The paper emphasizes the role of social capital in some particular rural clusters like the French "Poles d'Excellence Rurale" (PER) and the U.S. Rural Knowledge Clusters (RKC). The recent revival of the literature on social capital considers this resource as highly valuable when considering the...

Our paper emphasizes the role of social capital in French "Poles d'Excellence Rurale (PER). Social capital is considered as highly valuable when considering the development of these particular rural areas. More precisely the French "Poles d'Excellence Rurale" are the perfect example of...

Tourism has a wide range of impacts on the economy, the natural environment and the people living in a destination. In the context of poor, rural societies, many scholars have emphasized the positive impacts of tourism on local economic growth. Concern has been voiced, however, about the social...

Tourism has a wide range of impacts on the economy, the natural environment and the people living in a destination. In the context of poor, rural societies, many scholars have emphasized the positive impacts of tourism on local economic growth. Concern has been voiced, however, about the social...

The profound changes experienced by rural areas in Europe over the past couple of decades have resulted in obvious disadvantages: loss of employment due to changes in the agricultural sector, migration of young people towards urban centres, leading to a demographic imbalance, and insufficient...

This is the report of a conference held in Lisbon on 8-9 November 2007, organised by the Foundation in cooperation with the European Commission Leader+ Observatory, the Leader+ Network in Portugal and the Portuguese Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries (Ministério da...