Rural tourism 2.0: Southern European cases

This work dcals with the new trends in tourism and the effect of ICT on the tourism management. The article is focused on the rural tourism development. Three different countries cases are exposed with the main webs the reader can consult. The countries are in the Southern Europe: France, Italy and Spain. Everyone can navigate through the webs and take his own conclusions.

Rural tourism quality in Spain. The "Q" mark.

The Spanish tourism stakchoiders (State Tourism Administration, public tourism agencies, hospitality sector, recreational sector, travel operators, other touristic business, etc.) have developed a very powerful and practical quality certification system for all the actors in the tourism sector, including all those actors and activities in the rural tourism sector, which traditionally do not have a proper tourism system. In this framework the Institute for Spanish Tourism Quality (ICTE) administers, manages and monitors the "Spanish Tourism Quality" "Q" Mark, as an exclusive brand that announces the quality of the activity and service provided by the certified tourist business.

Análisis y prospectiva del sector Desarrollo Rural y Seguridad Alimentaria Nutricional desde el enfoque de la Cooperación Española Internacional al Desarrollo

Esta investigación nace de la necesidad de aunar el máximo conocimiento sobre el sector Desarrollo Rural, Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutrición en la Cooperación Española, tanto desde un punto de vista teórico como práctico, que facilite, por un lado, precisar los límites que abarca el sector, conceptuales y de aplicación, mejorando la eficiencia y eficacia de las intervenciones en él, y por otro, conformar una prospectiva del mismo. La tesis propone una metodología de investigación-acción, puesto que por la propia posición de trabajo de la investigadora en la AECID y en el sector, esta es, a la vez, objeto y actora de la realidad vivida y del cambio a futuro. Para el trabajo de campo se ha contado con un importante grupo de expertos en la materia, que han participado en talleres de reflexión y en la encuesta Delphi, así como con una serie de entrevistas en profundidad. El requisito de contar con un marco teórico en el que se sustente el sector es esencial y el capítulo IV contempla este, partiendo de los antecedentes y marco normativo de la política de cooperación española, substancialmente la Ley de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo, pasando por los principales instrumentos de planificación de esta política: Planes Directores, Estrategias sectoriales y Plan de Actuación Sectorial de Desarrollo Rural y Lucha contra el Hambre. Se puntualiza la cooperación reembolsable en el sector, y se repasan las principales actuaciones que han tenido lugar en el contexto internacional con especial hincapié en la crisis provocada por la subida del precio de los alimentos y las medidas más significativas que se tomaron para combatirla, pasando a continuación al proceso post-2015, los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible y la posición española en él. En el marco conceptual se revisan términos tales como Derecho Humano a la Alimentación, Seguridad Alimentaria y Nutrición, Seguridad alimentaria, Seguridad alimentaria nutricional, Soberanía alimentaria, Seguridad alimentaria como Bien Público Mundial, Desarrollo Rural, Desarrollo Rural Territorial, Enfoque Territorial y Resiliencia, concluyendo este apartado con la búsqueda de las interrelaciones entre Seguridad alimentaria, Derecho Humano a la Alimentación y Desarrollo Rural Territorial. El capítulo termina con un breve repaso de lo que hacen en esta materia las principales agencias de Cooperación Internacional de los donantes más importantes del CAD. En el Marco de Aplicación se acomete una comparación de la evolución de la AOD en el marco temporal de la investigación, del 2000 al 2013, concedida al sector por la Cooperación Española en función de los distintos subsectores y también una comparativa de la ayuda otorgada por los principales donantes del CAD para este mismo periodo. Posteriormente se examinan las intervenciones centrales de la Cooperación Española en Derecho Humano a la Alimentación con la sociedad civil, con la FAO y con el relator especial de NNUU para el Derecho a la Alimentación, Seguridad Alimentaria Nutricional, destacando el Fondo España-ODM y el Programa Especial de Seguridad Alimentaria (PESA)y Desarrollo Rural Territorial , sobre el proyecto EXPIDER I y II (Experiencias de desarrollo local rural en América Latina) , y el proyecto PIDERAL ( Proyecto de políticas innovadoras de desarrollo de los territorios rurales en América Latina ) y tres intervenciones con enfoque regional como son :La Iniciativa América Latina y Caribe sin Hambre (IALCSH), la Estrategia Centroamericana de Desarrollo Rural Territorial (ECADERT) y la intervención de la Cooperación Española apoyando la Política Agraria de la CEDEAO. La investigación empírica esencialmente con un enfoque cualitativo, se examina y detalla en el capítulo VI, reflejándose las principales conclusiones de la misma en el capítulo del mismo nombre, tras haber contrastado las hipótesis formuladas y posteriormente cotejar las aplicaciones prácticas de la tesis y proponer posibles nuevas líneas de investigación. ABSTRACT This research stems from the need to combine the best knowledge about the Rural Development, Food Security