Towards a political economy of land: reciprocal rights and duties in private property

The paper explores some fundamental aspects of a Political Economy of Land such as the definition of rights and duties in legal and ethical terms. The increasing demands of sustainability introduces the need of a critical analysis of this institution with the purpose to explain and improve the present discussion that pursue alternative forms of appropriation and use of natural resources such as land. The responsibility involved in property rights and, thus, its conception in reciprocal terms, is present in some of the most important works of economic thought, namely Classical Political Economy and Old Institutionalism. These theories present important insights to the conception of land and its exploitation. The analysis of the legal rules that define property rights in the Portuguese case stresses the rights and duties involved in property. Besides Law, a Political Economy of Land should consider Ethics, namely Land Ethics. Therefore, the paper presents an essay for the analysis of property rights trough economic, legal and ethical concerns envisaging the design of a Political Economy of Land.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Land and law: reciprocal rights and duties in private property

The paper aims to explore the property concept as one which includes the definition of rights and duties. It is important to discuss this concept in an attempt to improve the present discussion about the appropriation and exploitation of natural resources such as land in general and farm land in particular. The responsibility associated with rights and, thus, its conception in reciprocal terms, is present in some of the main works of economic thought. In developed societies legal rules play an important role in the definition of rights and reciprocal duties. This importance justifies the contact with and the analysis of the legal rules that define property rights in a specific case – that of Portugal. The previous considerations reveal the approach adopted in property rights study and can be summed up in three words: memory, plurality and (legal) reality. These options offer an essay for the analysis of rights in its human dimension, including, as a final note, some ethical considerations that involve man-nature relations

Feeding the future: The critical role of seeds in food systems and cultural heritage

Genetic resources constitute a critical resource to deal with the current climatic and geostrategic challenges. The XXI century reintroduced the problem of food security in political and scientific agendas of developed countries. At the roots of this re-emergence are multidimensional reasons: economic (cereals crisis in 2008), public health (covid pandemic), and war (Russia vs Ukraine). Within this context, the reflection on basic issues concerning the food system, namely food production and the resources involved in, such as seeds, is of utmost importance. The paper presents an exploratory approach to genetic conservation through banks in Portugal. The sections of the paper include a problematization, namely the international and national framework on the subject, the design of an analytical model, and the presentation of the results of a case study of a Portuguese genetic bank.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Interfaces in entrepreneurship development: between tradition and innovation

The linkage between tradition and innovation involves specificities and different degrees of complexity, depending on the entrepreneurial activity and economic sector. The paper adopts an institutionalist approach to study the relation between tradition and innovation through the discussion of a specific case: the introduction of innovations in cork production and transformation in a Portuguese territory: Coruche.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Combining new and old: Emergent business models in the food system transition

The research has been developed within a research project on Spatial Planning for Change (SPLACH) through an interdisciplinary approach. The analysis addresses food system’s transition in a specific territory, the Lisbon Metropolitan Area (LMA). The transition of food systems towards a sustainable model has been under analysis and debate. This transition is related with structural changes, namely the emphasis on local production, short supply chains, and the preference for organic products. The shift of the agri-food system is taking place through the creation of entirely new businesses and the shift of individual farms towards organic production. In both cases, the new enterprises resort to a combination of old agricultural knowledge and techniques, new scientific knowledge regarding productive methods and new technological platforms for advertising and commercialization. These mixed sources permit the creation of interesting forms of new business models, combining old and new knowledge and practices. In addition to the agriculture domain, they exemplify how traditional industries can absorb/generate innovation, at technological and organizational levels, and become in line with the new knowledge-based era. The study has three main objectives: to identify and analyze the emerging agri-food businesses in LMA; to characterize business models (BM) changes within the transition dynamics towards sustainability; to reflect on the challenges presented by the food system characteristics, in terms of sustainable BM; and to demonstrate that BM specificity – combining new and old knowledge and practices - is closely related to the characteristics of the food system. The paper presents results of the research on the emergence of a new business models, focusing on the case of an organic food production innovative initiative in the LMA, Quinta do Oeste.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Local development initiatives as promoters of social innovation: evidence from two European rural regions

