to increasing transregional cooperation. In addition to analyzing the challenges and opportunities of mountain regions in Europe (Dax 2020;Gløersen et al 2016;Nordregio 2004;Price 2010), transborder issues have been intensively explored, among others, in Interreg programs for the Alpine region (Bausch et al 2005), the Pyrenees, through the creation of the Carpathian Convention, and emerging transregional cooperation in the Balkans. The orientation of those studies seemed very ambitious and focused on institutional and program development as well as policy recommendations aiming at "territorial cohesion" and giving mountain areas a prominent role in this process (Dax 2008).…”

Are Mountain Areas Attractive for Investments? The Case of the Alpine Provinces in Italy

“…This is the case of the neo-endogenous development (Lowe et al, 1995;Bosworth, 2015;Ray, 2006), the exogenous approach (Bock, 2016), the approach of the social innovation (Neumeier, 2017). Contrarily, they realized that the relationships and linkages with outside are fundamental: for example, think just of the mountain-lowland inter-relations and the inter-regional flows (Dax, 2020). In the past, many scholars saw exogenous investors as potential threats to the balanced and sustainable development model of rural areas.…”

“…There are several examples in this respect: the shift to multi-functionality and diversification in the agricultural sector (McNally 2001;Pfeifer et al 2009;van der Ploeg et al 2003); the impact that climate change is having on traditional mountain sectors, like winter tourism (Rixen et al, 2011). Moreover, related again to the environmental conditions, the increasing role of the mountain (and rural) areas as providers of ecosystem services, such as renewable energy, clean water, fresh food products, biodiversity and landscape preservation, recreational opportunities, etc., increasingly demanded by the lowland inhabitants (Dax, 2020). The changes in the entrepreneurial system due to the changing residential and locational preferences of individuals, entrepreneurs or small enterprises, who look for better reduced congestion and better quality of life (Bosworth and Atterton, 2012).…”

“…The changes in the entrepreneurial system due to the changing residential and locational preferences of individuals, entrepreneurs or small enterprises, who look for better reduced congestion and better quality of life (Bosworth and Atterton, 2012). Intuitively, all these phenomena take place together with an increasing openness, that is with the increase in the linkages and relationships with the outside (Atterton et al, 2011): "mountain-lowland 472/648 interactions" (Dax, 2020), as aforementioned; import-export flows of primary and manufacturing products, and services joining value chains (Dax, 2020), etc. This is why the future strategy for the economic development of mountain areas based on sectoral diversification necessarily entails not only nurturing endogenous entrepreneurship, but also opening to and attracting new entrepreneurs, new manufacturing and services firms.…”

“…The objective of this paper therefore is to explore and study the attractiveness of mountain areas, trying to go beyond the stereotypes, the commonplaces which see the mountain areas as disadvantaged, backward areas, just as "areas of natural constraints" (Dax, 2020); and focusing on the perception by entrepreneurs of the Italian Alpine provinces. The paper is based on the findings coming from a research on the perceived attractiveness by entrepreneurs of Italian regions and provinces, recently conducted in Italy (Musolino, 2015;Musolino et al, 2020;Silvetti, 2017).…”