Interpretations of innovation In rural development. The cases Of leader projects in lecce (italy) And granada (spain) in 2007–2013 period

In the Leader approach, innovation plays a key role in European territories, especially in marginal and peripheral ones, being essentially assumed, from a programmatic point of view, as social innovation. This paper aims to understand the interpretation and the declination of innovation in the practice of Leader initiative at local scale and analyze contextual factors related to its implementation in two southern provinces of Spain and Italy (Granada and Lecce). The study aims to analyze the projects reported as innovative by the leaders of the Local Action Groups, starting from the literature and using a key Community document entitled “Extended report on preserving the innovative character of LEADER”. Lastly, the study reveals common significant problems linked to local awareness of the role of social innovation, as well as the absence or limitations of key institutions.Dentro del enfoque LEADER, la innovación juega un papel clave en los territorios europeos, especialmente en los marginales y periféricos, siendo esencialmente asumido desde un punto de vista programático, como innovación social. Este artículo trata de entender la interpretación y el declive de la innovación dentro del enfoque LEADER en la escala local, y analizar los factores de contexto relacionados con su implementación en dos provincias sureñas de España e Italia (Granada y Lecce). El analiza los proyectos declarados innovadores por parte de los gerentes y los líderes de los Grupos de Acción Local, comenzando desde la literatura y usando un documento clave comunitario titulado “Informe extenso sobre la preservación del carácter innovador de LEADER”. Por último, el estudio revela problemas significativos y comunes relacionados con la conciencia local sobre el papel de la innovación social, así como la ausencia o limitaciones de las instituciones clave.Nell’approccio Leader, l’innovazione svolge un ruolo chiave per i territori Europei, soprattutto per quelli marginali e periferici, essendo essenzialmente intesa, da un punto di vista programmatico, come innovazione sociale. Il presente contributo si propone di comprendere l’interpretazione e la declinazione dell’innovazione nella pratica dell’iniziativa Leader a scala locale e di analizzare i fattori contestuali relativi alla sua attuazione in due province del sud della Spagna e dell'Italia (Granada e Lecce). Lo studio si propone di analizzare i progetti segnalati come innovativi dai dirigenti dei Gruppi di azione locale, a partire dalla letteratura e avvalendosi di un documento chiave a scala comunitaria l’Extended report on preserving the innovative character of LEADER. Dallo studio emergono significative e comuni criticità legate alla consapevolezza a scala locale del ruolo dell’innovazione sociale, così come l’assenza o i limiti posti da istituzioni chiave.This work was developed thanks to the research project "Development programmes and rural change in the European Union: governance and lessons to share 2007–13" funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness within its Excellence Programme, CSO2014 -56 223-P. Managers and technical staff of the LAGs of Granada (Spain) and Lecce (Italy) provinces, and private entrepreneurs were interviewed

The “Eco-Effectiveness” of Agritourism Dynamics in Italy and Spain: A Tool for Evaluating Regional Sustainability

Conceptualization, A.B. and S.D.R.; methodology, A.B. and S.D.R.; formal analysis, A.B. and S.D.R.; data curation, A.B. and E.C.G.; cartography, M.L. and F.N.V.; writing—original draft preparation, A.B. and S.D.R.; writing—review and editing A.B., E.C.G., F.N.V., M.L. and S.D.R.; supervision, A.B. and S.D.R. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.Rural tourism has commonly been identified as one of the main areas of application of the principles of sustainable tourism, but the literature has typically focused solely on the ecological dimension, particularly when referring to agritourism. This study presents a new approach to assessing the “eco-e ectiveness” of the evolutionary dynamics of agritourism, as applied in a study of NUTS-2 regions in two European countries (Spain and Italy) that have implemented similar rural development strategies. To this end, a synthetic sustainability index was developed using the Index Decomposition Analysis (IDA) technique. The last period of the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) 2007–2013 was chosen for the study in order to analyze the outcomes of a programming cycle focusing on the diversification of agriculture through tourism. The results show that the sustainability of agritourism growth is not homogeneous and has specific features in di erent regions of the same country. In some cases, there were more similarities with regions from other countries. This tool could help evaluate the impact of agritourism and facilitate comparisons between di erent regions, in this way supporting the process of transition from a linear to a circular economy