Governance in rural areas

1. Governance in rural areas Paola Scarpellini 16 May 2006

2. Some points • Introduction • Why policy network are so important today? • Governance in rural areas • Few final remarks

3. The governance defines confrontation arenas based on rules, assets, form of participation, where conflict finds moments of mediation Governance includes the state, but transcends it by taking in the private sector and civil society. All three are critical for sustaining human development (UNDP, 1997) Good governance: addresses the allocation and management of resources to respond to collective problems; it is characterized by participation, transparency, accountability, effectiveness and equity (Unescap.org)

4. The local system as organizational model • Local development as capability to: • Change and adapt to technological, social, economic, political, and institutional • Improve and create value from local resources • Improve social and human capital • Have access to information flows • Organize groups able to drive local resources • Agriculture and local system • Competitiveness and integration in an efficiency way • Multifunctionality and new services for local system as well as national and international system • Rural development: new organizational asset in order to create value

5. Functions Food security Environment Symbolic values Social demand Direct/indirect Local society Consumers Goods and services Commodity Non commodity Regulatory approaches Market Contracts Reciprocity New organizational models at local level Local governance Source: Di Iacovo, 2005

6. The role of public policies • At the local system level and also at market level, policies should support institutional transformations aiming at increasing excludability and allowing valorisation - To reinforce local networks • - To built an “area-project approach” • -To improve the capability to interact on the institutional chain as well as on wider nets • At farm level, they should address economic incentives, make knowledge available, and actively provide farmers the possibility of strengthening the social networks through which they operate.

7. Policies to regulate the system A correct use of resources Balanced evolution of productive activities Policy interventions to assure Economic and social welfare

8. Why policy network are so important today? Firms • competition, protected markets • competition, open markets • Searching for areas where to find better economic resources • Enterprises movements to attractively of local areas/systems • Public administration • To provide services and to regulate national markets • To attract flows and enterprises • The actions: • International negotiations (WTO) • Macro-economic instrument, environment, labor regulations income distribution Source: Di Iacovo, 2005

9. Development as institutional change • To be able to break local routines that have strong influence on local actors. • Benchmarking with other context and change • Policies and local capabilities in order to stimulate sustainable patterns for development. Governance and institutional change • Local political environment • Power local structure • elites • pluralism • elites-pluralism • Political culture • passive behaviour • participation Institutional chain Public and private organisations Local arena Rooms of decision, negotiation

10. Governance: different positions • To increase efficiency in complex systems • A guidance concept • A new regulatory way in a different mode of production • The governance failure • An operational idea for a different approach in the policy

11. Strengths and weaknesses of the governance • Recognise the idea of different approaches to local development and the involvement of local stakeholder • Ask for participation and openness but it doesn’t mean inclusion and equity • There is no space for conflict in the governance • Ask for well defined arenas and a participatory culture • It’s a proper model for well institutionalised contexts

12. Local governance Inclusion of disadvantaged subjects homogeneity of development and quality of life in the area. Equal opportunity for class, gender, age, race to access services, work and education Social cohesion and equal opportunities Society of knowledge Increase the role of knowledge in citizen life Innovative development Strength of innovation in local systems and in enterprises Environmental, social and economic sustainable development Sustainable development

13. The articulation between the local system Broader market nets Multi-Institutional dialogue Public administrations Producing values Private enterprises market institutional co-ordination Distributing values Local system Communication Commonsense Reproducing public goods Local society Participation in social and political change Source: Di Iacovo, 2005

14. Local actors • The prevalence of the enterprises • The dialogue among enterprises and public administration • The dialogue among civil society and public administration • A broader participation at local level

15. What is going on in rural areas? • Value and knowledge • New opportunities implies a radical strategically change • How to reproduce local values related to culture and knowledge? • The relevance of local networks

16. The rural actors: • Ministry for Agriculture • Ministry for Environment, Welfare • Regional and local public bodies • Farmers Unions • New farmers associations (Bio) • Non-farmer associations • Consumers associations • Environmentalist (WWF) • Local volunteers associations

17. Governance and rural areas • An experimental field for governance approaches in the policies • Rural development implies many concepts of the governance approach like • Institutional change • Participatory approaches • Need to involve people in working on local repertories and create new opportunities • Who work on rural areas needs to work with many key concepts of the governance

18. Governance and rural areas • Is there any specificity? • Public goods and rural development • Social erosion and to rebuild a common vision • The relevance for inclusive patterns in change • To rebuild a mutual dialogue with urban areas • New subjects and the danger for new hegemonies and exclusions

19. Governance and local system Farmers unions • Associations and Consortia • no-profit associations Municipalities • Issue networks Leadership Political Technical skills networking Local farmers Un-local farmers technical staff (internal) (external) movement institutionalization Public-private partnerships Aggregative formulas Development agencies LAG- Local associations Short period actions Of limited impact Negotiation along the institutional chain New development model long period New institutional assetts Source: Di Iacovo, 2005

20. Changing key factors • Starters • Innovative leadership • Local public bodies • Searching for financial sources and agency duration • Projects and actions • Associations and movements • Local opportunities (positive and negative) • Entrepreneurship initiatives • Stimulating and/or inhibiting elements • Local power structure • Local political culture • Human and social capital • Different patterns for rural development • Rural depending form urban areas • New dialogue between rural and urban areas • New marketable opportunities for local products

21. Neo-Endogenous development Local actors and rural development Key principle – local resources as key to link with global networks Dynamic force - local initiative and enterprise / link with external flows Function of rural areas – differentiation Main rural development problems • The limited capacity of areas and social groups to participate in economic and development activity • New conflicts and contradiction Focus of rural development • Identity • Capacity-building (skills, institutions local networks and infrastructure) • Overcoming social exclusion

22. Neo-endogenous development Provide goods and services for urban class Rural areas as resource for the whole regional society Rural areas are under erosive pressure Build a community welfare Intervention on social capital new services and new models for rural welfare to reinforce rural specificity and attractive Governance Develop new competences Rural networks local and inter-local Multi- functionality Innovation To develop social responsibility in the farms and to renovate rural society Coherent with local needs and to qualify the local offer

23. 4 elements to consider New needs City Countryside Multifunctionality social economy Dialogue and exchange Research of new ways of dialogue Competitiveness, new markets Fiscal crisis of states Governance intersectoriality Active participation Global Local New sites of decisions Source: Di Iacovo, 2005

24. Some final points • A way to manage the consensus nor the conflict • The difficulties for the governance regarding large options and ideas • Social space and governance two mutual point of views • Accountability and a new set of indicators for local policies

25. Thank you