Frederic Wallet (p), Gwenael Doré, André Torre

In the context of an increase of knowledge and intangible economy, the number of physical places encouraging cooperation between companies and workers is paradoxically rising, based on real estate and mobile infrastructure (hotel and business incubator, start-up accelerator , share of high-tech equipment, etc.), supplemented by a system for facilitating and providing ancillary services (reprography, catering, etc.). Also are emerging third-places, co-working and fab labs (often associated in the same place), as places between the classical workplace and home, but also third-party activities between paid employment and leisure, especially in the case of fab labs where amateur projects can lead to projects to create activities based on the produced value. Initiatives are provided by all kinds of stakeholders: companies, associations, consumers and users, public authorities.
In parallel with cluster policies based on incentives for collaboration, more flexible arrangements for the coordination and facilitation of socio-economic networks have emerged (Suire and Vicente, 2015), and one can note "the analogy between functioning of a cluster and third-places, which can be considered as “micro-clusters".
These places are not reserved for metropolitan areas: they spread to the medium and small towns that liven up the countryside. They often constitute a bridge between secondary cities and main urban areas by being points of connection between them.

Third-places are a spaces where temporary proximities are mainly constructed (Torre, 2008) and where the specific relational assets are built, but can also constitute more perennial proximities, notably through the co-location of actors and the daily use of materials and tools.
We have produced about ten monographs on innovative projects comprising:
- Clusters, characterized by a service offering materialized in a physical location,
- Initiatives carried out by local and regional authorities, organized on an inter-communal scale and aimed at inter-firms cooperation,
- Initiatives originating from private actors and supported by public funding.

We have observed numerous experiences of mutualizing services to companies in physical places: access to infrastructures, support for cultural enterprises, digital development, business incubators, premises of 1st transformation, co-working, fab labs…

The study identifies: motivations to the creation of places of innovation, types of projects, stages of implementation, companies or users concerned, conditions for implementation, key success factors and difficulties.

We show that the most convincing experiments are those which sum up the various tools, or at least some of them; and wide opened to collaborations and experiments, without too much exclusivity.

Gianluigi Gallenti (p), Marta Cosmina, Francesco Marangon, Stefania Troiano

In a world of rapid economic and technological changes, the rural regions show different outcomes depending on different factors. In particular, an important role is played by the sustainable socio-economic structures and institutions of local government. These are important to design a local development strategies that need to be tailor-made and flexible enough, regarding local peculiarities and various sorts of resources.
The paper analyse the case study of Friuli Venezia Giulia region, that is situated in the north-east of Italy. The rural areas of the region shows some weakness that are typical of marginal rural areas or less favored areas and, at the same time, some strengths connected to the local food and quality food, rural tourism, wine routes and agri-food districts.
The recent economic crisis has affected to a greater extent the manufacturing sector, and to a lesser extent the agri-food system, which remains one of the most significant segments of the regional economy both for its size and for its strategic value.
In this situation the regional government has design two different specific policies that concern the agri-food sector.
First of all the Rural Development Programme (RDP) put out a particular emphasis on improving the competitiveness of agriculture and primary producers, as well as on restoring, preserving and enhancing ecosystems. It is organized in six priorities: 1) Knowledge transfer and innovation in agriculture, forestry and rural areas; 2) Competitiveness of agricultural sector and sustainable forestry; 3) Food chain organisation, including processing and marketing of agricultural products, animal welfare and risk management in agriculture, 4) Restoring, preserving and enhancing ecosystems related to agriculture and forestry; 5) Resource efficiency and climate; 6) Social inclusion and local development in rural areas.
The regional government has also identified - coherent with the EU’s smart specialization strategies (S3) - five strategic areas: one of these concerns the agri-food supply chain. Moreover regional government has defined four paths of development concerning the agri-food supply chain: a) industrial design, b) innovation systems for product conservation, c) smart packaging and d) development of innovative techniques for chemical analysis of food and reuse of waste.
The paper, first of all, analyzes the importance of the agri-food sector in the regional system, secondly, assess the adequacy of regional policies (PSR and S3) to strengthen the resilience of rural areas with respect to socio-economic and environmental aspects. The SWOT analysis is adopted to systematize the results.

Maryline Filippi (p)

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