and Nutrition sectors in Spanish Cooperation, both from a theoretical and practical point of view, that enables, on the one hand, to specify the limits that the sector covers, both conceptual and of implementation, improving the efficiency and effectiveness of interventions in it, and on the other, shape the future thereof. The thesis proposes a methodology of research-action, which is the AECID researcher´s own position in the sector, being at the same time, both researcher and participant of the reality experienced and future change. The field work benefitted from the support of a major group of experts in the field, who participated in reflection workshops, the Delphi survey and a series of in-depth interviews. The requirement for a theoretical framework that sustains the sector is essential and Chapter IV provides for this, starting with the background and legal framework of the policy of Spanish cooperation, essentially the International Development Cooperation Law, through the main instruments of policy planning: Master Plans; sectorial strategies; the Sectorial Action Plan for Rural Development; Fight against hunger. Refundable cooperation in the sector is specified, and the key actions that have taken place in the international context with special emphasis on the crisis caused by rising food prices and the most significant measures taken to combat it are reviewed. Then continuing with the post-2015 process, the Sustainable Development Objectives and the Spanish position in them. Conceptional framework terms such as Human Right to Food, Food Security and Nutrition, Food Security, Nutritional Food Security, Food Sovereignty, Food Security as a global public good, Rural Development, Rural Regional Development, Regional Approach and Resilience are reviewed, ending this section with the search for the interrelationship between Food Security, Human Right to Food and Rural Regional Development. The chapter ends with a brief overview of what the main agencies for International Cooperation of the major DAC donors do in this area. In the implementation framework, a comparison is provided of the evolution of the ODA within the time frame of the investigation, from 2000 to 2013, granted to the sector by the Spanish Cooperation in terms of the various subsectors and also a comparison is made of the support provided by the DAC's major donors for the same period. Subsequently the core interventions of Spanish Cooperation in the Human Right to Food with civil society, with FAO and the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Food Security Nutrition are examined, highlighting the Spain MDG Fund and the Special Programme for Food Security (PESA) and Regional Rural Development on the EXPIDER I and II project (Rural local development experiences in Latin America), and the PIDERAL project (Innovative policy development project of rural areas in Latin America) and three regionally focused interventions such as: the Latin America and Caribbean without Hunger (HFLACI) Initiative, the Central American Strategy for Rural Development (ECADERT) and the intervention of the Spanish Cooperation to support the ECOWAS Agricultural Policy. Empirical research, essentially with a qualitative approach, is examined and detailed in Chapter VI, reflecting the main conclusions of the investigation in the chapter of the same name, after having contrasted the ideas put forward, and then later compares the practical applications of the thesis and proposes possible new lines of research.

Foresight as an innovative tool for designing tourist destinations

Foresight is a relatively new field of study which initially arose to make provisions for the future in science and technology, but nowadays it is increasingly being used in territorial issues. Although the use of foresight tools in the tourism realm has been limited, there is a growing need to manage the increasing uncertainty that surrounds tourism development. Based on these premises, this paper tries to prove the capability of foresight tools to anticipate the impacts of complex global challenges on the tourism field. This assumption is tested through a future vision exercise which explores the evolution of tourism demand segments and its implications in planning tourism destinations. Two major demand segments are visualised for the year 2020 horizon: “Niche and Innovative Demand” and “Massive and Predictable Demand”. For both segments, the tourism consumption chain value is displayed and spatial design guidelines are recommended for sun and beach destinations

The integration of project competences within the post-graduate programme: a case study of the International Masters in Rural Development AGRIS MUNDUS

Experiences relating to the InternationalMasters in Rural Development from the Technical University of Madrid (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, UPM), the first Spanish programme to receive a mention as a Registered Education Programme by InternationalProject Management Association (IPMA) are considered. Backed by an educational strategy based on Project-Based Learning dating back twenty years, this programme has managed to adapt to the competence evaluation requirements proposed by the European Space for Higher Education (ESHE). In order to do this the training is linked to the professional qualification using competences as a reference leading to the qualification in project management as established by the IPMA.