Social innovation entered the academic discourse several decades ago and has since been seen as a way of tackling existing problems in various contexts. Although an extensive body of research has been conducted into the role of social innovation in urban context, there is still a gap when it comes to studying the role of social innovation in the development of rural areas. In this paper, an attempt is made to look at the role of Local Action Groups (LAGs) and Local Development Associations (LDAs) as promoters of social innovation in rural areas in Austria and Portugal, aiming to understand the role of such organisations and the challenges faced by the latter in promoting social innovation.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Small, smart and sustainable: Networking to develop the medicinal and aromatic plants value-chain in Portugal

The paper aims to study the use of medicinal and aromatic plants (MAP) farmers’ networking activities to overcome challenges in the development of their business. MAPs are mostly cultivated in small farms located in rural territories. This presents many challenges in different dimensions of business development through the value-chain, namely in commercialization. That is why networking and collaboration with other actors may have an important role, by providing the scale and critical resources towards business success and value-chain sustainable development. The paper draws on a purposefully collected set of data on a network of Portuguese producers of MAP, organized under the EPAM project. The data was collected through a questionnaire and quantitatively analyzed in order to understand: i) how MAP farmers perceive the importance of networks for the development of their businesses? ii) How are networks enabling farmers with different profiles to develop their businesses? The results confirm the importance of networks for the development of these businesses, namely with other firms. However, it is possible to identify some diversity in the assessment of the role of those networks, both by taking into consideration the location of the farms and their positioning in the value-chain. The study contributes to a better understanding of how networking contributes to overcome barriers in the sustainable development of an agri-food value-chain, by stressing a variety of networking proposes and partners and the existence of differences across types of firms.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Aromatic, medicinal, and local herbs: The critical role of networks

The purpose of the communication is to present some research results on the sector of aromatic and medicinal herbs located in different regions of the Portuguese territory. The focus of the presentation is the role of local development associations and networks in the development of the sector. Aromatic and medicinal plants are very important in the Mediterranean diet. Their presence in gourmet food and the recipes of well-known chefs gave an important impulse in the prestige and, therefore, demand of the product. The cultivation of aromatic and medicinal herbs has economic, social, and environmental impacts on the territory. Besides the creation of employment and the possibility of an, principal or complementary, income source, this production provides the improvement of biodiversity and the occupation of rural areas. They are mostly cultivated in small and very small farms, both in developing and developed countries (Kwankhao & Indaratna, 2020; Matthews & Jack, 201; Schunko, et al, 2019; Unati et al, 2016; Yamoah et al, 2014). This characteristic presents many challenges in different dimensions of business development through the value chain, namely commercialization. That is why the connection and the establishment of partnerships with other actors, such as local development associations, and other producers, have an important role, since they provide the scale and critical resources towards the success of this initiatives. The case study selected, EPAM, provides the empirical setting to explore this sector regarding the role of networks. With these goals in mind, the presentation is structured in through the following topics: after the revision of literature, and the design of a conceptual framework, the communication presents the methodological options, and the results. The presentation finishes with the identification of limitations of the research and concluding remarks.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Lessons from the extremes in the case of urban planning

The presentation aims to highlight the case of Delhi as a reference to reflect on urban planning in general and in the case of Lisbon Metropolitan Area. In fact, the extremes, the edges, offer important insights to understand other realities and dynamics through the identification of players, forces and movements that might be not so evidenced in more ‘conventional’ cases. New Delhi is the second largest megacity in the world with a population of 25 million inhabitants. Its metropolitan area is under severe vulnerabilities due to the lack of control of planning instruments on urban transformations. Planning efforts seem to have been used by diverse processes and actors under distinct historical moments, namely colonization, state control over land and nowadays capitalism and globalization dynamics. This leaded to the advent of an insurgent urbanism, where a network of vulnerabilities as settled in time. The presentation establishes this nexus by revisiting key urban transformations in Delhi relating them with planning options that have emerged in distinct socioeconomic, cultural and political contexts. Secondly some considerations will be made on how contemporary concepts such as ‘sustainability’, ‘resilience’, ‘participative governance’ or ‘smart cities’ are being framed, perceived and applied under the context of current urban planning instruments, polices and research. It seems that these narratives are serving as a mean to achieve specific goals by different drivers and actors. Thirdly it is intended to highlight the importance of these examples as key triggers for a deep rethinking on concepts and practices in urban planning field today, namely in the case of Lisbon Metropolitan Area, keeping a critical distance from hegemonic normative views and looking closer at the distinct meanings, power relations, unbalances that surround them according to the diverse scientific, politic, social, economic drivers.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio