20 years of bottom-up, participative governance in rural areas: lessons learned and prospects for...
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10th Summer Academy“Local Governance and Sustainable Rural
Development”Gandia, Valencian Community, Spain 27th August – 4th September 2011
Index
1. Introduction: governance and sustainable development in the complex rural world
2. A quick note on the evolution of rural development policy in the EU
3. Lessons learned from the analysis of the impact of public action on rural development in the European Union
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Introduction: governance and sustainable development in the
complex rural world
What is sustainable rural development?
Activities related to the “green economy” (Kennet and Heinemann, 2006), that takes advantage of the
opportunities arising from the need to replace the current energy and production models to generate
economic activity and employment in rural areas and, at the same time, contribute to global sustainability?
Option 1: the Green Economy
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What is sustainable rural development?
Is it, rather, to reach a rural world where residents and visitors can
adequately address the difficulties in accessing all kinds of goods, services and employment, especially in the
case of disadvantaged social groups and in remote areas (Borden and
Moseley, 2006)?
Option 2: the citizen’s based model
What is sustainable rural development?
Options 1 and 2 Not Exclusive
But a choice is needed to clarify what is the philosophy behind the
concept of "sustainable countryside": the one centred on
the rural culture, the rural area and the needs and demands of rural
people, or another that focuses on responding to the needs and
demands of the urban environment?
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What is sustainable rural development?
A model of rural development (Noguera, Esparcia and Ferrer, 2004) that focuses on the need
to: (i) respond to rural land management in an effective and
sustainable way; (ii) prioritisewishes and needs of rural
residents; (iii) help meeting the needs and demands of the urban environment as long as they are
not in contradiction with the rural environment and not detract
from its inhabitants and territory.
The “third way”
Initial conclusion
(i)the complexity and diversity of rural areas;
(ii)the different government and governance traditions and cultures in the
European Union;
(iii)the generalised lack of power in small and medium size rural municipalities to design and implement strategic policies
and programs;
(iv) the dominance of a “municipal” rather than “territorial” conception of rural development in many regions, etc..
The challenges for the rural governance
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A quick note on the evolution of rural development policy in the EU
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Lessons learned from the analysis of the impact of public action on rural
development in the European Union
Lessons learned (FAO 2008)
1. BELIEVE IT..... OR NOT
Endogenous growth is better achieved if regional and local
actors take ownership of the strategy
According to the document from FAO (2009)“The evolution and impact of EU regional and rural policy”, the following lessons can be
learned from the EU regional and rural policy:
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Lessons learned (FAO 2008)
2.INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIBILITY
The administrative capacity and
commitment of local and regional administrations in the development of the strategy is
fundamental
Lessons learned (FAO 2008)
3. POLICY COORDINATIONPolicy coherence with wider fiscal
and labour market policies
is key
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Lessons learned (FAO 2008)
4. VARIABLE INTENSITY OF
SUPPORTFunds should concentrate in
areas in need and should finance
investments that would otherwise
not have been undertaken
Lessons learned (FAO 2008)
5. THE KEY ROLE OF INTERMEDIATE
NODESConcentrate funds on regional urban centres to develop
economic hubs. They can then be
linked to surrounding areas
and generate spillover effects
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Lessons learned (FAO 2008)
6. BOTTOM-UP, YES, BUT EXCELLENT
BOTTOM-UPB-U approaches that include consultation (concertation) with
civil society, combined with the proactive
attitude of administrations, can
lead to ground-breaking initiatives and positive results
…because otherwise, “the bottom” will (is?) rise(ing?) maybe in a way that we do not like
http://www.peoplesorganizing.org/index.html
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Lessons learned (FAO 2008)
7. ACCOUNTABITY, TRANSPARENCY AND
PARTICIPATIONFunding should be
awarded through open calls for tenders and clear procurement
procedures, to ensure the best possible
selection of projects. To achieve this, civil
society needs to be involved at all stages,
from strategic planning to implementation
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Lessons learned (FAO 2008)
8. AN STYLISED FALACY: “WE NEED MORE
INFRASTRUCTURES”: THE NEED TO FOCUS ON “SOFT” FACTORS
Infrastructure investments have marginal returns.
Beyond the complexion of basic infrastructures,
a strong focus on education, training and
R&D is essential to sustain growth in the
long term
More lessons learned
1. The need for a long-term territorial planning
framework at multiple levels
The action of public and private institutions needs a
territorial model for the future that establishes
(among other) potential land uses, constrains to certain uses in certain places, the
strategic development axis, the threshold capacities, and
incompatibilities between activities and uses
From my own experience
(CTM)
A(CTM)
B(FTM)
B
B2
B3Bn
analysisTerritorial analysis
Technicaldiagnosis
Participation -consensus
Shared diagnosis EE1
E2 E3
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Example: Box 5. The winding road to regional land-use planning in Valencia
In Valencia, Spatial Planing can be described as highly deficient:• First law in 1989 that just came to be implemented• Second law in 2004 on "spatial planning and landscape protection" that
only from 2010 began to bear fruit.
In the absence of a regional framework for SP, the last 30 years have beenpresided over by a cluster of economic and urban developments in which theonly reference was the local. Decisions taken by a small municipality (eg, thelocation of a hazardous or highly polluting activity) involved a supra-municipalarea that, despite being affected, could do nothing about it. In this context,local planning became the only instrument of spatial planning and overviewneeded was absent.
The result is a unsustainable and irrational territory in which the logic ofhuman occupation has squandered the natural and cultural heritage withirreversible changes, has diminished the potential of many land resources,and has created or exacerbated many environmental hazards.
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1950
2011
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More lessons learned
2. Putting the strategy at the center of rural and territorial
developmentThere must be a rural
development strategy at the state and, where appropriate, regional levels, with adequate
tools and resources for implementation.
The rural territory can only be understood as a system.
Consequently, it is meaningless carrying out uncoordinated actions that may be not only
ineffective but counterproductive
From my own experience
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More lessons learned
3. Combining history, identity, functionality and sustainability
in a new rural governanceIt is urgent to create more rational territorial levels of government by promoting
legislation that provides supra-local scales (counties or similar)
with skills and powers to the provision of services, the design
of territorial development strategies, etc.
From my own experience
Rural governance, whatever it may be, must base its action in aprocess of strategic reflection and action agreed by localstakeholders. Although there are countries or regions in which thisclaim appears to be the "truism", the reality of many regions andcountries of the European Union is that rural governance barelyexists, there is little supra-municipal cooperation and there is littlestrategic processes of reflection-action that rationally directdevelopment efforts. Consequently, the proposal goes through thedefinition of "territorial model of Future" to be defined in a sharedand agreed form with local stakeholders. This involves: (i)commitment at the political level (not appropriation), ( ii)commitment of the main institutions of the territory, (iii) involvementof social and economic organizations, (iv) working towards a realmodel of participatory democracy.
Noguera, 2011 (Euroacademy Academic Guide)
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More lessons learned
4. Privileged places to test participative democracy
Growing dissatisfaction of citizens with regard to political representatives and
democratic system. Misuse and perversion of principles of
representative democracy led to “politicians” being perceived by
citizens as a “problem”. Representative democracy has been
perverted so that serves primarily the interests of political groups and the
associated social and economic lobbies.
From my own experience
Rural areas become privileged places for the promotion of participatory models of governance closer to the concept of participative democracy.
This “new” governance model has been tested for over 20 years mainly in rural areas through EU programs
like LEADER, LIFE, INTERREG, TERRA, etc.
Therefore, the principles of “participative democracy” are well
rooted in most rural societies Europe-wide
More lessons learned
5. Recognize thevalue and
validity of thespecificities of
the LEADER method,
framed in a mainstreamsmart rural
policy
From my own experience
LINKAGES
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More lessons learned
5. The necessityof coordination
mechanisms
From my own experience
Administration is sectoral… … but the rural territory is a system
To conclude…..
1. Functions expected from rural areas both in sectoral policies (ie. the role of agriculture) and territorial policies;
2. What the EU and national governments want or need to transfer or play (action, methodology, institutional structures, etc.);
3. The very features expected from the future RD policies’ method (animation, territorial balance, promotion of other instruments or policies, intervention in the local economy, empowerment, revitalization of social and territorial networks, promotion of cooperation mechanisms, etc.);
4. The most suitable future innovations in RD policy making and what role should they have in relation to mainstream rural policies
Future rural development policies will have to define more clearly thefollowing aspects…
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Now, we can just forget about all this, or spread the news......
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