1245 | Anatomy of new rural landscapes at the time of the energy transition | Giorgia Bressan (1); Carlos Gonçalves (2); Michel Deshaies (3)

The importance of the agricultural sector, in terms of contribution both to gross domestic product and to employment has generally decreased over time throughout Europe. The extension of agricultural land has also gradually been reduced. However, the energy transition process means that more and more space, also agricultural one, is used to harness diffuse energy resources such as solar radiation, wind and wood biomass. Such new use of the land can lead to invasive developments in fragile environments and tensions between stakeholders with different visions and values attached to such contexts. Can the winners and the losers of these territorial transformations be determined? Do these investments, often led by external actors, promote economic growth? Do such energy projects assist in reaching sustainability goals? This new use of agricultural land opens possibilities within geography to investigate the often-neglected rich web of socio-material relations underlying the development of renewable energy resources and to reflect on the outcomes of rural policies in areas hosting new energy projects. In particular, the framework of evolutionary resilience, considering the systemic dynamics of decline, resistance, evolution, and transformability (environmental, economic, social, and cultural), allows the framing of such new use of the land in the broader processes of reconfiguring territories and landscapes

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In this session we would like to gather contributions aiming to discuss the role, implications and opportunities of renewable energy in the evolution of rural areas, with the aim of collecting diverse and fresh research results from a range of European contexts to be used in future rural policy. Therefore, this session calls for empirical case studies that revolve around the following issues: i) processes affecting communities – does the development of green energies contribute to tackle population decline and how does it impact on long-term residents livelihoods? ii) processes affecting economic activities – does the development of green energies take place in socio-economically disadvantaged areas and can it enable reconfiguration of the local economic structure? iii) processes affecting the natural world – does the development of green energies boost the local achievement of environmental objectives and how? The session also welcomes contributions analyzing institutional and social processes through which renewable energy resources are exploited.
Bohland J., Davoudi S., and Lawrence J. (2019). The resilience machine. Routledge, New York.
Labussière O., and Nadaï A. (2018). Energy Transitions. A Socio-technical Inquiry. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Scott M. (2013). Resilience: A conceptual lens for rural studies? Geography Compass, 7(9), 597–610. Paper presentation session; Presentations need to be in English

Giorgia Bressan (1); Carlos Gonçalves (2); Michel Deshaies (3)
(1) Università degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”, Rome, Italy, (2) Universidade de Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal, (3) Université de Lorraine, Nancy, France

 
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