Policy Guideline SNAI - MILK MOUNTAIN STRATEGY_FINAL

POLICY GUIDELINE

Local development strategies for inner and fragile areas: Insights from the “Milk Mountain” strategy for the Emilian Apennines March 2021

Inner Areas are considered strategically relevant to foster a more sustainable and cohesive development within countries. The Italian National Strategy for Inner Areas (SNAI) intends to innovate local services and development investments within a multi-level framework, involving local communities through a participatory approach to local development. In particular, the SNAI assigns full leadership to Unions / Associations of local governments at the municipal level to adopt an integrated programming method of local development strategies at territorial level. These strategies focus both on local economic development fields (i.e. land management and forests; local food products; renewable energy; natural and cultural heritage; and traditional crafts and SMEs) and essential services for citizens (i.e. primary and secondary school and vocational training, local mobility and transports, healthcare and medical services) to reinforce the connection between development and services towards equality of opportunities and shared prosperity.

This Policy Guideline draws insights from the experience of the “Milk Mountain” Strategy for the Emilian Apennines in Emilia-Romagna Region (Italy), which was elaborated within the Italian National Strategy for Inner Areas (SNAI). This initiative is exemplary of a model of designing and implementing a local development strategy for an inner and fragile area by leveraging on the valorisation of typical products with high value-added and by integrating it with the upgrading and renewal of public services for citizens and communities.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................. 3 1.

THE MODEL ........................................................................................................................... 5

2.

THE CASE STUDY ................................................................................................................. 7

3.

THE PROCESS .................................................................................................................... 10 PHASE 0. TRIGGERING FACTORS ............................................................................................................... 10 PHASE 1. PLANNING AND STRUCTURING OF THE DESIGN PROCESS FOR THE LOCAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY .......................................................................................................................... 11 PHASE 2. DRAFTING AND APPROVAL OF THE LOCAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY ........................ 13 PHASE 3. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE LOCAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY ........................................ 15 SUSTAINABILITY .............................................................................................................................................. 17

4.

KEY DETERMINANTS FOR EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION AND REPLICABILITY ........ 18

5.

DRAWBACKS AND RISKS................................................................................................... 20

6.

FINAL REMARKS ................................................................................................................. 21

USEFUL CONTACTS .................................................................................................................... 23

This Policy Guideline was elaborated by Mario Biggeri, Andrea Ferrannini and Matteo Belletti (ARCO - Action Research for CO-development c/o PIN Scrl, University of Florence) based on inputs and information provided by Giampiero Lupatelli (CAIRE Consorzio) and Enrico Bini (Castelnovo Monti municipality), and under the supervision of Johannes Krassnitzer, Andrea Agostinucci and Raffaella Garutti (UNDP ART Global Initiative c/o UNDP Brussels).

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INTRODUCTION Experience-sharing and peer-to-peer learning are extremely important for promoting social and solidarity economy and social and territorial cohesion as drivers for SDG localization. The diffusion of good practices has the potential to inspire similar experiences and solutions through a multiplicative global effect on local communities.

In this regard, Italy has a long-lasting experience in implementing integrated local development initiatives concerning social and territorial cohesion and social economy in its own territories , in order to foster sustainable human development at local level. For this reason, UNDP has commissioned a research, namely the “Study on best practices of Social Cohesion and Social and Solidarity Economy in Italy”, to a team of individual consultants belonging to the research centre ARCO – Action Research for CO-development (c/o PIN Scrl, University of Florence). The study [LINK] aimed at investigating on the relevant experiences of social and solidarity economy and social and territorial cohesion in the Italian scenario. Moreover, it led to the identification of 6 case-studies that can potentially inspire similar practices and showcase replicable models to drive SDGs localization in other countries.

Therefore, the objective of the guidelines is to provide concrete policy insights and guidance to inform a multilateral / UN-level strategic visioning and programming perspective (including both UN and UNDP Country Offices as well as national policy-makers and LRGs), to implement similar initiatives in other territories, in order to promote inclusive, equitable and sustainable economic development, thus supporting the localization of the 2030 Agenda.

Against this backdrop, the 6 case studies were identified following 8 selection criteria grounded on a conceptual and interpretative framework based on the Sustainable Human Development paradigm. The latter frames social and solidarity economy and social and territorial cohesion within a territorial ecosystem perspective, leading to a variety of potential outcomes in the four pillars of Sustainable Human Development: “Equity and cohesion”, “Participation and empowerment”, “Sustainability”, “Productivity and efficiency”. Moreover, these outcomes can enhance the transformative resilience of local systems, in the sense of their ability to deal with internal and external stressors and shocks as possible opportunities for their transformative change towards Sustainable Human Development.

The identification of potential case-studies was based primarily on the triangulation of i) the expertise of the research team in these fields, ii) a desk-review of policy documentation, and particularly iii) information and insights collected during the interviews conducted with 16 prominent experts of both social and solidarity economy and social and territorial cohesion in the Italian scenario. Each pre-selected experience was then preliminary analysed on the base of available documents, in order to assess their compliance with the selection criteria.

The following 6 case-studies were selected, each leading to a specific Policy Guideline available here [LINK].

