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Abstract

Rural communities tell us the story of a thousand of years of collaboration between nature, culture and humans. The current Covid-19 pandemic is considerably threating rural areas, posing challenges exacerbated by low available financial resources, not easily accessible health services and greater isolation. Rural areas are also considered safe shelters characterized by better daily living conditions thanks to easy to maintain social distancing and access to nature, to cultural and nature-based recreation activities. The Covid-19 crisis is revealing the crucial role of natural and cultural heritage for social cohesion, local development and mental wellbeing. The paper presents some responses to the Covid-19 crisis collected through an open call for action within the RURITAGE project. It aims at show how rural areas can cope with emergencies and it builds the basis to rethink the current crisis as a crucial tipping point for a resilient development of rural territories. It is key to overcome the idea of rural areas as mere food production system, calling for a broader vision of rural communities as poles of development based on local heritage, natural resources, creativity and social inclusion as essential elements to regenerate rural areas and to rapidly support their transition towards sustainable future.
TeMA
Special Issue
Covid -19 vs City -
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scenarios, insights, reasoning and research
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ISSN 1970-9889
University of Naples Federico II
TeMA Journal of Land Use Mobility and Environment. Special Issue | Covid-19 vs City-20
Special Issue
COVID-19 vs CITY-20
SCENARIOS, INSIGHTS, REASONING AND RESEARCH
Published by
Laboratory of Land Use Mobility and Environment
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The cover image is a photo collage of some cities during the Covid-19 pandemic quarantine (March 2020)
TeMA
Journal of
Land Use, Mobility and Environment
TeMA Journal of Land Use Mobility and Environment. Special Issue | Covid-19 vs City-20
TeMA Journal of Land Use, Mobility and Environment offers researches, applications and contributions with a unified approach to planning and
mobility and publishes original inter-disciplinary papers on the interaction of land use, mobility and environment. Domains include: engineering,
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With ANVUR resolution of April 2020, TeMA Journal and the articles published from 2016 are included in A category of scientific journals. From
2015, the articles published on TeMA are included in the Core Collection of Web of Science. TeMA Journal has also received the Sparc Europe
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EDITOR IN-CHIEF
Rocco Papa, University of Naples Federico II, Italy
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD
Mir Ali, University of Illinois, USA
Luca Bertolini, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands
Luuk Boelens, Ghent University, Belgium
Dino Borri, Polytechnic University of Bari, Italy
Enrique Calderon, Polytechnic University of Madrid, Spain
Roberto Camagni, Polytechnic University of Milan, Italy
Derrick De Kerckhove, University of Toronto, Canada
Mark Deakin, Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland
Aharon Kellerman, University of Haifa, Israel
Nicos Komninos, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
David Matthew Levinson, University of Minnesota, USA
Paolo Malanima, Magna Græcia University of Catanzaro, Italy
Agostino Nuzzolo, Tor Vergata University of Rome, Italy
Rocco Papa, University of Naples Federico II, Italy
Serge Salat, Urban Morphology and Complex Systems Institute, France
Mattheos Santamouris, National Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
Ali Soltani, Shiraz University, Iran
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
Rosaria Battarra, National Research Council, Institute of Mediterranean studies, Italy
Gerardo Carpentieri, University of Naples Federico II, Italy
Pierluigi Coppola, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Luigi dell'Olio, University of Cantabria, Spain
Isidoro Fasolino, University of Salerno,Italy
Romano Fistola, University of Sannio, Italy
Carmela Gargiulo, University of Naples Federico II, Italy
Thomas Hartmann, Utrecht University, Netherlands
Markus Hesse, University of Luxemburg, Luxemburg
Seda Kundak, Technical University of Istanbul, Turkey
Rosa Anna La Rocca, University of Naples Federico II, Italy
Houshmand Ebrahimpour Masoumi, Technical University of Berlin, Germany
Giuseppe Mazzeo, National Research Council, Institute of Mediterranean studies, Italy
Nicola Morelli, Aalborg University, Denmark
Enrica Papa, University of Westminster, United Kingdom
Dorina Pojani, University of Queensland, Australia
Floriana Zucaro, University of Naples Federico II, Italy
EDITORIAL STAFF
Gennaro Angiello, Ph.D. at University of Naples Federico II, Italy
Stefano Franco, Ph.D. student at Luiss University Rome, Italy
Federica Gaglione, Ph.D. student at University of Naples Federico II, Italy
Carmen Guida, Ph.D. student at University of Naples Federico II, Italy
Andrea Tulisi, Ph.D. at Second University of Naples, Italy
1 - TeMA Journal of Land Use Mobility and Environment. Special Issue | Covid-19 vs City-20
Special Issue
COVID-19 vs CITY-20
SCENARIOS, INSIGHTS, REASONING AND RESEARCH
Contenets
TeMA
Journal of
Land Use, Mobility and Environment
5
EDITORIAL PREFACE
Carmela Gargiulo
9
Covid-19 and simplification of urban planning tools. The residual plan
Pasqualino Boschetto
17
Covid-19. Some moments of the 21st century, with a look at Milan
Roberto Busi
31
Geographic Information and Covid-19 outbreak. Does the spatial dimension matter?
