Maria Da Saudade Baltazar (p), Marcos Olímpio Santos (p), Inês Fonseca (p), Ana Balão (p)

Margarita Barer

The issue of territorial asymmetries and cohesion has been the subject of multidisciplinary debate. In recent years, its inclusion in the public agenda has been reinforced, particularly with regard to the identification of factors that exclude territories from a perspective of valorisation and sustainable development of these territories. Thus, case studies assume particular relevance as presented here.
The municipality of Avis is located in the interior of Portugal, 160 km from Lisbon (equivalent to 2 hours by road). Since 1960, the year in which it reached 8,977 inhabitants, it has been losing population, which dropped to 3,812 inhabitants in 2021, less than half the value of the 1960s. This is evidence that it is a municipality left behind.
Given these indicators that characterize the aforementioned municipality and those that are in similar conditions, this communication aims to: i) propose a definition of areas left behind, ii) explain where these areas are located in Portugal; iii) highlight the most significant data that make it possible to explain the current situation; iv) describe common characteristics that over several decades contribute to explaining the situation in which the aforementioned territories find themselves; v) mention strategies and measures implemented and those that must be reinforced in multilevel governance, to improve the unfavourable situation exposed; vi) present structuring initiatives, namely those based on the quintuple helix, implemented in the municipality to combat unfavourable consequences that affect the territory; vii) present and debate actions undertaken by citizens to fight for the development of their localities and), viii) outline medium-term perspectives for the municipality of Avis.
To achieve the objectives outlined, the following sequences were followed: i) collection and reading of available information (qualitative and quantitative) selected according to the dimensions of analysis, ii) use of descriptive statistics applied to quantitative information and, applied categorical content analysis qualitative information and, iii) discussion of the results obtained.
The expected results thus consist of: i) outlining a theoretical-conceptual framework that makes possible to understand empirical results regarding the municipality of Avis, in particular, and territories with a similar path and characteristics (as geographical areas left behind) and, ii) highlight that in this municipality there are desires and resources that made possible to promote initiatives with favourable effects in sectors fundamental to local sustainability, iii) present three possible perspectives for the municipality of Avis in the 2030 horizon, and iv) leave a critical assessment for reflection about the results achieved.

Ágnes Varga (p), Attila Jámbor

Inês da Fonseca

In recent times, lockdowns, food supply chain and trade disruptions, resilience, sharp increase in agricultural, food and input prices, food inflation, energy dependency – all countries seem to have experienced many these global shocks during the recent years. We are currently experiencing times of triple crises, food, energy and finance (UN, 2022), exacerbated by the intensification of natural disasters, the consequences of a global pandemic and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine (FAO, 2023c).
In low-income countries such as Central Asian countries, a significant part of the population belongs to a vulnerable group. In these countries, different types of shocks (natural disasters, seasonal shocks, war conflicts, the effects of climate change, etc.) seriously negatively impact poor people's income and food security.
That is why it has become of utmost importance worldwide to reduce the effects of these crises on the food supply and food security of people (especially people belonging to vulnerable groups). In other words, the primary goal is to increase the resilience of food systems that form the basis of food security. To do this, it is necessary to understand the situation of the food system in different regions and the dependencies that permeate its operation.
The research seeks to answer whether the triple crises (food-energy-finance) resulted in new problems in the food security of Central Asian countries. If so, in which areas? What are the problems that have only gotten stronger? Which ones are newly released? What could be done to increase the resilience of the food systems of these countries?
When examining food security problems at different geographical scales (global, regional and local), sooner or later we come across anomalies related to the functioning of the food systems at the given territorial level. The policy recommendations formulated for the problems also serve to improve the functioning of certain aspects of the food systems. The proper functioning of the various subsystems of food systems guarantees food safety. That is why we believe that food systems provide a good theoretical framework for examining the food security challenges of Central Asian countries and formulating policy recommendations.
The research on which the presentation is based was supported by FAO (TCP/RER/3902).

Elia Vettorato (p)

Ágnes Varga

SNAI (National Strategy for Inner Areas) is an Italian policy that aims to counteract peripheralization processes and demographic negative trends in the most far and rural areas of Italy. Some areas are selected among others after an application from the local communities to national authorities; the former need to establish some sort of union between municipalities. As a result, the selected areas eligible for funding show more institutional capacity than others, among the more fragile parts of the country. Particular attention had been given to participatory processes in the policy design: local actors and stakeholders are entitled to build a shared strategy, and funded projects need just a confirmation from national and regional authorities. The selected case study (Alto Lago di Como e Valli del Lario) is located in Lombardy region, on the northern side of Lake Como, far from tourism hotspots. The area is characterized by high slopes that host numerous villages and agricultural activities (both in decline), while other small towns are localized within the narrow strip of the lake shore. The area is fragile mostly because of the mountain municipalities, who are losing population and whose citizens need more time to reach out for basic services and are more car dependent. On the other side, municipalities on the lake shores are demographically stable and attract families from the mountain villages. Furthermore, the area is split in two sides by the lake: the east side is connected with a relatively fast railway to Milan, while the west side relies only on the main coastal road. Given the purposes of SNAI and its local approach against peripheralization, one might think that projects and funds are directed towards the more fragile parts of the area. In this work, part of my ongoing PhD thesis, two approaches were pursued: on one side an extensive research and mapping of all the investments funded by SNAI and location of public meeting for the writing of the Strategy, on the other side interviews to regional and local authorities. As a result, the policy tends to invest more funds on stronger areas and on topics that are not strictly related to territorial fragilities.

Margarita Barer (p), Yotam Yurie, Fany Yuval

Elia Vettorato

Democratic countries recognize transparency as an essential aspect of governmental accountability. Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) members have adopted regulations or legislation to promote transparency at various levels. Even though transparency is very popular in public discussions, the research is limited mainly in the municipal area.
This research identifies and analyzes organizational, behavioral, and psychological incentives, preconditions, and barriers to transparency in local government authorities. The purpose is to generate an integrated overview of the incentives, preconditions, and barriers that influence transparency by providing evidence from the local government authorities. For example, technological or economic elements can be seen as incentives, preconditions, or barriers.
Both in literature and in practice, several motivations for transparency have been identified. These include ensuring integrity and responsibility among public officials, fostering trust and public participation, enhancing economic efficiency, and mitigating corruption (Simons, 2017; Welch et al., 2005; Shim and Eom, 2008; Andersen, 2009; Heald, 2018; Grimmelikhuijsen, 2017).
This study delves into the incentives, preconditions, and barriers faced by local government authorities in their pursuit of transparency, rather than their underlying motivations for it. It's crucial to differentiate between motivation, incentive, and precondition, as these terms encapsulate distinct concepts. Motivations refer to the perceived reasons or goals of the subject. On the other hand, incentives and preconditions represent organizational tools that aid or enable the realization of these goals.
The research questions are: what are local government authorities' incentives and preconditions to achieving transparency? What are local government authorities' barriers to achieving transparency? What are the relationships among the incentives and preconditions? What are the relationships among the barriers?
The research employs a mixed methodology, with elements of both quantitative and qualitative research. Namely, semi-structured, in-depth interviews, document analysis, and conduction of an electronic survey.
There are three theoretical contributions and applied potential contributions. First, this study deepens the understanding of local government authorities through empirical validation of the incentives, preconditions, and barriers to transparency. Second, this study contributes to the field of Public Administration Management by breaking down the broader field of Ethics and Transparency into a topic that will introduce the incentives, preconditions, and barriers that local authorities encounter towards transparency. Finally, this study's findings might contribute to practitioners in local government authorities and provide practical tools to manage their way to transparency.