Working Group 1.4

(Un) Real Rural? - Reinventing Rural Areas in Europe through Environmental Protection, Nature Conservation and Tourism

Convenors:
Elisabete Figueiredo, Social, Legal and Political Sciences Department, University of Aveiro. elisa@ua.pt 
Antonio Raschi, National Research Council – Institute of Biometeorology (CNR – IBIMET). a.raschi@ibimet.cnr.it

In recent decades the role and meaning of rural areas have changed dramatically within European societies. Rural areas are increasingly seen, both from the political and social perspectives, as multifunctional spaces in which agricultural production is combined with a variety of other functions, such as environmental protection, nature conservation, landscape maintenance and cultural preservation, and other activities, such as leisure and recreation. Indeed the promotion of tourism and leisure activities, strongly linked to environment, nature and cultural heritage, is often seen as the panacea for the social and economic problems many rural areas face. However, the effects of these new roles for rural areas are poorly understood. The few studies of local impacts suggest that expectations have not been fully realised. On the one hand, the connection between tourism activities and local contexts has often proved to be fainter than expected, any of the impetus provided being limited to a few sectors and unable to revitalize traditional activities. On the other hand, environmental and nature protection are often seen by local inhabitants as constraints on both their daily activities and economic development itself, through the regulations imposed on local communities. Moreover, tourism activities and environmental protection measures can transform the physiognomy of places, in conformity more with urban constructs than local values and needs. The reinvention of rural areas can thus have profound effects on local realities and identities, with consequences for local traditions, cultural identities, social values, skills, biodiversity, farming, etc. In this sense, this may be seen as a struggle between real and unreal ruralities. It is to be expected though that the impacts will differ between locations according to the distinct characteristics of local tourism, recreation and leisure activities and the prevailing environmental protection measures.
The main aims of the working group are then to:

1. Analyse the different processes of reinventing the rural, either through rural tourism, leisure and recreational activities or through environmental protection, nature conservation and cultural heritage measures and regulations;
2. Identify the impacts and effects of the reinvention of the rural for local communities’ reality and for local development opportunities;
3. Discuss the role of public policies and measures in the reinvention of the rural.

Papers are invited that offer both conceptual reflections on the topic as well as empirically derived insights.