Michele Campagna
45
Health emergency and economic and territorial implications. First considerations
Salvatore Capasso, Giuseppe Mazzeo
59
About the effects of Covid-19 on solid waste management
Alessandra Cesaro, Francesco Pirozzi
67
The city and natural resources.
Pandemic disaster can be a driving force for new perspective
Donatella Cialdea
2 - TeMA Journal of Land Use Mobility and Environment. Special Issue | Covid-19 vs City-20
81
Evolution of mobility sector during and beyond Covid-19. Viewpoint of
industries, consultancies and public transport companies
Pierluigi Coppola, Francesco De Fabiis
91
Tourism on demand. A new form of urban and social demand of use after the
pandemic event
Fabio Corbisiero, Rosa Anna La Rocca
105
Questioning urbanisation models in the face of Covid-19.
The crisis as a window of opportunity for inner areas
Giancarlo Cotella, Elisabetta Vitale Brovarone
119
The Covid-19 pandemic effects in rural areas.
Turning challenges into opportunities for rural regeneration
Claudia De Luca, Simona Tondelli, Hanna Elisabeth Åberg
133
Shaping space for ever-changing mobility. Covid-19 lesson learned from Milan
and its region
Diego Deponte, Giovanna Fossa, Andrea Gorrini
151
From social distancing to virtual connections
How the surge of remote working could remold shared spaces
Luisa Errichiello, Daniele Demarco
165
The paradigms of urban planning to emergency-proof.
Rethinking the organisation of settlements at the time of a pandemic
Isidoro Fasolino, Michele Grimaldi, Francesca Coppola
179
Virucity. Rethinking the urban system
Romano Fistola, Dino Borri
189
The role of the urban settlement system in the spread of Covid-19 pandemic.
The Italian case
Carmela Gargiulo, Federica Gaglione, Carmen Guida, Rocco Papa, Floriana Zucaro, Gerardo
Carpentieri
213
“Passata è la tempesta …”. A land use planning vision for the Italian
Mezzogiorno in the post pandemic
Paolo La Greca, Francesco Martinico, Fausto Carmelo Nigrelli
3 - TeMA Journal of Land Use Mobility and Environment. Special Issue | Covid-19 vs City-20
231
Covid-19 and spatial planning
A few issues concerning public policy
Sabrina Lai, Federica Leone, Corrado Zoppi
247
Take advantage of the black swan to improve the urban environment
Antonio Leone, Pasquale Balena, Raffaele Pelorosso
261
Imagining living spaces in extreme conditions: suggestions from a case study
in Bari
Giulia Mastrodonato, Domenico Camarda
269
Risk, health system and urban project
Gerardo Matteraglia
283
Geographical analyses of Covid-19's spreading contagion in the challenge
of global health risks
The role of urban and regional planning for risk containment
Beniamino Murgante, Ginevra Balletto, Giuseppe Borruso, Giuseppe Las Casas, Paolo Castiglia
305
The resilient city and adapting to the health emergency.
Towards sustainable university mobility
Francesca Pirlone, Ilenia Spadaro
315
Physical spacing and spatial planning.
New territorial geographies and renewed urban regeneration policies
Piergiuseppe Pontrandolfi
327
Mega cities facing Covid-19 pandemic.