Social involvement for community development in rural areas of Cuenca, Spain

Community development must be accompanied by a social involvement process which creates functional groups of citizens capable of taking responsibility for their own development. It is important that this process promotes the structuring of all population groups and provides the appropriate institutional and technical support. The present paper addresses these issues based on over 25 years of experience by the Association Instituto de Desarrollo Comunitario de Cuenca in revitalizing rural areas of the Spanish province of Cuenca. This paper analyses the social involvement process encouraged by this association, the relationships between public institutions and local associations, the role of these associations and the difficulties encountered in the rural areas. The long-term perspective of this experience provides some keys which can be used to successfully support the process of social involvement ―such as information on its characteristics and methodological tools―, establish local associations and create sustainable partnerships that foster the growth of leadership within the community development process.

Information as a Key Tool for Rural Development. 25 Years of Experience in Spain

The lack of useful information has become a major obstacle that hinders the participation of the members of the community in the development process because they can not accurately perceive how their individual and/or collective action can influence their environment, and because of the lack of elements that support the decision-making processes. This article addresses these issues from the work carried out by the Association Instituto de Desarrollo Comunitario de Cuenca (IDC Cuenca) in the rural areas of this province of Spain for 25 years. The results show how the application of methodologies for the transmission of information tailored to each group of recipients in some aspects, enhances the participation of individuals.

Spatial effects on rural commerce

Commerce in rural territories should not be considered as a needed service, but as a basic infrastructure, that impact not only existent population, but also tourism, and rural industrialization. So, the rural areas need not only agriculture but industry and services, to have a global and balanced development, including for the countryside and the population. In the work presented in this paper, we are considering the formulation of the direct relation between population and the endowment of commerce sites within a geographical territory, the ?area of commercial interactions?. These are the closer set of towns that can gravitate to each other to cover the required needs for the populations within the area. The products retailed, range from basic products for the daily lives, to all other products for industry, agriculture, and services. The econometric spatial model developed to evaluate the interactions and estimate the parameters, is based on the Spatial Error Model, which allows for other spatial hidden effects to be considered without direct interference to the commercial disposition. The data and territory used to test the model correspond to a rural area in the Spanish Palencia territory (NUTS-3 level). The parameters have dependence from population levels, local rent per head, local and regional government budgets, and particular spatial restrictions. Interesting results are emerging form the model. The more significant is that the spatial effects can replace some number of commerce sites in towns, given the right spatial distribution of the sites and the towns. This is equivalent to consider the area of commercial interactions as the unit of measurement for the basic infrastructure and not only the towns.

Methodologies for Impact Assessment in the Ex Ante Evaluation of European Rural Development Programmes.

The ex ante quantification of impactsis compulsory when establishing a Rural Development Program (RDP) in the European Union. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to learn how to perform it better. In order to this all of the European 2007-2013 RDPs (a total of 88) and all of their corresponding available ex ante evaluations were analyzed.Results show that less than 50% of all RDPs quantify all the impact indicators and that the most used methodology that allows the quantification of all impact indicators is Input-Output. There are two main difficulties cited for not accomplishing the impact quantification: the heterogeneity of actors and factors involved in the program impacts and the lack of needed information.These difficulties should be addressedby usingnew methods that allow approaching the complexity of the programs and by implementing a better planning that facilitatesgathering the needed information.

Leader Rural Development Program in Spain: Profile and Functions of Workers in Local Action Groups.

Occupations in the labor market are linked with to a minimum basic training and other capacities. Hired workers should be able to accomplish required functions related to their specific job. Regarding the rural development labor market, local action groups? workers have defined performance areas?projects, strategy, organization and training & market?but specific functions within each of these areas are not as clearly defined. Neither both, basic training and capacities needed to perform each job profile within the local action group are defined. This communication analyses training and other capacities linked to each of the job profiles within the local action group. Functions within each of the performance areas previously defined are also analyzed regarding the job profiles.

