Dr. Brigida Marovelli (p), Ms Fabiana Stortini, Dr Michele Moretti, Mr Tommaso Trinchetti

The Long-Term Vision for Rural Areas recognises the centrality of engaging territories and local actors to address rural transitions. At the same time, the European Commission places data at the centre of its growth and policymaking. This paper aims to explore the processes and dynamics in the real-world context through two Living Labs: the Rural District of Val di Cecina (Italy) and the Pays Pyrénées Méditerranée (France), both activated under the Horizon Europe GRANULAR project. The ambition of GRANULAR is to help understand the characteristics, dynamics and drivers of rural areas through innovative data and indicators. In this context, the role of Living Labs shifts from the traditional field of product innovation to a more general idea of territorial agencies, for organizing policies and promoting participatory governance. The two Rural Living Labs show engagement issues and specificities related to their novel role. They deal with large rural areas and focus not on isolated interventions but on the broader management of the territory. This adds significant complexity, as they address a wide range of issues, including tourism flows, mobility and food systems, while involving diverse local actors. Building on previous research across seven RLLs, the objective of the paper is to analyse how these Rural Living Labs operationalise broad European ambitions at the micro-territorial level. The study adopts a comparative explorative case study design that combines in-depth qualitative analysis of internal documents, participant observation, and semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders. The preliminary evidence, emerging primarily from participatory observation of the functioning of the two cases, traces the different efforts to build an operational network, capable of coordinating relations, guaranteeing effective internal and external interactions and with the ability to structure an appropriate path of research activities.

Dr. Adam Polko (p)

Rationale: Urban common spaces play a crucial role in fostering social cohesion and urban resilience. However, their dynamic nature requires new methods of impact assessment that go beyond traditional design audits. Effective regeneration of these spaces depends on understanding of the interactions between governance processes and residents’ everyday practices.

Research Gap: Current knowledge production models often treat end-users as passive recipients of pre-defined solutions, neglecting the perspectives of marginalized groups and specific local contexts. Existing urban indicator systems rarely incorporate residents’ situated, bottom-up knowledge of commons creation and management.

Research Aims: This study reviews methodologies for co-producing local knowledge, shifting communities from informants to active contributors. The focus is on operationalizing participatory mapping techniques that capture demographic diversity in the use of urban spaces.

Methods: A transdisciplinary approach was employed, combining literature review with findings from case studies in selected European cities. One of the tools analyzed is the PPGIS ReliefMaps+ platform, which allows the collection of spatial and narrative data on residents’ experiences. The methodology also includes crowdsourcing data from social media to analyze temporal trends in space usage. The Social Interaction Framework was applied to systematically document collective behaviors and barriers to inclusion.

Expected Results: The research is expected to produce validated participatory mapping protocols applicable in diverse local contexts. A geodatabase integrating quantitative and qualitative data on perceptions of the commons by different demographic groups will be developed. The analysis will demonstrate how specific design and management features influence the sense of safety and belonging among older adults, youth, and migrants. The ultimate outcome will be the strengthening of local observer networks’ capacities, enabling continuous, evidence-based monitoring of urban regeneration.

Dr. Frederic Wallet (p), Dr Pauline Lenormand, Mrs Maëva Mercat, Mr Olivier Pauly

Agro Living Labs (ALLs) have emerged in France as hybrid spaces connecting research, practice, and local actors to support agroecological transitions. This study examines their diversity and organizational dynamics within TETRAE, a participatory research program established in 8 French regions. A mixed-methods approach combined a questionnaire addressed to key resource persons involved in open innovation initiatives (n=49) with three contrasting case studies: a dynamic territorial food network, a collaborative marketplace platform for forest ecosystems services, and agricultural systems climate change adaptation foresight workshops. The analysis identifies four main configurations. (1) Research-led initiatives, where scientific teams coordinate collective action, (2) Transformative ALLs, aiming at systemic transformation through multi-actor governance, (3) Technical participatory initiatives, focused on solving specific technical or sectoral challenges, and (4) Collaborative networks, fostering exchange and shared understanding among diverse stakeholders. Results show that ALLs do not follow a single model but evolve along a maturity continuum. Governance arrangements shift between openness and strategic steering. Organizational adaptability responds to funding constraints and mismatches between research and local dynamics. Knowledge co-production ranges from open-ended local framing to expert-driven processes, each with trade-offs. Territorial embeddedness strengthens trust and legitimacy but can also constrain renewal. Overall, ALLs are evolving frameworks enabling experimentation, dialogue, and incremental change. This typology and comparative analysis refine the conceptual understanding of ALLs and offer insights to guide future research for food system territorial transitions.

Mr. Loïc Giaccone, Prof. Leila Kebir (p), Prof. Emmanuel Reynard

Mountain regions are facing many challenges related to global social and environmental changes. Collective action and commons (in the sense of Ostrom, 1990) appear as a way to cope with these challenges; they have been, and continue to be, well-developed in many mountain areas, especially in the Swiss Alps. Today, we can observe the presence of new forms of mountain commons (in the sense of Hess, 2008) that were recently created and that are structured around resources other than natural (forests, pastures, water). Examples of new mountain commons identified in Switzerland include participatory cafés and grocery stores, self-help groups for parents, mountain heritage restoration associations or mountain hut management organisations. They participate to the productive function of the territory by providing goods and services and they also contribute to reinforce the domestic and residential base of the territory by increasing its quality of life. For example, in the village of Fang, in Anniviers valley, the reforming of an old institution, the Village Society, has revitalised the hamlet’s life, with members restoring ancient heritage such as the mill and oven and organising events, path maintenance and village flowering. These initiatives, which are mostly non-profit organisations and cooperatives, therefore recreate or maintain social ties and contribute to an improved quality of life in those mountain villages. The desire to contribute to “living well in the mountains” is often a conscious and explicit goal among the members of these communities. Based on in-depth studies conducted in the frame of the ComMount research project, this paper questions the way commons articulate different functions and, by this, can act as one of the pillars of mountain socio-economic system. It also questions the way they integrate into local development trajectories.

References:
Hess, C. (2008). Mapping the New Commons. Governing Shared Resources: Conneting Local Experience to Global Challenges. The Twelfth Biennial Conference of the International Association for the Study of the Commons, July, 1–76. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1356835
Ostrom, E. (1990). Governing the Commons : The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 280 p. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781316423936

1 Mountain COMmons: questioning past and present Commons to address territorial development issues in MOUNTain areas (ComMount), Swiss National Science Foundation, https://data.snf.ch/grants/grant/212414.