Conference Agenda

What does empowering and giving more freedom to rural communities mean? This paper aims to complexify the understanding of projects that aim to ensure sustainable economic and tourism development for rural communities by taking the example of the rejection of two projects to create a new national park in Ticino, Switzerland.

These projects included wide participation opportunities, were organised in a bottom-up format, provided for reversibility and drop-out mechanisms for the communities, and offered a prospect of local tourism and agricultural development that should have curbed the depopulation of the affected Alpine valleys. Yet both projects were rejected by the local population, who feared the introduction of an additional actor in the production of space - the park board and the possible influences of national and international environmentalist organisations and policies. The political battle – a true culture war – focused on the notion of freedom, to which supporters and opponents gave a radically distinct meaning. While criticising institutions for their lack of understanding of rural realities it is also necessary to avoid idealising local communities and their social dynamics. In this regard, this paper discusses the concept of false consciousness (Lukács, 1967) and little tradition (Scott, 2013) in order to understand the potential limits of a localist perspective.

Climate change and multi-hazard risks have emerged as top-priority topics in Disaster Risk Agendas and Sustainable Development Goals. Multi-hazard risk assessments and efforts to increase the coping capacity should be elaborated and implemented using a downscaling approach that accounts for local-scale, particular manifestations of hazards, as well as vulnerability sources, accounting for improvements in knowledge, preparedness, and trust in authorities. These approaches and their benefits are pivotal for the overall resilience of the local communities, especially when considering the significant communication barriers between laypeople, the scientific community, and local decision-makers. Analyzing local authority responses and strategies is particularly important for transboundary areas, given that natural hazards can affect regions across administrative boundaries, policies, economic development and exposure particularities, and human communities with different levels of vulnerability.

As part of the transboundary research project “Exploring the paths to cope with hydro-climatic risks in transboundary rural areas along the Prut Valley. A multi-criteria analysis”, this study presents the outputs of five workshops organized in different locations along the Prut River Valley (Cotusca/Lipcani, Costesti/Stanca, Sculeni/Victoria, Cotu Morii/Grozesti and Cahul/Oancea), the current border between Romania and Republic of Moldova. Mediated by the research team members, the workshops involved local stakeholders (mayors, farmers, police officers, priests, and heads of local institutions) from both sides of the Prut River. At the local scale, the main challenges regarding risk management and improving coping capacities can be considered the need for an improved dialogue and communication between both sides, from different points of view: economic, technological, environmental, social and cultural, as well as the cooperation in terms of awareness, prevention, intervention and recovery. The multi-criteria analysis also highlights some local particularities regarding the different hydro-climatic hazards, based especially on past experiences.

In the context of climate change, increasing droughts threaten freshwater availability, particularly impacting rural areas of the Global South. In northwest Costa Rica, part of the Central American Dry Sector, water scarcity, intensified by agriculture and tourism, presents complex governance challenges. Here, community-based water organizations (CWOs), run by volunteers, usually supply small communities with water. While these organizations often face capacity limitations that hinder the development of their operations, they play a vital role in actively protecting locally available water resources through collective action. In some parts, however, the Costa Rican Institute of Aqueducts and Sewers (AyA) conversely provides drinking water, while at the same time functioning as regulator of CWOs, known locally as ASADAs.

This dual system, where state bureaucratic-hierarchical and communal network governance operate to provide the same good, calls for an examination of Costa Rica’s water governance framework. Therefore, this study addresses the question: How do public and communal drinking water operators act and interact in the Costa Rican water governance system in addressing challenges related to water scarcity? It integrates scientific and grey literature with insights from 40 semi-structured interviews conducted in November 2023. Interviewees included public and communal water providers and community members from two case study communities, and higher-level actors from both water governance domains.

Applying Qualitative Content Analysis, the study uncovers strengths and weaknesses within both domains of this hybrid governance system and scrutinizes multi-level interactions. Findings reveal contrasts between the CWOs’ network and AyA’s bureaucratic-hierarchical governance approaches. CWOs demonstrate flexibility, autonomy, and environmental stewardship but face resource and capacity constraints. Conversely, AyA struggles with cumbersome processes and staff shortages, focusing almost exclusively on providing water, often neglecting conservation and the ASADAs’ operational needs. Consequently, AyA’s interactions with ASADAs are perceived as imposing rather than supporting, leading to conflict and the emergence of parallel, more flexible bottom-up network governance structures.

These results emphasize the need for stronger integration of community-based organizations in environmental decision-making processes and improved coordination between communal and state entities. Bridging these gaps could enhance Costa Rica’s ability to manage water resources sustainably in the face of escalating scarcity.

Globalized food production has weakened the link between agricultural products and their origins, leading to homogenization and consumer distrust. In Slovenia, these trends exacerbate challenges like the decline of traditional practices, unemployment, and rural transformation. EU quality schemes such as Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) and Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) aim to safeguard product authenticity, promote socio-economic benefits, and foster producer cooperation.

This study examines the impact of PDO and PGI schemes on producer collaboration in Slovenia, based on qualitative interviews and data analysis. Findings highlight that regions with strong traditions of collective action, like wine production, benefit from shared marketing and resource pooling. However, in areas where historical distrust of cooperatives persists, producers face challenges in leveraging these schemes, resulting in weaker market performance and limited knowledge exchange.

Key barriers include fragmented governance and a lack of centralized support to assist producers. The study underscores the need for a national coordinating body and educational initiatives to build trust and collaboration among producers. While PDO and PGI schemes enhance traditional practices and socio-economic development, sustainable adoption remains limited in regions facing economic pressures.

The presentation offers practical recommendations to strengthen producer cooperation, improve governance, and promote long-term sustainability, contributing to policy improvements for more effective rural development in Slovenia and beyond.