How to use urban spaces in Tehran after the new pandemic
Elmira Shirgir
333
Rethinking rules and social practices. The design of urban spaces
in the post-Covid-19 lockdown
Maria Rosaria Stufano Melone, Stefano Borgo
343
Data analysis and mapping for monitoring health risk. What has the spread of
the Covid-19 pandemic in northern Italy taught us?
Michela Tiboni, Michéle Pezzagno, David Vetturi, Craig Alexander, Francesco Botticini
363
About the Sustainability of Urban Settlements.
A first reflection on the correlation between the spread of Covid-19 and the regional
average population density in Italy
Maurizio Tira
TeMA
Journal of
Land Use, Mobility and Environment
TeMA Special Issue Covid-19 vs City-20, 119-132
print ISSN 1970-9889, e-ISSN 1970-9870
DOI: 10.6092/1970-9870/6844
Received 12th May 2020, Available online 19th June 2020
Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial License 3.0
www.tema.unina.it
The Covid-19 pandemic effects in rural areas
Turning challenges into opportunities for rural regeneration
Claudia de Luca a*, Simona Tondelli b, Hanna Elisabeth Åberg c
a Department of Architecture, Alma Mater Studiorum
University of Bologna, Italy
e-mail: claudia.deluca5@unibo.it
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6836-4298
* Corresponding author
b Department of Architecture, Alma Mater Studiorum
University of Bologna, Italy
e-mail: simona,tondelli@unibo.it
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0891-7852
c Department of Architecture, Alma Mater Studiorum
University of Bologna, Italy
e-mail: hannaelisabet.aberg@unibo.it
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7738-9144
Abstract
Rural communities tell us the story of a thousand of years of collaboration between nature, culture and
humans. The current Covid-19 pandemic is considerably threating rural areas, posing challenges
exacerbated by low available financial resources, not easily accessible health services and greater isolation.
Rural areas are also considered safe shelters characterized by better daily living conditions thanks to easy
to maintain social distancing and access to nature, to cultural and nature-based recreation activities. The
Covid-19 crisis is revealing the crucial role of natural and cultural heritage for social cohesion, local
development and mental wellbeing. The paper presents some responses to the Covid-19 crisis collected
through an open call for action within the RURITAGE project. It aims at show how rural areas can cope with
emergencies and it builds the basis to rethink the current crisis as a crucial tipping point for a resilient
development of rural territories. It is key to overcome the idea of rural areas as mere food production
system, calling for a broader vision of rural communities as poles of development based on local heritage,
natural resources, creativity and social inclusion as essential elements to regenerate rural areas and to
rapidly support their transition towards sustainable future.
Keywords
Rural regeneration; Covid-19; Social resilience
How to cite item in APA format
De Luca, C., Tondelli, S., & Åberg, H.E. (2020). The Covid-19 pandemic effects in rural areas.
Tema. Journal
of Land Use, Mobility and Environment
,
Special Issue Covid-19 vs City-20
, 119-132.
http://dx.doi.org/10.6092/1970-9870/6844
C. De Luca, S. Tondelli, H.E. Åberg - The Covid-19 pandemic effects in rural areas
120 - TeMA Journal of Land Use Mobility and Environment. Special Issue | Covid-19 vs City-20
1. Introduction
Looking across the world, rural communities tell us the story of a thousand of years of collaboration between
nature, culture and humans. Rural areas embed unique traditions, culture, gastronomy, landscapes, and
communities. Nevertheless, they are facing continuous demographic and socio-economic challenges that bring
to depopulation, ageing, disengagement, reduced service provision and inhibited accessibility. Even though
urban areas have been hit hard by the crisis, the current Covid-19 pandemic threats rural areas even more,
posing challenges exacerbated by low available financial resources, not easily accessible health services and
greater isolation issues.
Most available scientific publication on the current Covid-19 pandemic focus on health and medical research
(Fu et al., 2020; Wilson & Jack, 2020). A big share of the public debate is focusing on urban densely populated
settlements, their mobility issues and the future of urban public space. Not many scholars focus on the effects,
challenges and potential opportunities for rural areas caused by the crisis.
According to previous studies (Setti
et al.