Field

Model

Case-study

CONSORTIUM OF COOPERATIVES Social and Solidarity Economy

WORK INTEGRATION SOCIAL ENTERPRISE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

Social and Territorial Cohesion

Location

Consortium “Sale della Terra” Social enterprise “Quid” Community foundation “Fondazione di Comunità di Messina”

Benevento, Campania Region (South) Verona, Veneto Region ( North)

Messina, Sicily Region (South)

LOCAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY FOR

Strategy “Milk Mountain” – Emilian

Emilian Apennines, Emilia Romagna

INNER AND FRAGILE AREAS

Apennines

Region (Centre)

LOCAL ACTION GROUP FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT TO COMMUNITY REGENERATION

Local Action Group “Maiella Verde” SIBaTer Project

Chieti province, Abruzzo Region (South) Municipalities and Regions in Southern Italy

HOW TO READ THIS GUIDELINE? 3

This guideline focuses on the model “Local development strategy for inner and fragile areas” by drawing insights from the case-study of the “Milk Mountain” strategy for the Emilian Apennines.

The objective of the guideline is to provide concrete policy insights and guidance in order to implement similar initiatives in other territories. However, an underlying understanding of the readers’ local and national contexts must be acknowledged to tailor and adapt these suggestions. The latter implies that the presence of key actors and institutions, resources, social capital, infrastructures, services and institutional and legal framework which have been identified in the present guideline as determinants for the implementation of this model should be carefully analysed in each context, or, perhaps, need more time and specific actions to be set up and leveraged.

The guideline is structured as follows: 

Presentation of the model: its connection to the general approach to social and solidarity economy and social and territorial cohesion in Italy, its distinctive features and value-added.



Case study presentation: a general description of the experience and its main pursued objectives.



Theory of change: a schematic overview about how inputs, actions, outputs, outcomes and impacts are connected, in order to facilitate the planning and the implementation of similar interventions in other contexts.



The process: a detailed explanation of all the specific and sequenced phases constituting the analysed experience, drawing insights in terms of actors, resources and actions. In order to support the reader in assessing the feasibility of this model in his/her own context, a list of Suggested Actions and SelfAssessment Questions are provided. Hence, the latter are supporting tools in order to abstract key elements from the specific case-study to be applied in other contexts.



Key determinants for effective implementation and replicability: the main enabling system conditions for the applicability of each experience in different contexts.



Drawbacks and risks: a list of possible drawbacks and potential risks that may arise for future implementation, while also presenting possible coping strategies to cope and/or to prevent them.

Final remarks and recommendations: a summary of why this model can be considered as an effective driver for sustainable human development.

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1. THE MODEL The National Strategy for Inner Areas (SNAI) is a comprehensive and integrated strategy for tackling the problems of depopulation and low access to services in a large portion of the Italian territory.

Inner Areas are rural territories characterized by an inadequate offer of / access to essential services to assure a certain level of citizenship, distant (in terms of travel time) from large and medium-sized urban centres where the supply of adequate health, educational and transport services is concentrated (defined as Service Centres).

Moreover, physical distance is complemented also by the rural digital divide, in terms of absence, low speeds or poor quality of broadband access.

Inner Areas are considered strategically relev ant to foster a more sustainable and cohesive development within the country. SNAI intends to improve services and investments in selected development factors within a multi level framework, involving particular local communities promoting a participatory approach to local development.

The distinctive principles in the methodological approach and main elements of novelty of the SNAI are: 

Integrated programming method at territorial level, avoiding the traditional tender notice approach to assign resources while boosting a concertation process among all local actors. This approach has allowed to gradually move from the transparent identification of inner areas based on an Open Kit of indicators and data to the selection of “project areas” where a programming process centred on the collective design of the draft, preliminary and then final strategy is promoted. However, such process has widely expanded the time frame making the programming phase much longer (and complicated) than expected.



Leadership assigned to Unions / Associations of local governments at the municipal level as elected representatives of the local population, avoiding technical intermediaries in order to strengthen deliberative democracy at the local level. In other words, regardless of the presence of enabling (e.g. committed majors and officials with a positive attitude toward local development) or disabling (e.g. majors and officials living far from the local population and scarcely informed on their context) conditions, the SNAI approach has made them the central leading actor of the programming process. Moreover, municipalities are pushed to implement appropriate and permanent forms of joint management of services that are instrumental for achieving the long-term results foreseen by the territorial strategy.



Open and transparent involvement of local actors to identify a vision and thematic areas, issues and proposals for the design of the territorial strategy to guide the structural change of the local society in the future. In other words, through repeated moments of public consultation and deliberation, local economic actors and the civil society at large are co-owners of the territorial strategy, despite the exposure to related difficulties and conflicts. Moreover, the approach intends avoiding that the territorial strategy is simply a sum of fragmented projects that respond to private interests or compensatory mechanisms.



Intertwined attention to both local economic development processes and essential services for citizens (i.e. health, education and mobility) to reinforce the connection between development and services towards equality of opportunities and shared prosperity.



Whole-of-government approach and multi-fund action, by complementing the role of different national ministries (e.g. respectively on employment, economic development, infrastructure, education, health) in terms of guidelines and directives, as well as by complementing European Structural Investment funds with national resources.



Continuous attention to open data and innovative indicators, which represents both the starting point of the SNAI in terms of identification and selection of each Inner Area and the basis for a M&E framework in the medium- and long-term.

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

Open method in terms of operational mechanisms, tools and rules, through a continuous learning process at national level based on an experimental and flexible approach within territories.



Qualified technical assistance by the central body to support leading actors at local level over the whole programming process, thanks to a team of specialised experts providing an impartial and external view to disrupt potential lock-in and rent-seeking behaviours within local societies.

The design of the territorial strategy in the project areas follows these steps: 1. DRAWING OF IDEAS: The focal person for the area involves institutions, associations, citizens, entrepreneurs and other relevant actors to identify 'Draft Ideas for Discussion' on both essential services and local development, to be validated by the regional government and by the national technical committee for Inner Areas.

