Now that there is so much talk about areas of low density and valorization of the interior (the Council of Ministers has just approved the territorial cohesion program for these areas), now that the tourism boom can be an opportunity to create “a new generation to come”, it is worth a little incursion into the universe of our rural world.
The rural space is, less and less, a producing space and, more and more, a produced space. The rural world is, today, an immense stage where all the representations of the current world take place, from the most parochial and popular to the most cosmopolitan and sophisticated.
In truth, we work more with representations of the rural world, almost all of which are of urban origin and inspiration, than with the “rural world itself”.
We are, therefore, in a transitory situation in which the specific values of rurality, more traditional or more modern, are subject to appropriation by very different actors who use them for very different strategies.
What is important to highlight, at this point, is the evidence that the rural space was transmuted from a producer-space into a produced-space. This transmutation, carried out essentially by urban or urban agents, sometimes means true agrarian modernization, sometimes conservationism, other wine, olive or hunting tourism, other times a simple decorative element for cosmopolitan "happenings", taking advantage of the amenity of a dam , from a river or other pleasant occurrence.
In any case, the “futures” of the rural world are already announced. Here is a brief incursion into this time of the future.
future markets
We are already in a position to list those that will be the main future markets of the rural world. They will certainly be at the confluence of four major emerging vectors: agroecology, biodiversity, ecosystems and global landscapes. Here are your main markets:
– the markets for agroecological products: from conventional products to clean products,
– carbon markets: the role of investment funds in carbon sequestration,
– water markets: from rainwater to mains water, passing through recycled water,
– the markets for biodiversity and ecosystem services: the common goods and ecological merit that make a place known and reputable,
– the amenities markets: from planning to landscape architecture, from biophysical engineering to the landscape arts,
– 4R markets: reduce, recycle, repair and reuse, the fundamental principles of a new circular economy and responsible behaviour,
– niche markets and designation of origin: products with an identity, which must be valued at all costs because they put the most remote territories on the map,
– the markets for unconventional products: the healthy future is clearly within our reach, or the link between organic farming and an “institutional food” policy.
– mitigation, adaptation and compensation markets: climate change is already there, this is a fundamental line of intervention for public and private policy,
– functional food markets: the miracles of food biotechnology in the service of public health,
– energy microgeneration markets: savings, efficiency and diversification of sources, energy democracy within our reach,
– the prevention, contingency and safety markets: a rapidly growing market, from meteorology and warning and alert equipment to laboratory processes for product traceability,
– the markets for regeneration and renaturalisation of resources and ecosystems: from biophysical engineering and landscape architecture to reconstructive surgery for burned areas.
“The friends of the countryside”, the neo-rurals of the near future!
For these markets of the future, it is necessary to raise awareness and mobilize everyone. The “friends of the countryside” are increasing in number, they cross space in all directions, it remains to be seen whether it is possible to mobilize them to undertake and act in rural areas. Here are some of the “friends of the countryside”, the neo-rurals of the near future:
- the technological "startupers", for whom the field fits inside an "app",
– the “romantic nostalgics”, for whom the countryside is a place of memories and evocations,
– the “peri-urbanists commuting”, for whom the countryside is a gentle recharge for everyday mishaps,
– the “militant ecologists”, for whom the field is the field of great causes,
– “nature tourists”, for whom the countryside is an unforgettable “experience”,
– the "reservist hunters", for whom the field is an opportunity to "hit the bird",
– the “extreme sportsmen”, for whom the field is an experience full of strong emotions,
– the “landscapers of planning and conservation”, for whom the countryside is a pictorial framework and an ecosystemic mosaic,
– the “integralist farmers”, for whom the countryside is a kind of return to the biological motherland,
– the “cultural heritageists”, for whom the countryside is a repository of stories and mysteries,
– the “carbon sequesters”, for whom the countryside is a precious deposit and an interesting investment opportunity,
– the “functionalist consumers”, for whom the field is a repository of diets and meals,
– the “architects of sustainable construction”, for whom the countryside is an inexhaustible source of materials and bioregulation,
– the “energy prosumers”, for whom the countryside is an inexhaustible source of renewable resources,
– the “retreat families”, for whom the countryside is a source of spirituality and a repository of values, principles and security, a life project.
Briefly, the countryside is not only the place where a productive occurrence takes place, it is also a predisposition and an aspiration founded, itself, on the inspiration of nature.
For this reason, neo-rurals do not generally live in the countryside, they have a pro-country culture, they are friends of the countryside, even though they live in the big city.
From now on, we are immersed in the paradigm of mobility and network and visitation economies. Therefore, some of the dominant intellectual categories and ideas that have governed us in recent decades no longer make any sense, for example: the social stigma attached to the countryside, the sacrifice of rural extension on the altar of chemical-mechanical mercantilism, monofunctional and super-specialized productivism , the urban-rural dichotomy, source of numerous misunderstandings, the progress identified with the exodus and urbanization, the disqualification of social capital in the deep rural area and the arrogant and conservative academicism of higher education institutions.
For the most part, in a country as small as Portugal, served by good transport and communication infrastructure, the main problem is not the “repopulation and population stock” of low density areas, but rather the virtuous organization of mobility and of the population flow, that is, the imaginative and efficient assembly of an economy of network and visitation in the territory, conceived as a collaborative network territory based on itinerant and multipurpose services that the technology of social networks can easily imagine and assemble.
I believe that, in the near future, in what I call the “2nd rurality”, the most important innovation will be the emergence of the collaborative society and the sharing economy based on a wide variety of networks and technological and social platforms.
In the 2nd rurality, “the coming neo-rurals” will have a fundamental role there and will make the countryside almost unrecognizable in relation to what we know today.
The “internet of things” will be present, from precision agriculture to preventive forestry. Community-accompanied agriculture (AAC) and community and grouped management of villages and towns will be a reality, the sharing economy and good practices of the circular economy will be a reality in the face of idle, underemployed and forgotten resources, the patrimonialization of archaeological resources and historical and its moderate touristification will be a reality.
It won't be the best of all worlds, but it will definitely be a better world.
Author António Covas is a full professor at the University of Algarve and a PhD in European Affairs from the Free University of Brussels
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