Analyzing intergibles in rural development project management

Facing the frequent failure of projects in rural areas with top-down approaches, there has been a promotion of participation of the local people in decisions that affect their territories (bottom-up approach) to promote sustainable regional development (Chambers, 1997; Lusthaus et al., 1999; Horton, 2004; Vazquez-Barquero, 2000). In fact participation was deemed necessary to ensure the success and sustainability of projects (UNDP, 2006; WRI, 2008; Davies, 2009). Hence, the progressive strengthening of the local population should be promoted so that they can acquire a range of skills and knowledge that allow them to manage resources properly and undertake productive activities in their territory (Contreras, 2000). These are intangibles and therefore difficult to measure. Hence, in this research a model of integration of intangibles in rural development projects management is proposed. The model designed supplements and enriches the conceptual framework ?Working with People? WWP (Cazorla et al, 2013).

Resilence, rural development and suistainable management: a working with people model approach

Nowadays, it has become evident the need to seek sustainable development models that address challenges arising in a variety of contexts. The resilience concept appears connected to the ability of people to cope with adversities that inevitably arise due to context dynamics, at different spatial and temporal scales. This concept is related to the model known as Working With People (WWP), focused on rural development projects planning, management and evaluation, from the integration of three dimensions: technical-entrepreneurial, ethical-social and political-contextual. The research reported is part of the RETHINK European Project, whose overall aim is farm modernization and rural resilience. The resilience concept has been analyzed, in the scope of rural development projects management, and a relationship with the WWP model has been established. To this end, a thorough review of the scientific literature concerning this topic has been addressed, in order to develop the state of the art of the different concepts and models involved. A conceptual proposal for the integration of resilience in rural development projects sustainable management, through the three-dimensional WWP model is presented.

Communication Project for development: 25 years of experience in andean rural communities in Ecuador

IThis paper analyses communication for development from a new perspective: the project in its broader and most genuine sense, as an instrument for changing current reality. This is examined from both its theoretical and practical implementation side. Knowledge/action binomial as a two-way relationship is one of the basis of the project cycle. It allows for better knowing the reality that the project itself (what constitutes the action) is intended to improve. Besides that, this knowledge/action binomial also offers new knowledge that nourishes future actions (projects). From a project based communication perspective, the project nourishes the knowledge, which leads to a transformative action. Reflecting about the action is a new knowledge source whose adoption by the community is eased by the communication process. Radio Mensaje project among the indigenous Andean communities in Cayambe (Ecuador) was born and also developed within this approach, supporting the collaborative participation in project management. This leads to the development process which is described in this case study.

Mid-term impact estimation on evaluations of rural development programs

Mid-term evaluations are carried out during the implementation of the program and shall indicate whether it is necessary to redirect and make corrections before the ex-post evaluation, or for the next programming period. One of the core elements within these evaluations is the estimation of programs expected impacts. This is especially important for the Commission in order to support sound decision making, but also a very challenging task, as many evaluators have pointed out, mainly due to the lack of available data at the time the study had to be carried out. The aim of this study is therefore to analyze how impact estimation has been done in all European Union regions, as well as the problems encountered by evaluators.

Technology transfer of renewable energy for rural development: historical evolution and lessons of experience from the model WWP

Technology transfer (TT) in the area of renewable energy (RE) throughout history has been an important tool for rural development (RD). Initially, the TT has been conceptualized as the purchase or donation of machinery from first world countries - without any consideration of staff training and contextual conditions for the adaptation of technology to the needs of the country. Various researches have revealed the existence of different approaches to planning the TT of RE, demonstrating the high complexity of projects from the social and contextual dimension. This paper addresses the conceptual evolution of the TT of RE for RD, examining its different periods considered for three criteria: historical events occurred, the role of stakeholders and changing objectives for the TT of RE for RD. For the conceptual analysis of changes the model Working With People (WWP) is used for planning and project management of high social complexity in RD. The analysis defines the existence of four historical periods in the TT of RE and synthesizes the lessons of experience from the three dimensions (ethical-social, technical-entrepreneurial, and political-contextual) of the WWP model.