Francesca Ghinami (p), Sandro Montresor, Stefano Usai

Lluís Viñé

Identifying green, digital, and twin patents is crucial for assessing innovation trends and evaluating policy effectiveness in sustainability and technology. The literature offers various approaches, from code-based classification to machine learning techniques, each with distinct strengths and limitations. However, the absence of a universally accepted methodology for identifying such patents undermines the consistency and comparability of findings across studies. In this article, we examine existing methods, highlighting their advantages and constraints, and propose a methodological framework to address current limitations, enabling a more robust and scalable identification of twin patents. We introduce a fully automated, hybrid and unsupervised patent landscaping approach that systematically identifies relevant digital-sustainable "twin" patents through an open-source, replicable, and consistent methodology. This method integrates a rule-based seed identification—leveraging various combinations of keywords, IPCs, and CPC codes—with a bidirectional citation expansion, along with a pre-trained PaECTER BERT model for classification, ensuring a precise, replicable and efficient selection process with low computational costs. We employ the Patstat 2024 Autumn database, and test this method on a challenging category of patents, containing both a digital and a sustainable technological component. Preliminary results reveals minimal to no overlap between patents identified as twin by each of the existing methods, underscoring the challenges of capturing a cohesive set of relevant sustainable-digital innovations. While robustness, accuracy and precision tests are still ongoing, the first results seems to indicate that this hybrid approach effectively improves both precision and comprehensiveness in twin patent identification.

Daniela Storti (p), Stefania Leone, Andrea Orio

Francesca Ghinami

Inner areas (remote rural areas) are characterized by low population density, distance from major services, and often a strong dependence on agriculture. However, these regions face significant challenges, such as population aging and abandonment of agricultural lands. Youth participation to social innovation processes is crucial for the sustainability of these areas.
This paper aims to explore the motivations, challenges, and opportunities for young people who choose to live in Italy’s Inner Areas, with a particular focus on their perceptions of agriculture, natural resources, and the environment. Furthermore, it seeks to suggest policy actions to support youth in these remote rural areas, promoting sustainable development and improving their quality of life.
Our methodology is based on a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative and quantitative techniques, and a path of action-research.
The first part of the contribution analyzes theoretical perspectives on Remaining and Mobility and evidence from previous studies on youth conditions in remote rural areas (Farruglia D., 2016, Leone S. e Orio A., 2024; Membretti A. e al., 2023), to answer two main research questions:
- RQ1: Are there any relationships between the reasons to remain in the Inner areas for some young people and their representation of environmental source?
- RQ2: What factors are significant for the realization of personal and community-related projects by actives young people who remain in the internal areas?
The second part of our work focuses on public policies aimed at better supporting young people in remote rural areas. To this end, we will present the first results of an ongoing project, Scuola Giovani Pastori (The School for Young Shepherds), an action research initiative targeted at young people in remote rural areas of Italy, promoted by the Council for Agricultural Research and Economics (CREA) and the Association Riabitare l’Italia.
The school is based on participatory training methods and networking, involving local farmers, researchers, and stakeholders. It focuses on shepherding skills and offers experiential training on key topics such as regenerative grazing and the artisanal processing of raw materials, while also supporting entrepreneurship development. The aim is to enrich the training experience and foster new, lasting connections among participants. Through active engagement, the project seeks to promote community empowerment.
This paper provides an in-depth analysis of the dynamics influencing youth activism in remote rural areas. Policy recommendations will guide institutions in designing effective support programs for young people, contributing to the economic and social sustainability of these regions.