2. PRELIMINARY STRATEGY: Here, the vision of development is converted in draft ideas and these begin to be translated into expected results, with actions, timeframes and possible sources of funding. Synergies and collaborations between administrations, the local community and entrepreneurs are also described.

3. STRATEGY: The contents of the previous document are definitively broken down into action sheets and specific actions, expected results and result indicators.

4. SIGNING OF THE FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME AGREEMENT: The Framework Programme Agreement includes the final list of interventions to be implemented and represents the concrete instrument for the implementation of the Strategy. It is signed by the focal person of the project area, by the regional government, by the national Ministries involved and by the Territorial Cohesion Agency.

Having been completed the experimental phased focused on the first 72 “project areas” (as for the 2014-2020 programming period), in December 2020 the Italian government announced the start of the implementation phase as the ultimate consolidation of the SNAI as a structural policy in the framework of the new 2021 -2027 programming period and of the Next Generation EU plan.

Finally, the experience of the SNAI is inspiring not only similar initiatives in other European and OECD countries, but also the next programming cycle 2021-2027 that is going to embrace the integrated programming method and related distinctive features of this strategy.

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2. THE CASE STUDY

"Milk Mountain" Strategy for the Emilian Apennines

LINK

https://areeinterne.unioneappennino.re.it/snai-la-montagna-del-latte/

MODEL

Local development strategy for inner and fragile areas

OBJECTIVE

To revitalize the area in both economic and social terms by leveraging on the valorisation of typical products with high value-added and by integrating it with the upgrading and renewal of public services for citizens and communities.

LOCALIZED SDGs  

MAIN ACTIONS

    

Structuring of the design process and governance model of the strategy.

Conduction of a wide participatory process that involved local actors and citizens.

Identification of main local assets and opportunities.

Drawing of preliminary ideas and drafting of the strategy.

Selection of the projects and final elaboration of the strategy.

Approval of the strategy and of the Framework Programme Agreement.

Implementation of the first set of projects on agri-food value chain, territorial health services and mobility services.

START YEAR

2016

LOCATION

Emilian Apennines, Emilia-Romagna, Italy

The local development strategy “The Milk Mountain: healthy lifestyles and enterprising communities in the Emilian Apennines” was approved in November 2018 after a two-year design process.

This process was triggered by the convergence of following factors: 

Strong political leadership and commitment to counteract the phenomena of depopulation and abandonment of mountain municipalities by their citizens;



Close relations among key players in the production, social and cooperative system at local level;



Active presence of Consorzio Stabile CAIRE, which has been working in the mountainous area of the Emilian Apennines by supporting and advising the planning activities of local authorities with particular attention to the issues of strategic planning and territorial innovation;



Selection of the territory as the first pilot “project area” in Emilia-Romagna Region to implement the National Strategy for Inner Areas (SNAI), which was perceived by the territory as an opportunity to revitalize the area in both economic and social terms.

Although Emilia-Romagna is considered among the most advanced Italian regions, some inner areas show significant vulnerabilities and deprivations. Indeed, the mountainous territory of the Emilian Apennines is marked by an extremely fragmented articulation of settlements; a dense network of small towns and villages that are still inhabited and have a 7

community identity, but which are increasingly struggling to support the basic network of local services, starting with commercial and public services.

The reference area for the strategy is located in the Province of Reggio Emilia and includes seven municipalities: Castelnovo ne’ Monti, Carpineti, Casina, Toano, Vetto, Villa Minozzo and Ventasso. The municipalities cover an area of 795.6 square kilometres with a population of just under 34.000 inhabitants. All these municipalities are part of the associative experience of the Mountain Union of the Municipalities of the Reggio Emilia Apennines.

In this inner and fragile area, the opportunity to carefully and collectively design and implement a local development strategy was relevant for two reasons: first, the integration between policies for economic development and public services, with a strong focus on local communities; second, the opportunity to enhance multi-level governance relations with regional and national authorities and rely on multiple funds to ensure the implementation of the strategy.

Based on these premises, since the beginning of the design process a strong and pervasive vision for the strategy was centred on the valorisation of the local typical product deploying the highest value-added and multiplier effects on the local community: the Mountain Parmigiano Reggiano. Around this core, the following strategic objectives were identified: to increase the value-added of local products for their strategic positioning within national and international markets; to consolidate and extend the production base and support young people through the creation (start-up) and consolidation of new businesses; to improve youth opportunities for qualified local employment; to organize a new territorial model for the provision of health services; to organize prev ention activities for the fragile population against conditions of hardship and disease; to improve the quality of education and its structural linkages with the production system; to make the whole mountain area more accessible and attractive to boost soc ial and economic opportunities; and, building on these elements, to ensure stable conditions of good governance for the whole community through strengthened institutional cohesion and capacity building.

These strategic objectives are then made operational through 19 projects that encompass the thematic areas of health, transport, agri-food, sustainable tourism, education, which are managed by different public or private bodies that are responsible for the implementation of the projects and the economic resources allocated.

An extensive participatory process of public consultation and deliberation was ensured for the drafting and definition of the strategy, involving around 350 stakeholders thanks to the great ability of communicating the process to the entire local population despite the dispersion among municipalities, villages and hamlets. Among others, the active involvement of cooperative dairies in the area and community actors (such as Community Co-operatives) since the initial phase should be highlighted, as they allowed to focus on the generation of share value-added and prosperity considering first and foremost local opportunities and needs with the aim of improving the living conditions of the whole community, not only of the cooperative's members.

All in all, the “Milk Mountain” strategy represents a major investment programme, which pools social, human and financial resources from different sources, including national institutions, regional authorities, local private stakeholders and community actors, having conveyed a total of around 30 million euros for the implementation of the strategy.