, 2020; Xiao et al, 2020), the Covid-19 pandemic has a faster spread
and harder impact in terms of death rate in densely populated areas with higher concentration of PM10 and
PM2.5. Yet, density is most likely just one of several key factors that determine how vulnerable places are to
the virus. Across the world, Covid-19 has taken root and strongly affected areas with diverse geographic,
climatic and demographic conditions. Megacities like New York and London experience a strong impact due to
large flows of visitors and tourists, diverse global populations, and dense residential areas. Also, the pandemic
has been particularly serious in predominantly industrial areas like Wuhan, Detroit, and Northern Italy, that
are strictly connected through supply chains and trade exchange (Florida, 2020). Rural areas have been less
impacted so far, but controversies were raised in several countries (i.e Asquith, 2020) because of people that
wanted to move to second houses to escape from most hit cities and regions and to enjoy calmer and more
natural areas (i.e Hart, 2020) Indeed, partial social restrictions or total lockdown experienced in some countries
could have reverted citizens’ priorities. Landscape enjoyment, local safe food production and delivery,
possibility of social distancing, and spread accessible open public areas, that were not much valued before,
have been increasingly acknowledged by people living in small apartments in densely populated cities (Venter
et al., 2020). At the same time, several experts around the world are calling for a ‘rural renaissance’, where
rural areas would assume a central role in developing sustainable and resilient communities.
As acknowledged in the recently published Communication from the Commission on the EU budget powering
the recovery plan for Europe
rural areas will have a vital role to play in delivering the green transition and
meeting Europe’s ambitious climate and environmental targets
(European Commission, 2020). To reach this
objective, the Commission is proposing to reinforce the budget for the European Agricultural Fund for Rural
Development by 15 billion euros. The overlying idea is to support farmers and rural areas in making the
structural changes necessary to implement the European Green Deal (European Commission, 2019), and in
particular to support the achievement of the ambitious targets in the new biodiversity (European Commission,
2020b) and Farm to Forkstrategies (European Commission, 2019) . Nevertheless, still recognizing the core
role of agriculture and farmers into rural society, we believe that rural territories and communities embed
resources and local heritage that go much beyond this. Deconstructing the images of rural areas as mere
crops for food production to build a narrative of rural communities and territories to build a new one, to be
conceived as vibrant poles of development based on local heritage, natural resources, creativity and social
inclusion, could be crucial to truly regenerate rural areas and rapidly support their transition towards a
sustainable future.
Indeed, RURITAGE perceive heritage in its wider sense including natural and cultural heritage, beyond tangible
monuments and artefacts, recognising intangible forms of traditions, social practices, and knowledge as the
values that tie communities together and as a resource for sustainable local development. The whole paradigm
C. De Luca, S. Tondelli, H.E. Åberg - The Covid-19 pandemic effects in rural areas
121 - TeMA Journal of Land Use Mobility and Environment. Special Issue | Covid-19 vs City-20
for regenerating rural communities lies on the identification of six powerful drivers that boos regeneration in
rural communities all around the world. These six drivers identified in the project are the so-called RURITAGE
Systemic Innovation Areas (SIAs), namely Pilgrimage, Local Food Production, Art and festival, Landscape
Management, Migration and Resilience.
Fig. 1 RURITAGE paradigm for heritage-led rural regeneration: the six Systemic Innovation Areas
With the aim of gathering and exchanging rural experiences to support each other during the Covid-19
pandemic, RURITAGE has launched a call for actions of knowledge, skills, ideas, and resources of social
resilience across the world (RURITAGE, 2020b). So far 62 initiatives of rural responses during Covid-19 have
been submitted from all over the globe, although mainly cantered around Europe. The call has received
initiatives within each RURITAGE SIA, creating a collection to aid and inspire other rural communities. The
collection is found as an open resource on the RURITAGE website, where the actions are published gradually
under the section Rural Resilience Actions (RURITAGE, 2020a).
Starting from the analysis of those practices, this paper attempts at giving some examples of how rural areas
can cope with emergencies through the enhancement of their local, natural and cultural heritage, and it also
aims at building the basis to rethink the current crisis as a crucial tipping point for a lasting resilient
development of rural territories. In this moment, when an overall coordination at EU level on how to respond
to the crisis in rural areas is missing, RURITAGE would like to propose a new strategic agenda, valuing local
cultural and natural heritage to transform rural areas into long-lasting sustainable laboratories. This does not
refer to rural areas as potential safe place for short period holidays or safe shelters in times of crisis but rather
include a strategic and long-term vision for regenerating rural territories through community-built strategies
for sustainable development and inclusive repopulation. To this aim, the second section builds upon the 6
RURITAGE SIAs, underlying current challenges and potential opportunities within the Covid-19 scenario,
including the role of relevant stakeholders and targets. The third section briefly discusses the results and
presents the main conclusions of the paper, developing the basis to set a strategic agenda for rural sustainable
development in the future.
