Both at the national level and in various European contexts, some of the more inland, mountainous and rural areas are experiencing a gradual depopulation that will lead to a permanent exodus of the population; a phenomenon that is already taking place in many so-called small  ‘marginal’ towns due to their geographical, physical, but above all economic and social marginality. These marginal areas are excluded from the urbanization and industrialization processes which are increasingly limiting the living space of their inner communities, leading to depopulation trends and a gradual deterioration of social and economic conditions. In order to reduce the increasing local and social inequalities, we undoubtedly need to turn the tide as soon as possible. European countries must develop strategic visions with expected goals and changes. Public policies and sectoral European programs are huge, but far from reality, local areas and communities; they are not enough. We need a structural change to overcome fragmentation and present a systemic vision/programming. On the other hand, however, there are mainly experiences of bottom-up mobilization that consider local regeneration as an important goal. There are several cases of “recentralization of marginal areas”, which are typical examples of rebuilding towns and settlements that have been abandoned and lost their meaning. They range from the reuse and recovery of historic and natural routes and itineraries and their related heritage, to the reconstruction of entire areas of land, as well as soft mobility, digital technologies and mapping systems, practices related to new forms of housing which offer the possibility of attracting new and ‘old’ residents and/or strengthening the presence of those who live in these places on a daily basis and are looking for an alternative so as not to leave them permanently. Within this theoretical framework, the session intends to receive contributions on the outlined topics, emphasizing the intentions and visions of local case studies. This will allow for an intradisciplinary and cross-disciplinary debate on the contents and research tools needed to study and analyze the subjects addressed by the scientific meeting.
REFERENCES
Barbera F., Cerosimo D., De Rossi A. (2022), Contro i borghi. Il Belpaese che dimentica i paesi. Roma, Donzelli, 2022.
Besse J.M. (2018), La nécessité du paysage. Marsiglia. Editions Parenthèses. 
Navarro F., Labianca M., Ceudo E., De Rubertis S. (2022), “Social Innovation in Rural Areas of the European Union Learnings from Neo-Endogenous Development Projects in Italy and Spain”. Sustainability, 14, 11, 6439. The session needs to be in english or spanish. The session type would be structured only by presentations.

Luisa Spagnoli (1); Lucia Varasano (2)
(1) National Research Council (CNR)-Institute of Mediterranean Europe History (ISEM), (2) University of Rome « Tor Vergata »

 
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