Jenny Patricia Veloza Torres (p)

Tatiana Castellotti

Flower agroindustry was established in Colombia in the early 1970s and is now recognized as the world's second-largest producer of flowers. Its development brought a significant increase in employment opportunities in rural regions that primarily relied on food production, prompting a shift in the lifestyles of residents and in the use and coverage of land in municipalities such as Madrid, Cundinamarca—the first to produce and export flowers nationally. With this work, we assert that 50 years after the implementation of this agroindustrial model in the municipality of Madrid, the assessment of the transformations generated is not entirely favorable, given its multidimensional impacts on social and environmental levels.

Thus, through interviews with local residents, former and current employees of flower companies, document analysis, direct observation exercises, and participation in activities organized by social and environmental organizations, we document the transformations in the lifestyles of local residents in this municipality. This includes examining their relationship with traditional crops and the water resources of this municipality (rivers and wetlands) before and after the arrival of this agroindustry. The analysis also explores how social and environmental organizations propose a transition of this agroindustry towards more sustainable forms of production, beginning with a drastic reduction in the use of agrochemicals and resources such as water and soil, ultimately proposing the clean production of food.

Luigi Bollani (p), Giorgio Mina (p), Alessandro Bonadonna

Jenny Patricia Veloza Torres

This work has been structured by carrying out a field survey to understand how university
students in Turin use and perceive peri-urban cultural tourism linked to the Corona Verde project.
To this end, a questionnaire was designed in several stages: initially the topic was discussed in the
classroom, then the results obtained from the discussion allowed a first draft of the questionnaire
to be drawn up. The first version of the questionnaire was administered in a test phase to small
groups of university students and the results were used to draft the final questionnaire. The
questionnaire was administered through the centralised university communication platform and
the expected results account for the perception of the Corona Verde project in terms of
knowledge and fruition on the part of university students in Turin. In thematic terms, the
opportunities for tourist and leisure use were considered, especially from a cultural point of view
referring to the area's natural riches and linked to the local historical tradition, i.e. the material
heritage of the Savoy family. The study also made it possible to compare different target
subgroups identifiable by gender and age group.

Chaymae Hamieddine (p), Malika Akioud

Luigi Bollani

In a constantly changing and unstable world, organizations are faced with the growing need to be adaptable and innovative. Organizational agility has emerged to meet these needs, emphasizing flexibility and the ability to adjust quickly to change. Initially limited to the technology and software sectors, this approach has gained popularity in other fields, becoming a preferred management mode for many organizations. At the same time, regions are also having to rethink the way they operate to adapt to a constantly changing environment and the changing demands of their citizens. Socio-economic, climatic and political challenges, amplified by events such as the COVID-19 pandemic, require rapid, flexible and inclusive responses. This transition to a new era in regional development relies on a sustainable approach to organizational transformation. With this in mind, this study sets out to explore the role of organizational agility in sustainable regional transition, using a qualitative methodology based on semi-directive interviews with stakeholders in the Fès-Meknès region. Through our contribution we aim to provide a better understanding of the role of organizational agility in the transition towards regional sustainability, as well as identifying the challenges and opportunities associated with this transition in the Fès-Meknès region.

Alejandro Gana-Núñez (p)

Chaymae Hamieddine

Over the last decade, cultural festivals have garnered increasing interest from local governments as part of a strategy to restructure and revitalize the economy of the inner and rural areas in southern Europe. These areas have been significantly affected by depopulation and disintegration of traditional agricultural and food economies. Agro-food fairs, known as "sagre" are significant cultural events in the small villages of the rural areas in the Mezzogiorno (southern Italy regions). These events play a crucial role in highlighting the cultural heritage of the territory by promoting the local products. The “sagre” encompass more than just the exhibition and sampling of these products; they also include artistic, recreational, cultural, and rural tourism activities, providing a chance for both local community interactions and visitor attractiveness.
Despite the potential of "sagre" and agro-food fairs in the valorisation of local intangible heritage, through the dissemination of techniques and products historically rooted in the territory, it is relevant to critically analyse these events within the discussion on the quest for authenticity, and evaluate their effectiveness in strategies for the development of rural areas undergoing depopulation processes. From this perspective, this paper aims to analyse the significant "sagre" of the internal Sicani area in southern Sicily, based on the testimonies of local actors involved in the associative and productive sphere. Specifically the cases of "Sagra della Pesca di Bivona", "Sagra del Formaggio di Santo Stefano Quisquina", "Festa dell'Agustu di Alessandria della Rocca", "Sagra della Guastedda di San Biagio Platani" and "Festa dell'Olio di Lucca Sicula" will be reviewed

Tatiana Castellotti (p), Gabriella Lo Feudo (p)

Alejandro Gana-Núñez

With around 15,000 farms covering an area of just under 40,000 hectares, chestnut fruit cultivation is present throughout the country. The chestnut tree characterizes the Italian landscape: the gentle giant (Adua, 2009) is widespread throughout the Apennines where it plays an important role in the conservation of biodiversity and the protection of the territory.
Despite these numbers, the sector is experiencing a continuing production crisis linked to the problems of economic sustainability of the crop and phytosanitary emergencies: the relaunch of the sector is required through a process of valorization of local peculiarities with a wide-ranging strategy from an economic point of view, environmental and social.
The identification of territorial identity (at the different scales of the geographical region and of the single place) is fundamental to start processes of re-territorialization, i.e. acts that reconstruct the relationships between the local community and the territory. Chestnut "sagra" can represent an instrument of this type.
Taking the definition from the Treccani online dictionary (https://www.treccani.it/vocabolario/sagra/), the “sagra” is a popular festival of local character and annual frequency, which traditionally arises from a religious festival, used to celebrate the harvest or promote a local food and wine product. During a festival the local fair, the market and various celebrations generally take place.
Italy is still dotted with traditional celebrations and festivals throughout the year which represent a great heritage of non-material culture.
Chestnut festivals are organized in small mountain villages along the entire Apennine and partly pre-Alpine range in the same limited time span that coincides with the harvest period (October). Therefore, we can say that they have both a local and national dimension, precisely because the chestnut is one of the few products that is present throughout the Italian territory (along with the wine).
However, there are no specific studies on chestnut festivals in Italy, nor is there a mapping of the festivals and a contextual assessment of the impact on local economies. The aim of the work is the analysis of the economic relationships and networks of relationships that are established at a territorial level thanks to the chestnut festivals in order to identify specific local identity markers.
To this end, through a desk analysis and territorial focus groups organized together with the Italian Chestnut Towns Association, we propose an initial mapping of the chestnut festivals in three case study regions and subsequently an analysis of the local economic relations generated.