Now that decentralization and regionalization are being discussed again, we ask ourselves what is left for subregionalization or intermunicipality, that is, for the CIMs.
Furthermore, the indirect election of the CCDR president and, at the same time, its close dependence on the central government (which can dismiss him) further increases the political ambiguity that hangs over the mission and autonomy of the CIMs.
In fact, the Intermunicipal Communities (CIM) are still looking for a meaning and a raison d'etre for their creation, when we think of endogenous resources and territorial cohesion. And so it is, for the most part, in low-density areas, where the spirit of community and common goods and services make perfect sense.
CIM, local production systems (SPL) and territorial cohesion
We all need to know if the CIM can be the basis, the mission unit and the operating system capable of building a proximity economy with a minimum of sustainability.
I am talking about a local production system (SPL) in the broad sense, which includes the agrifood subsystem (SAL), the agroforestry subsystem (SAL) and the agroenvironmental subsystem (SAA) with its extensive range of environmental and ecosystem services, as well as , value chains that take advantage of a region's natural resources, such as rural tourism in its various forms, renewable energy networks and, through the digital economy, all platforms for collaboration and sharing in the provision of services public.
The delimitation and materialization of a local productive system that is well-adjusted to the CIM territory and its endogenous resources is a fundamental objective in the programming of CIM's activities. Let's see, to begin with, the simple statement of the main properties of an SPL, as a fundamental instrument of territorial development:
1. SPL is an economy of proximity and low ecological footprint,
2. SPL is an economy of clean, healthy and fair products,
3. The SPL is an economy of products with geographical indication,
4. The SPL is a low energy intensity economy,
5. The SPL is a low water intensity economy,
6. The SPL is an economy with a low level of agricultural soil mobilization,
7. The SPL is a low-entropy circular economy,
8. The SPL is an economy friendly to the global landscape,
9. The SPL is an economy that values social capital,
10. The SPL is an economy that values symbolic capital.
In this cast of features there is a common thread. In addition to the knowledge deficit, there may also be a deficit of emotional intelligence, that is, we need to know to what extent a given territory is a "desired territory" that mobilizes enough enthusiasm and generates enough collective intelligence for a project of future.
If this is not the case, it will be very difficult for us to promote and nurture a local productive system and an intelligent and creative territory.
CIM territory needs an effective operating system
At the moment, the CIM is a purely administrative territory, that is to say, no one seems to love such a territory.
The executive secretariat of the CIM is a pure and simple emanation of its municipal base, that is, “wetched” between the local administration and the regional administration, the CIM is not, for the time being, an effective operating system.
Under these conditions, it is as difficult as it is absolutely necessary to establish a mission structure, an actor-network and a territorial curatorship that prepare the CIM's strategy and operational program and arouse, above all, the adhesion and enthusiasm of the actors and partners of the CIM development project.
Despite these difficulties, I believe that the Intermunicipal Communities, already established and in operation, deserve an opportunity to establish themselves as reference territories, even if, in some cases, we have doubts about their greater or lesser relevance.
Admittedly, the CIMs still do not have the legitimacy and certification of history done, so they urgently need to prove their lives.
I am convinced that in our small low-density inland towns and cities we will progressively move towards an “integrated and complementary offer of common goods and services”, in the form of an intelligent network that will use the best technological and digital practices, but , also, community and institutional, to prevent the migration of fundamental goods and services, of any nature, to the coastal areas.
Following the devastating effects of the covid 19 pandemic, comes the European Union Economic Recovery Program and also the next Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027 with substantial financial means.
Now, this is the right moment to prepare the various regional economies and the CIMs, in particular, for the recovery and development strategies that are needed.
Now that decentralization and the transfer of competences to various levels of administration (regional, inter-municipal and municipal) are discussed, it is important to know at what levels we will place the provision of basic common services, under penalty of enormous confusion in the sphere of attributions of each level and, therefore, in the allocation of those financial means.
I mention, by way of example:
– Public transport and its interoperability in light of electric and smooth mobility,
– The supply and management of fundamental infrastructures of an ecological nature,
– Combating climate change and reducing our various footprints,
– Local food supply, community agriculture and institutional foods,
– The provision of medical care, outpatient care and home support services,
– The offer of environmental services and cultural services for leisure and recreation,
– The offer of public safety and protection services to the most vulnerable groups,
– The provision of public administrative services and postal services,
– The provision of education and vocational training services for the digital transition,
– Offering incentives to new CIM value chains that use local resources.
There are, moreover, two areas where the urgency of an effective operating system stands out: firstly, the way we reoccupy an increasingly “desertified” territory of public services and, secondly, the way we promote and reorganize an increasingly thin labor market.
Furthermore, if the technological and digital revolution opens up an immense field of possibilities and opportunities, it is prudent and sensible for the CIMs to be in a position to promote two other “small revolutions”: first, alongside a globalized economy, it is necessary to recreate a economy of resources and proximity products, secondly, alongside an economy of employment in contraction, it is necessary to recreate a tailor-made labor economy, in a labor universe where the fractioning of the labor market, pluriactivity and pluri-income pass to be a fully recognized social norm. There is a lot of work to be done in these two areas.
Final Notes
I return to knowledge deficits and observe what is going on around us. In recent years, they have been created in many regions of the country, with the support of European and national funds, what we could call the “embryo of intelligent communities”: science and technology parks, research and development centers, technology centers, centers of businesses, nests of companies, incubators and accelerators of startup, spaces of coworking, a network of Smart cities, a network of living labs, a national network of local development associations, a national rural network, societies of venture capital, a Startup Portugal, an association of business angels, hubs technological and creative, in addition to many business associations with very variable geometry.
Let's think, for a moment, of the immense diffuse and dispersive effects, of dubious sustainability, originating in all these presumed intelligent communities, let's think about their impact on low-density territories and we are immediately left with a bitter mouth at what it says. respect for its effectiveness, efficiency and effectiveness. With a few exceptions, of course.
There is no territorial cohesion and collective intelligence of the CIM that can resist these diffuse and dispersive effects. They do not have their own political authority for a task of such magnitude.
Therefore, without strong political and technical cooperation between the CCDR and the Municipal Councils, with effective delegation of powers to the CIM, many of the external effects of the aforementioned entities will not be monitored and, sooner or later, will end up being lost in the fragile and sensitive fabric of municipal and intermunicipal business fabrics.
And everything starts all over again.
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