Attendance at lessons is encouraged and highly recommended. No requirements are needed for attending the course, although direct knowledge of rural reality can help. Interest for a critical reflection on the issues addressed is expected.

The course will include the following:
- lectures with visual aids such as power-points and videos, all downloadable from e-learning, and approaches aimed at stimulating active participation by students
- collective discussion on documents or videos (downloadable from e-learning)
- individual and group exercises on specific topics (in the classroom)
- individual and group exercises on specific topics (autonomous work)
- individual interaction with the teacher through e-mail and Teams

1 - The approach to sustainable rural systems

• Adoption of a systemic perspective: variety of components involved in the development of rural systems; interdependencies among different components; the social-ecological system approach
• Understanding the dimension of rurality: evolution of the concept/condition of ‘rural’; evolution of the rural development models; actors/networks in rural areas and processes developed over time
• The multiple dimensions of sustainability in rural areas: meaning, components and dynamics of sustainability; contribution from other concepts (resilience, adaptation, transformation, transition, one health approach). Interdependencies and trade-offs; sustainability as a socially constructed and political concept

2 - Sustainable development in rural areas

• The spaces of rural system sustainable development - production of goods, provision of services (ecosystem services, multifunctional agriculture) in changing environments (new paradigms, new priorities), creation of material and immaterial conditions for community well-being: food re-localisation; greening of farming; valorisation of bio-cultural heritage elements; rural tourism and recreation services; environmental services; agrobiodiversity management; connectivity; digitalisation; building of new culture and shared identity; community well-being and resilience
• The processes underlying sustainable resource management in multi-actor arenas: shared acknowledgement and evaluation of existing resources and multidimensional expectations; definition/negotiation of shared visions and future-oriented approaches; resource mobilisation, enhancement; development of an active role in interaction with other spaces
• The support of development processes: techniques of animation for supporting empowering processes and designing and implementing local strategies; interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary and participatory approaches

3 - Innovation processes in agriculture and rural areas

• Forms of innovation: technological, organisational, institutional, social and policy innovation
• Models, actors and modes of innovation management: push/pull demand models; social innovation; innovation networks; AKIS
• Support for innovation processes: interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary and participatory approaches; role of intermediaries

4 - Organisational models and governance in rural areas

• New organisational/development models in rural areas: districts, enterprise networks, community cooperatives, food communities, community supported agriculture and other forms of reconnection around rural bio-cultural resources; their potential for sustainability transition
• New forms of governance: multi-level, polycentric, democratic governance enabling tailor-made, place-based and integrated policy solutions. Critical aspects involved in implementing rural-urban governance systems.

5 - The role of public policies

• Evolution of the CAP and related rural development policies
• Other policies relevant to rural areas and their sustainable development processes
• The new framework of the long-term vision for the EU rural areas up to 2040 (Rural Pact and EU Rural Action Plan)
• The adoption of integrated approaches (policy mix)

Reading materials will be provided during the class.

Students will be evaluated on the basis of the results of:
- one or more group works, whose topics and modalities will be agreed with the teacher;
- a final, individual written test on the topics developed in class.
Both of them will be evaluated taking into account the ability to address the specific themes, in relation to the concepts involved, and the use of an appropriate terminology. The final evaluation will be the result of a weighted average between the evaluation of the exercises and of the written test.