Other local development strategies in inner areas in Italy provided interesting insights. The Strategy for the Basso Sangro Trigno inner area (in Abruzzo Region) aims at improving health, education and mobility services, especially for students and elderly people, at valorising environmental and cultural resources, and at consolidating micro, small and medium-sized craft and accommodation enterprises. The Strategy for the Madonie inner area (in Sicily Region) was one of the first to be approved and brings together 21 municipalities with the aim of improving health and education services, promoting job opportunities, commercial and tourist services, and suppo rting the demand for consumption of the agri-food products that constitute the typical productive specialisation of the area.

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THEORY OF CHANGE MAIN TRIGGERING ELEMENT (UNMET NEED/NEW VISION): The “Milk Mountain” Strategy for the Emilian Apennines stems from the need to counteract the phenomena of depopulation and abandonment of mountain municipalities by their citizens. The price crisis of Parmigiano Reggiano, being the typical local product, represented the main triggering element pushing local actors to set a new shared vision and local development strategy for their own community. The Italian National Strategy for Inner Areas was perceived by the territory as an opportunity to revitalize the area.

ACTORS

• ACTORS & INSTITUTIONS • 1. Local government associations, such as Union of Municipalities • 2. Active and motivated local actors in areas such as agrofood, health, mobility, sustainable tourism, education • 3. Active local communities

RESOURCES

•ECONOMIC AND HUMAN RESOURCES • •1. Willingness to cooperate on the part of local municipalities •2. High-level technical assistance at national and local level •3. Strong personal motivation and leadership by political actors •4. Local availability of financial resources to support the design process •5. Regional and national financial resources to support the implementation

ACTIONS

OUTPUTS

•ACTIVITIES IMPLEMENTED

•OUTPUTS ACHIEVED WITH THE ACTIONS

•1. Structuring of the design process of the strategy, with a wide participatory process that involved local actors and citizens

•1. Strategy document with 19 specific projects, each one with expected results and result indicators

•2. Identification of main local assets and opportunities •3. Drawing of preliminary ideas •4. Selection of the projects and final elaboration of the strategy

•2. Signing of the strategy by the leader of the Inner Area, the Regional government, the Ministries involved and the Agency for Territorial Cohesion •3. Signing of the Framework Program Agreements by the •regional government, local authorities and central coordination administrations as binding commitments for the implementation of the strategy

INTERMEDIATE OUTCOMES

LONG-TERM OUTCOMES/ IMPACTS

•CHANGES PRODUCED

• SDGS TARGETED

•1. Active involvement of local communities to foster the development of their own living areas

• 1. To reduce the depopulation of inner and rural areas (SDG 11)

•2. Improvements achieved at local level with regard to the agrifood value chains, health, mobility, sustainable tourism, education

• 2. To foster basic services in fragile areas (SDG 3,4,8,10) • 3. To reduce youth unemployment creating job opportunities (SDG 8, 10) • 4. Promote sustainable tourism by enhancing the natural heritage and promoting typical local products (SDG 8,2,15)

• 5. To increase the active participation of citizens (SDG 16)

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3. THE PROCESS PHASE 0. TRIGGERING FACTORS Insights from the case study

Self-assessment questions

The strategy stems from the convergence of following factors:

 Which are the main problems of the target area in terms of production systems and public services to citizens?



Strong political leadership and commitment to counteract the phenomena of depopulation and abandonment of mountain municipalities by their citizens;



Close relations among key players in the production, social and cooperative system at local level;



Active presence of Consorzio Stabile CAIRE, which has been working in the mountainous area of the Emilian Apennines by supporting and advising the planning activities of local authorities with particular attention to the issues of strategic planning and territorial innovation;



Selection of the territory as the first pilot “project area” in Emilia-Romagna Region to implement the National Strategy for Inner Areas (SNAI), which was perceived by the territory as an opportunity to revitalize the area in both economic and social terms.

Within this scenario, the price crisis of Parmigiano Reggiano represented the main triggering factor. Parmigiano Reggiano is a typical product with a high added value, with a PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) label and a unique market organisation that produces a value of 3 billion euros per year. Although it is a typical food product, it has a commodity marketing, with huge price variations. When the idea of the strategy for the Emilian Apennines was first conceived, the price of Parmigiano Reggiano was so low that it did not remunerate production costs, which in the mountainous areas of the Emilian Apennines are higher than in the lowlands. This situation led to the idea of further differentiating the Parmigiano Reggiano of the Emilian Apennines, developing the Mountain Product certification, with the aim of securing a higher market price at national and international levelcapable of remunerating the higher production costs.

 Are there typical products with high added value that have a significant impact on the local economy and community? What is the market trend of these products?  What relations exist between the key players at local level? Is there willingness to collaborate?  Is there a common vision among key political and economic actors at local level to actively engage in fostering a sustainable structural change of the local society?  Are there any initiatives at local, national or international level from which to draw experiences and resources in order to elaborate a local development strategy?

A new vision and development path for the whole community was thus identified around this pivotal element for the local economy and society.

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PHASE 1. PLANNING AND STRUCTURING OF THE DESIGN PROCESS FOR THE LOCAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY Insights from the case-study

Suggested actions

Self-assessment questions MAIN ACTORS

The planning phase coincides with the structuring of the design process and its governance that will lead to the final definition, approval and implementation of the strategy.

The sharing of the motivation highlighted above brought together local institutional with social and economic actors, demonstrating a strong joint collective commitment, namely: -

Institutional actors such as the local associations of municipalities and the mayors of the municipalities; Chamber of Commerce of Reggio Emilia; Enterprises, primarily local cooperative dairies; Community Co-operatives; Research and technical assistance centres; National technical committee of experts and consultants.

