Development stakeholders and territorial identity in Portugal

The need to reaffirm the diversity of places and regions in order to make them economically and culturally “more competitive” on the globalised market of goods and services has been widely accepted in regional and local development policies in Portugal, but much more so rhetorically than in operational terms. This largely reflects the fact that policies, as well as their instruments, do not rely on empirical evidence of the changing character of territorial identity. In particular, there are virtually no records regarding representations of territorial identity features and issues by local/regional development stakeholders, both individual and institutional ones. The problem is that appropriate conceptualisations and analytical tools for comprehensive identification and assessing of various dimensions local/regional identity have been lacking. Since it has not been clear what the identity of places and regions means in factual and verifiable terms to different development stakeholders, it is has not been possible to determine what aspects of the identity need to be strengthened, preserved, diversified, or made “more competitive” in regional and local development policy design and implementation. This paper brings forward a methodological framework for the study of the changing character of local identities and the role of local development stakeholders in this change. The region-specific evidence obtained from a nation-wide field survey of Portuguese local development agents’ knowledge, attitudes and practice in relation to the territorial identity as a regional development issue is presented and discussed.

Spatial Fixes and Flows, Development and Local/Global Nexus: A Contribution to the Landscape Research Agenda

Autori su ovo izlaganje održali na 21. sastanku Stalne europske konferencije za istraživanja ruralnoga krajolika Jedna regija, mnogo priča: mediteranski krajolici u Europi koja se mijenja - »Teorija i metodologija istraživanja okoliša« (Limnos i Lesbos, Grčka, 15.-21. rujna 2004.). Afirmacija istraživanja krajolika kao dijela skrbi o toritorijalnom identitetu i održivosti u doba globalizirane ekonomije i kulture u perifernim, manje razvijenim i poglavito ruralnim regijama Europske Unije, kakav je Portugal, dobiva na značaju. Međutim, pro-identitetnu retoriku ne prati primjerena praksa: promjene u krajoliku, izazvane različitim interesima i odnosima moći lokalnih i globalnih zainteresiranih strana, često oslabljuju izglede za održivi razvitak. Ovaj rad pokazuje kako takvo stanje odražava nedostatak odgovarajućega koncepcijsko-metodološkog okvira za prevođenje problema krajolika i drugih pitanja o teritorijalnu identitetu u politiku i instrumente lokalnog i regionalnog razvitka. Ovo se ograničenje može nadvladati operacionalizacijom složena i dvosmislenog koncepta teritorijalnog identiteta u analitičku kategoriju, kako bi se omogućilo bilježenje, procjenu i praćenje (monitoring) potrošnje i (re)produkcije tradicionalnog i nastajućega krajolika i drugih obilježja identiteta. Empirijska istraživanja teritorijalnih identiteta, promatranih kao slijed materijalnih i nematerijalnih prostora mjesta i tijekova unutar lokalno/globalnih povezivanja, trebaju na učinkovit način integrirati ulogu krajolika što se mijenjaju u lokalni i regionalni razvitak. U tom kontekstu predlaže se koncepceptualno-metodologijski okvir za razvojna istraživanja krajolika i drugih teritorijalnih obilježja.The authors held this paper on the 21st Session of the Permanent European Conference for the Study of the Rural Landscape - One Region, Many Stories. Mediterranean Landscapes in a Changing Europe on the theme »Theory and Methodology of Landscape Research « (Limnos and Lesvos, Greece, 15-21 September 2004). Affirmation of landscape research as part of territorial identity and sustainability concerns in the era of globalised economy and culture has been gaining importance in the peripheral, less developed and largely rural EU regions, such as Portugal. However, the pro-identity rhetoric has not been matched with practice: changes in landscapes, provoked by diverse interests and power-relations between local and global stakeholders often undermine sustainable development prospects. This situation, it is argued in this paper, reflects the lack of adequate conceptual-methodological framework for the translation of landscape and other territorial identity-related concerns into local and regional development policies and instruments. This limitation can be overcome by operationalizing the complex and ambiguous concept of territorial identity into an analytical category in order to allow for recording, assessment and monitoring of consumption and (reproduction of traditional and emerging landscape and other identity features. Empirical studies of territorial identities, conceived as sets of material and immaterial spatial fixes and flows within the local/global nexus, need to integrate in an effective manner the role of changing land scapes in local and regional development. In this context, a conceptual-methodological framework for development-oriented research on landscape and other territorial Identity features is proposed

A transdisciplinary perspective of chronic stress in relation to psychopathology throughout life span development

