Building Bio-Districts or Eco-Regions: Participative Processes Supported by Focal Groups

• Main Author: Dias, Raquel S.
• Publication Date: 2021
• Other Authors: Costa, Daniela, Esteves Correia, Helena, Costa, Cristina Amaro Da
• Format: Article
• Language: eng
• Source: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Download full: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.19/6954
• topic: Cilento; Sustainable territory; Organic farming; Agro‐ecological practices; Focal groups

Over the years, rural areas have faced a number of problems and difficulties, such as an increase in the average age of the population, desertification, loss of employment and the abandon‐ ment of rural and agricultural activities, which have led to the emergence of new initiatives aimed at revitalizing these territories from a social, economic and environmental perspective, such as the successful Bio‐districts or Eco‐regions (e.g., Bio‐district of Cilento). Understanding and establishing a proper framework for each territory based on agroecology and participatory methodologies is still a challenge. In this sense, based on the analysis of two European examples—Cilento, Italy and São Pedro do Sul, Portugal—we described each of the building processes and defined a set of drivers that might constitute guiding principles to serve as a basis for the creation of Bio‐districts or Eco‐ regions. The drivers’ matrix identified was discussed in three focus groups carried out in Portugal in 2020. Such drivers included a technical and environmental component (the quality of the envi‐ ronment and landscape, the food system and the implementation of organic farming and agroeco‐ logical practices), a social and economic component (valorization of the farmers, products and ter‐ ritories and a set of different stakeholders—farmers, consumers, schools, tourism entities and res‐ taurants, local authorities) and a political component (the governance model). Most participants agreed that the recognition of a Bio‐district or Eco‐region should be informal, bottom‐up, with farm‐ ers as the main pillar, with a fair and representative participation, namely family farmers.