 Identify and engage actors and organizations in your local territory belonging from different sectors and fields of expertise which have or have the potential to share a common vision of sustainable local development and which might have potential to collaborate.

 Who are the active (potential) institutional, social and productive actors in your local community?

 Assign the political leadership to a strong committed mayor or civil servant.

 Which actors can provide technical assistance?

 Which actors can take a stable and committed leadership of the process?

MAIN RESOURCES The Reggio Emilia Chamber of Commerce and the cooperative dairies contributed financially to the design phase of the Strategy.

 Ensure that all necessary expertise is available for the design phase of the Strategy by contacting technical experts at local and national level.

 Are the actors willing to cooperate in finding and providing all the necessary human and financial resources?

The human and social capital provided by all key actors involved, as well as the strong cohesion and alignment among them, have been fundamental to the process.

 Identify the financial resources to cover the costs envisaged during the design process.

 Do the actors already have the necessary specific technical competences and expertise?

The actors identified the necessary specific competences concerning the 5 thematic lines of the Strategy: agri-food, mobility, health, education, sustainable tourism.

 If not, is it possible to find financial resources for technical assistance?

In-depth technical assistance was provided by local and national technical experts.

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MAIN ACTIVITIES The actors wanted a wide institutional involvement, trying to identify the most appropriate dimension for the intervention considering the available resources and the main critical issues. This was done through an institutional process that involved all the mayors of the local associations of municipalities (Mountain Union of Municipalities).

An initial outline of the Strategy was established, identifying some key elements: the core centrality around Mountain Parmigiano Reggiano as a local product with high added value; the identification of the main issues to be tackled concerning mobility, health, education, on the basis of a needs assessment.

The actors then started to identify some project ideas to solve the present problems, choosing to adopt a bottom-up process open to citizens' participation.

The draft ideas were sent to the Regional government and the Technical Committee for Inner Areas.

 Involve all interested local institutions in the design phase, identifying the most appropriate target area for the strategy.

 Is there a willingness on the part of local authorities to act on these issues?

 Establish a clear allocation of resources.

 Has the project identified a specific target area for the strategy, also based on the availability of resources?

 Establish the basic principles of territorial planning, starting with the identification of the pivotal asset(s) around which the development strategy should be based.

 What can be the founding principles of the territorial strategy?

 Share with authorities at regional and national level the guiding ideas for promoting structural change related to both essential services and local economic development.

 Which assets can represent the main pivotal element of the strategy?

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PHASE 2. DRAFTING AND APPROVAL OF THE LOCAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY Insights from the case-study

Suggested actions

Self-assessment questions

MAIN ACTORS The small number of municipalities involved in the process, totalling seven, positively influenced the direct and active involvement of all the municipal councils. The emphasis on the whole territory represented an antidote to excessive individualism.

Approximately 350 stakeholders were involved in the process and contributed to the design of the strategy. Five different thematic working groups were organised involving several actors: -

The group concerning “economic and agri-food sectors” involved primarily cooperative dairies, social and cooperative economy actors, the Chamber of Commerce; The group on “health” services involved actors such as the local health authority and several doctors; The group on “education” involved different actors such as the Coordination Centre for School Qualification and the school principals, as well as VET organizations; The group concerning “mobility” involved actors such as the local mobility agency, the mayors of the municipalities, and the school principals; The group concerning “sustainable tourism” involved the national park authority, the environmental associations, the local authorities responsible for energy management.

 Create a cohesive group of local authorities sharing a common territorial perspective that goes beyond peculiar municipal interests.

 Is there a willingness among key actors to set up a participatory process open to citizens and local stakeholders?

 If various topics are addressed, identify appropriate working groups and all relevant local actors who might be interested in being involved in the group meetings.

 Which local actors are competent in the issues identified as priorities for the strategy?

 Identify and involve social economy actors also through collective representative organisations.  Set-up an effective and inclusive participatory process for all community actors and social groups.

 Is there an already active network of actors at national and/or local level willing to participate to and/or support the design process of the strategy?  Are existing participatory mechanisms effective and truly inclusive?

 Make all responsible authorities approving and signing the strategy.

Once the strategy was first drafted and then finalised, it was signed by the leader of the Inner Area, the Regional government, the Ministries involved and the Agency for Territorial Cohesion.

MAIN RESOURCES The elaboration process took place without the certainty of later receiving funding from the SNAI. For this reason, the willingness to finance the process by the key actors involved, such as the Chamber of Commerce and the Mountain Union of Municipalities, was crucial.

The established climate of institutional cohesion was helpful. To maintain it there was no discussion at this stage on the distribution of resources in strictly budgetary terms.

 Identify the financial and human resources for the design process of the strategy.  Identify structures and/or experts at local and national level with specific technical expertise that might be needed in the strategy's elaboration.

 Which human and financial resources are needed to elaborate the strategy? Are they available at local level?  What is the level of trust and social capital within the local community?

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In addition to the political will on the part of the local institutions, the expertise of the local technical structures was fundamental. It was important also to count on national thematic experts when necessary.

 Avoid discussing budget allocation in detail at this stage to prevent tensions between stakeholders.

Equally important was the human and social capital provided by the commitment of citizens and community actors involved in the participatory process to design and approve the strategy.

MAIN ACTIVITIES The design process involved 350 stakeholders, with an extensive participatory process. This process was lengthy, also due to the several thematic areas of intervention envisaged. Each working group drafted possible ideas and activities to be included in the strategy in order to solve the present critical issues. The plenary assemblies allowed an in-depth discussion among all the actors involved in the process.