The allostatic load (AL) model represents an interdisciplinary approach to comprehensively conceptualize and quantify chronic stress in relation to pathologies throughout the life cycle. This article first reviews the AL model, followed by interactions among early adversity, genetics, environmental toxins, as well as distinctions among sex, gender, and sex hormones as integral antecedents of AL. We next explore perspectives on severe mental illness, dementia, and caregiving as unique human models of AL that merit future investigations in the field of developmental psychopathology. A complimenting transdisciplinary perspective is applied throughout, whereby we argue that the AL model goes beyond traditional stress–disease theories toward the advancement of person-centered research and practice that promote not only physical health but also mental healt

Fatores endógenos e exógenos do desenvolvimento demográfico: em busca da teoria da trasição demográfica dependente

Fatores endógenos e exógenos do desenvolvimento demográfico: em busca da teoria da trasição demográfica dependent

Crianças de rua em Angola : alternativas à exclusão educacional

Intervenção social. - ISSN 0874-1611. - N. 17-18 (1998). - p. 140-170E universalmente aceite que a educação básica e um direito humano fundamental, destinado a todos, e que o desenvolvimento de um pais depende do nível de educação e da capacidade produtiva da população. Muitos países em desenvolvimento fizeram progressos notáveis ao longo das últimas décadas proporcionando educação a amplos sectores da sociedade. Porem, alguns dos sucessos iniciais na democratização da educação básica tem sido minimizados por um conjunto de forças endógenas e exógenas contra o desenvolvimento desses países. Perturbações políticas, Instabilidade económica, rupturas sociais e culturais, pauperizarão continuam, etc., tem levado a um crescente aumento da população excluída da educação

Spatial Fixes and Flows, Development and Local/Global Nexus: A Contribution to the Landscape Research Agenda

Autori su ovo izlaganje održali na 21. sastanku Stalne europske konferencije za istraživanja ruralnoga krajolika Jedna regija, mnogo priča: mediteranski krajolici u Europi koja se mijenja - »Teorija i metodologija istraživanja okoliša« (Limnos i Lesbos, Grčka, 15.-21. rujna 2004.). Afirmacija istraživanja krajolika kao dijela skrbi o toritorijalnom identitetu i održivosti u doba globalizirane ekonomije i kulture u perifernim, manje razvijenim i poglavito ruralnim regijama Europske Unije, kakav je Portugal, dobiva na značaju. Međutim, pro-identitetnu retoriku ne prati primjerena praksa: promjene u krajoliku, izazvane različitim interesima i odnosima moći lokalnih i globalnih zainteresiranih strana, često oslabljuju izglede za održivi razvitak. Ovaj rad pokazuje kako takvo stanje odražava nedostatak odgovarajućega koncepcijsko-metodološkog okvira za prevođenje problema krajolika i drugih pitanja o teritorijalnu identitetu u politiku i instrumente lokalnog i regionalnog razvitka. Ovo se ograničenje može nadvladati operacionalizacijom složena i dvosmislenog koncepta teritorijalnog identiteta u analitičku kategoriju, kako bi se omogućilo bilježenje, procjenu i praćenje (monitoring) potrošnje i (re)produkcije tradicionalnog i nastajućega krajolika i drugih obilježja identiteta. Empirijska istraživanja teritorijalnih identiteta, promatranih kao slijed materijalnih i nematerijalnih prostora mjesta i tijekova unutar lokalno/globalnih povezivanja, trebaju na učinkovit način integrirati ulogu krajolika što se mijenjaju u lokalni i regionalni razvitak. U tom kontekstu predlaže se koncepceptualno-metodologijski okvir za razvojna istraživanja krajolika i drugih teritorijalnih obilježja.The authors held this paper on the 21st Session of the Permanent European Conference for the Study of the Rural Landscape - One Region, Many Stories. Mediterranean Landscapes in a Changing Europe on the theme »Theory and Methodology of Landscape Research « (Limnos and Lesvos, Greece, 15-21 September 2004). Affirmation of landscape research as part of territorial identity and sustainability concerns in the era of globalised economy and culture has been gaining importance in the peripheral, less developed and largely rural EU regions, such as Portugal. However, the pro-identity rhetoric has not been matched with practice: changes in landscapes, provoked by diverse interests and power-relations between local and global stakeholders often undermine sustainable development prospects. This situation, it is argued in this paper, reflects the lack of adequate conceptual-methodological framework for the translation of landscape and other territorial identity-related concerns into local and regional development policies and instruments. This limitation can be overcome by operationalizing the complex and ambiguous concept of territorial identity into an analytical category in order to allow for recording, assessment and monitoring of consumption and (reproduction of traditional and emerging landscape and other identity features. Empirical studies of territorial identities, conceived as sets of material and immaterial spatial fixes and flows within the local/global nexus, need to integrate in an effective manner the role of changing land scapes in local and regional development. In this context, a conceptual-methodological framework for development-oriented research on landscape and other territorial Identity features is proposed