Multitasking in the rural world: technological change and sustainability

Teresa de Noronha and Peter Nijkamp

International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology, 2009, vol. 8, issue 2/3/4, 111-129

Abstract: Charged by history and struggling for a spatial identity, the rural world may use specific sets of values to apply tacit knowledge and cope with an industrial model in transition. This paper prompts the opportunities for rurality in the metamorphosis of modernity challenges. Addressing issues like diversification, local competition or networking, rural firms are adapting by segmenting and moving towards less concentrated forms, in an attempt to integrate the marketing of non-commodities as the most adequate strategies for consumers. Such strategies that impose certifications based on specific know-how force locals to expand their knowledge basis and learning capacities, facilitating a more environmentally sustainable production model. Presented as a complex force field, the rural world suggests a new paradigm in which social participation is more demanded and local and regional actors are called to find compromises for the sustainable governance of natural resources and the advance of learning.

Keywords: urban-rural dichotomy; rural development; segmented markets; flexible production; environmental sustainability; traditional food production; low-tech sectors; technological change; local innovation systems; sustainable development; diversification; local competition; networking; rural firms; learning; low technology. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.inderscience.com/link.php?id=26222 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
Working Paper: Multitasking in the Rural World: Technological Change and Sustainability (2009)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ids:ijarge:v:8:y:2009:i:2/3/4:p:111-129

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology from Inderscience Enterprises Ltd
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sarah Parker ().