In this phase, it was important to initiate and keep alive exchanges with other inner areas in Italy for peer-to-peer learning on processes and solutions adopted.

The design process was linked to previous institutional initiatives dating back to previous administrations, with the aim of avoiding starting from scratch.

The guiding ideas established in the previous phase were broken down into action sheets and specific actions, expected results and result indicators. The strategy also described the territorial synergy and collaboration between administrations, local community and entrepreneurs.

The start-up phase ended with two steps: -

Approval of the strategy by all local actors; Official approval of the strategy, signed by the leader of the Inner Area, the Regional government, the Ministries involved and the Agency for Territorial Cohesion.

 Structure a participatory process with high citizenship involvement.  Ensure that the work within the working groups takes place with exchanges and synergies between them, by providing moments of plenary discussion to discuss the thematic ideas and proposal.  Choose other areas of the country with which to exchange best practices and initiatives.  Ensure that policy makers refer to initiatives and strategic planning undertaken by previous administrations.  Focus on actual problems of the territories and give municipalities the opportunity to discuss them internally.  Ensure a full internal coherence of the strategy to a local development vision and among its structural components.

 What kind of participatory process can be put in place? How many participants can be involved in this process?  What kind of and how many working groups can be set? How can interaction among them be guaranteed to let synergies emerge?  Have the necessary steps for a successful process been established in advance?  Are there other areas with similar characteristics at national level which have undertaken similar local strategy elaboration processes? Are the actors who have developed such strategies available for peer-to-peer exchange and learning?  Have moments of validation of the strategy by the local community been foreseen?

Will the strategy be endorsed by citizens or stakeholders involved in the process?

 Broke down the previously established guiding ideas of the strategy in action sheets and specific actions, expected results and result indicators.  Describe in the strategy the territorial synergy and collaboration between administrations, local community and entrepreneurs.  Present and share the strategy with local 14

and national actors, who can contribute by providing resources or facilitating practices.

PHASE 3. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE LOCAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY Insights from the case-study

Suggested actions

Self-assessment questions

MAIN ACTORS The 19 projects included in the strategy were managed by different public or private bodies that are responsible for the implementation of the projects and the economic resources allocated. Among them: Mountain Union of Municipalities, individual municipalities, the Local Health Authority, the Local Action Group, leader of the temporary joint venture, the National Park of the Emilian Apennines.

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If the key actors involved in the process have proven to be collaborative and have resources and skills, they can be responsible for the implementation of the projects and the economic resources allocated.

 Is it possible to make key actors involved in the design process responsible for the implementation of the planned projects?

MAIN RESOURCES After the approval of the strategy, a Framework Programme Agreement was signed by the focal person of the project area, by the regional government, by the national Ministries involved and by the Territorial Cohesion Agency, representing the binding agreement to provide the financial resources for the implementation of the strategy.

It was necessary to ensure that the local administrations involved, such as the Mountain Union of Municipalities and each municipality, had the administrative resources to make the strategy operational. The success of the elaboration process required a great effort from the administrative structure, which has proved difficult to bear particularly for small municipalities.

 Find local, national or international funds for each line of action chosen and sign binding agreements among all accountable institutions.

 What kind of financial resources can be leveraged to fund the implementation of the strategy?

 Provide institutional bodies with technical and administrative resources to follow up the implementation of the strategy.

 Do the actors have the necessary resources and skills to be responsible for project implementation?

 Ensure that the institutional bodies involved are able to cope with the effort required to implement the strategy.

 Do public administrations have the resources and technical and administrative competences to deal with the implementation of the strategy?

MAIN ACTIONS The strategy includes 19 projects for the five thematic areas of intervention.

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The “health” area envisages 6 projects dealing with the clinical area, prevention, territorial assistance, wellbeing in general. Among others, the project

 Ensure synergies among thematic areas are exploited during the implementation of each project.

 Have any priority projects been established in case the available resources are initially insufficient to implement the whole strategy?

 Establish an implementation order that leads to widespread immediate effects and involve

 Have contingency plans been developed for the planned initiatives?

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"Community nurse" foresees the appointment of professionals tasked with connecting citizens (especially elderly people living in less accessible areas) with health and social services; The “mobility” area includes 2 projects with the aim of improving mobility from, to and within the inner areas in order to make all places and services more accessible.

The focus has been on the integration of different types of public transport services, with the aim not only of improving the local public transport service but also of organising alternative transport services in low-demand areas with the support of new technologies; The “agri-food” area includes 2 projects: the value chain project for Mountain Parmigiano Reggiano, the most important project of the Strategy from an economic point of view; the start-up project for agrifood enterprises, which aims at supporting the creation and consolidation of new enterprises, in particular in the agri-food sector; The “sustainable tourism” area includes 3 projects and hinges on the attractiveness of the National Park and the Biosphere Reserve of the UNESCO MAB programme. The aim is to make the area a destination for international tourism that looks to the rural space, the quality of food, the beauty and accessibility of landscape, and the hospitality; The “education” area includes 6 projects ranging from qualification and innovation in teaching, to improving the relationship between schools and the labour market, to the innovation and upgrading of school buildings and adult education.

stakeholders in order to keep them actively committed in the strategy. In particular, it is suggested to start with projects deploying the stronger multiplier effects within the local economy and society.  Once projects have been officially established, obstacles may arise and slow down their start and implementation. It is important to have a contingency plan for the planned activities.

The strategy envisaged an order of implementation that would lead to immediate effects on the area and the continuous involvement of stakeholders, in order to keep them actively committed to the strategy.

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SUSTAINABILITY Insights from the case-study The project has provided itself with stable leadership by identifying a political leader of the inner area who is not bound by local elections. This ensured institutional stability in the design and implementation phases.

The whole strategy and each of the 19 projects included in the strategy has an internal monitoring and evaluation system.

During implementation, priority was given to projects concerning economic processes. Indeed, the improvement in economic conditions has immediately led to a revival of the mountain economy, reactivating the territorial system.

Suggested actions

Self-assessment questions

 Carry out continuous scouting for resources with partners, seeking collaboration and support from other local and national initiatives.

 Does the project create partnerships with institutional authorities at local, regional, national and international level?

 Provide for a monitoring and evaluation system capable of redirecting ongoing project activities and measuring the results achieved.

 Do the public administrations involved have a technical-administrative structure capable of managing the implementation of the strategy?

 Provide the public administrations involved with a technical-administrative structure capable of carrying out the strategy over time.

 Does the project have a monitoring and evaluation system?

 Publicise and communicate the results obtained.

 How can the project foresee continuous communication of activities carried out and results achieved?

The implementation phase of the strategy has placed a considerable burden on the local administrative structure, which may be difficult for small municipalities to cope with. It is important to transfer competencies to the municipal administrations and to provide for an additional staff if required.

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4. KEY DETERMINANTS FOR EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION AND REPLICABILITY

Categories ACTORS AND INSTITUTIONS

SOCIAL CAPITAL

Description  Local communities prone to be protagonists in the process of design and implementation of the strategy, including, for instance: producers, social and cooperative economy actors, the Chamber of Commerce, local health authority, school principals, VET organization, local mobility agency, mayors and councils of the Municipalities, the national park authority, environmental associations, local authorities responsible for energy management.

 Are there actors at national and local level that could support the process of design and implementation of the strategy? Who are they?  Do the actors share a similar vision and approach? Is there willingness on their part to cooperate and network?

 Strong cohesion and alignment among local actors.

 Are local communities interested in getting involved in the participatory process for the elaboration of the strategy?

 Sense of territorial belonging by small municipalities and importance of joining forces and acting together as association of municipalities in order to undertake joint action and trigger territorial development processes.  High awareness in the local community that make citizens recognise themselves as members of the community. Fostering resilient, rooted and open communities is a basic condition for similar initiatives to be replicated in other contexts.

 Investing in human capital as the primary potential for local development.  Importance of putting young people at the centre of local community projects, committing themselves to making the territories attractive, as a basic condition for preventing depopulation processes.  In-depth technical expertise provided by local and national experts.  Administrative capacities within municipalities and their associations to make the strategy operational.

GOVERNANCE FRAMEWORK

 Is there interest by local governments to act jointly in designing a local development strategy?

 Technical experts made available by the SNAI through the Technical Committee for Inner Areas.

 Strong political will by local governments involved, and ability to involve higher institutional levels, starting from the Regional government.

HUMAN CAPITAL

Self-assessment questions

 Political leadership assigned to local municipalities.  Thematic working groups to identify issues and project ideas: agri-food, health, mobility, sustainable tourism, education.

 Are local governments willing to cooperate with each other and to involve other institutional actors in the area?  Is the local community open to changes and innovations?

 Are community actors and citizens (and particularly the youth) aware of their potential as actors of change?  Are there human resources with all the administrative and technical capacities needed for the strategy design and implementation?  Who can provide technical assistance at national and local level?  Is there a well-defined governance design that could help in the design and implementation of the development strategy?

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 Plenary meetings to bring together ideas from the thematic groups and discuss them.  Official approval of the strategy and Framework Programme Agreement, signed by the leader of the Inner Area, the Regional government, the Ministries involved and the Agency for Territorial Cohesion.

INSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL FRAMEWORK

 Involve the most appropriate institutional bodies (for instance, association of municipalities, local health authorities) with jurisdiction over the issues affected by the strategy.

ECONOMIC RESOURCES

 Willingness to finance the design process of the strategy by the key actors involved.

 Are there resources to finance the design process of the strategy?

 Counting on appropriate financial resources and technical support once the final strategy is approved by all institutional actors.

 Have financial resources already been identified at local, national or international level to fund the implementation of the activities foreseen in the strategy?

 Broadband network connection, especially given the restrictions caused by the pandemic and the remoteness of inner areas.

 Are there physical places where to hold meetings involving actors and citizens?

 Physical place where the working groups can meet during the elaboration of the strategy, to ensure the participation of as many actors as possible.

 Is digital connettivity accessible for everyone and reliable in the whole territorial area?

BASIC INFRASTRUCTURES

 Which institutional bodies are competent for the issues concerned?

 Interact with national ministries not only to ensure compliance with national procedures, but also, if necessary, to foster institutional innovation and normative changes.

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5. DRAWBACKS AND RISKS

DRAWBACKS AND RISKS

COPING STRATEGIES

Which are the main risks that may arise?

Which are the best strategies that could be implemented in order to cope with and/or prevent these risks?

Changes in the organisational structure at the administrative level take a long time. There may be a risk that the organisational structure will not be able to keep up with the innovation imposed by the strategy developed.

This is particularly true for small municipalities, which do not always have the necessary administrative competences.

 Investing in human capital and capacity-building within local institutions.

Risk linked to political changes at local and national level.

Depending on national governments will, there may be no continuity of funding and support, regardless of the results achieved. Even at the local level, changes in political administrations may damage medium- to long-term paths.

Continuity is a fundamental element, particularly for fragile areas.

 Make the public administration permeable to the external labour market, facilitating the appointment as civil servants of people with different backgrounds, from business and third sector to project management.  Manage some functions of municipal competence though inter-municipal associative forms, if there is a collaborative climate among the associated municipalities and if their number is not excessive.  Ensure that a medium- to long-term strategy is not perceived as a one-sided political project by structuring an effective and truly inclusive participatory process.  Involve possible future administrators, placing long-term choices outside the daily political conflict.  Identify an independent and impartial focal person to guarantee stability in both the design and implementation process.

Risk of tensions between municipalities to get a bigger share of budgetary resources and investments.

 Avoid dealing with the allocation of budgetary resources in the initial stages, but rather concentrate on conducting a careful territorial diagnostic, on identifying a shared development vision and then on drafting strategic objectives and project ideas.

Disappointment by municipalities close to the target area that are excluded from the strategy.

 Commit to creating a sense of territorial community by all local authorities in both the target and the surrounding area to increase their willingness to cooperate for the good of the territory, without being constrained by strict administrative boundaries.

Slowness of the design process and approval, as long delays can be potentially detrimental to the relations with local actors and their commitment.

 Ensure constant and transparent communication of all the steps to the key actors involved in the process and to the whole local community.

Risks deriving from external shocks and systemic crises affecting the whole local and/or national society (e.g., the Covid19 pandemic).

 Devote efforts to avoid interrupting ongoing processes related to the implementation of the strategy, and especially to maintain continuous relations between actors.  Enhance the value of collaborative forms and territorial proximity in addressing fragilities, as opportunities for a renewal of citizens services.

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6. FINAL REMARKS 

Value-added of this model and case-study as a driver for sustainable human development and SDG localization

The design and implementation of local development strategies for inner and fragile areas can represent a fundamental driving force for sustainable human development and SDG localization.

Indeed, its main contribution is removing citizens’ obstacles to live the life they value (substantial freedom) in their own communities in terms of both social and economic opportunities. Therefore, within this approach “rights” and “growth” are addressed simultaneously: education, health-welfare and mobility policies to address “rights” are integrated with policies to promote local economic growth and employment (agriculture, tourism, culture). Moreover, this goes along with territorial regeneration processes, and governance capacity-building to reinforce the connection between development and services towards equality of opportunities and shared prosperity.

To make this approach operational, leadership, responsibilities and accountability for both strategic programming and implementation is fully assigned to local municipalities and their associations , which are pushed to implement appropriate and permanent forms of joint management of services that are instrumental to achieving the long-term foreseen by the territorial strategy. Nevertheless, local leadership is accompanied by a supervision, technical assistance and financing role played by national institutions, along with alignment with supranational / international policies, agendas and funds.

It is also fundamental to remark that the design process does not start from projects, but rather from local citizens and communities themselves, in a truly place-based and people-centred perspective to SDG localization. Throughout the process, a participatory approach is implemented based on a heated, open, informed and reasonable debate to conceive a shared a vision of their territory for the future and a “way out” from the present state. Such openness to public debate and scrutiny (including potential conflicts) enriches the knowledge base on both local problems and solutions, avoiding that the territorial strategy is simply a sum of fragmented projects, which respond to private interests or compensa tory mechanisms. It also ensures collective mobilization towards shared goals, gathering together tangible and intangible resources, efforts and responsibilities within local communities.

This represents a fundamental asset to favour cohesion and inclusiveness within the local society, supporting the local community in enhancing social and transformative resilience towards sustainable development. 

Final determinants to be considered when implementing this model in other contexts.

The experience of the “Milk Mountain” strategy for the Emilian Apennines, and of the Italian National Strategy for Inner Area in general, shows great potential for implementation in other contexts. The issues addressed by strategy, primarily the lack of services and the depopulation of rural internal areas, are common in many emerging countries. Similarly, the intertwined attention to both local economic development processes and local service innovation is fundamental for SDG localization around the world. The joint leadership by small municipalities, the pivotal focus on typical products and local value chains, and the role played by community actors make it an even more interesting case in terms

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of replicability.

In this regard, this Policy Guideline has highlighted that building cohesion and social capital and improving governance capacities are key determinants to pursue a similar strategic planning approach.

In particular, local communities and their authorities should be prone to be active protagonists in the process of design and implementation of the strategy, involving the most appropriate institutional and sectorial bodies with jurisdiction over the issues affected by the strategy. A strong sense of territorial belonging by small municipalities and community actors would facilitate joining forces in order to undertake joint action and trigger territorial development processes. Moreover, counting on in-depth technical expertise provided by local and national experts, as well as on proper administrative capacities within municipalities and their associations, surely represent relevant enabling conditions to make the design process smooth and effectively implement the strategy.

Alignment with other governance level is also fundamental to ensure the convergence between bottomup and top-down processes and resources towards the same vision for sustainable human development at the local level. This allows also specific inner areas within a country to advocate together for stronger attention by national institutions and to engage in collective learning processes.

Nevertheless, in line with a place-based perspective, the process depicted in this Policy Guideline can be pursued by prioritising and sequencing different steps and actions and by acting on different levers in different places, or in different times for the same place, according its contextual and conjunctural conditions, the presence of key determinants and collective political willingness.

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USEFUL CONTACTS

UNDP ART GLOBAL INITIATIVE Contact persons: Andrea Agostinucci; Raffaella Garutti Email: andrea.agostinucci@undp.org; raffaella.garutti@undp.org Website: www.undp.org

ARCO (Action Research for CO-development) Contact person: Andrea Ferrannini Email: andrea.ferrannini@arcolab.org Website: www.arcolab.org

“Milk Mountain” Strategy for the Emilian Apennines: Contact person: Giampiero Lupatelli Email: g.lupatelli@caire.it Website: https://areeinterne.unioneappennino.re.it/snai-la-montagna-del-latte/

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