2. Covid-19 effects in RURITAGE Systemic Innovation Areas: challenges and
opportunities
2.1 Pilgrimage
The tourism sector directly contributes to 4.4% of GDP, 6.9% of employment and 21.5% of service exports in
OECD countries, on average, and continued growth provides real prospects for sustainable and inclusive
development (OECD, 2020b). Prior to the Covid-19 outbreak, the travel and tourism sectors were expected to
make up 10% of global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Europe (European Commission, 2020d). Pilgrimage,
C. De Luca, S. Tondelli, H.E. Åberg - The Covid-19 pandemic effects in rural areas
122 - TeMA Journal of Land Use Mobility and Environment. Special Issue | Covid-19 vs City-20
holy and hiking routes are currently valuable options of sustainable and slow tourism in Europe and all over
the world (Balestrieri & Congiu, 2017; Nolan & Nolan, 1992). Within RURITAGE, the cases of Camino de
Santiago (Spain) and Via Mariae (Romania) demonstrate how rediscovering local cultural and natural heritage
along pilgrimage and hiking routes poses great opportunities for less explored areas to gain recognition and
boost local economy.
As easily understood, the tourism and travel sectors have been particularly hit hard by the crisis. The European
Union’s tourism industry is estimated to lose around one billion euros in revenue per month because of the
outbreak (European Commission, 2020d). The Travel & Tourism sector faces a staggering 100 million jobs
losses due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council. The impact on the
travel and tourism ecosystem particularly hit the small and medium enterprises sectors.
This crisis is creating huge challenges also to the pilgrimage and hiking routes because of travel restrictions
on the one side, and also due to the intrinsic cross-border nature of some religious pilgrimage route and
events, such as the Hajj in Islam and Santiago de Compostela in Catholicism that draw millions of pilgrims
every year. Ensuring health and safety of local populations and of pilgrims in such emergencies could be quite
challenging (Escher, 2020) while small hotels, business working in the food and beverage sectors could
struggle in adapting to the current safety measures imposed by local governments. On the other hand, most
of the less known pilgrimage and hiking routes – that could better face the issue of managing lower numbers
of tourists - dispose of limited financial resources, that could be further reduced because of the current crisis.
At the same time, if properly planned and managed, pilgrimage and hiking routes can be considered amongst
the safest tourism destinations in the current Covid-19 crisis, thanks to the intrinsic nature of such activities
that can easily adapt to the current imposed social distancing rules and that naturally take place in open-air
natural environment, thus facilitating their adaptation to the current challenge.
It is therefore crucial to raise a great coordination among all involved and interested stakeholders, from
regional to local authorities to local businesses involved in the activitiesmainly hotels, restaurants and other
accommodations structures to guarantee the adoption of appropriate measures for safe destination, keeping
small local and family-run businesses alive. Big opportunities are raising both for internationally recognized
pilgrimage and hiking routes, that could redirect their targets towards family and domestic tourists, and also
for smaller and less known places that can claim for the re-discovering of local cultural and natural heritage,
involving rural communities into long-lasting regeneration process. Also, pilgrimage and hiking could take this
chance to connect to other nature-related activities i.e. open-air sports, fishing, etc. that will support
market diversification increasing the potential number of visitors of the area. In some cases, i.e. KATLA
Geopark in Iceland, they are taking the chance of this moment, when there is no visitors entering the country
- to improve and re-develop part of the pilgrimage related infrastructures also temporarily employing people
that lost their jobs due to the crisis. Finally, current limitations to big mass events and crowded hotspots, are
calling for a spread tourist offer during the upcoming seasons that could be boosted and sustainably
maintained through time by involving and engaging with the creative sectors’ local stakeholders and organizing
small events along the pilgrimage and hiking routes, such as small concert, open air movies, theatre
representations. All this will be possible only thanks to a strong and coordinated responses by the whole
pilgrimage and hiking routes, able to involve the whole stakeholder chain. In this sense interesting results
could also shortly come from the survey designed by the Cultural Routes Programme of the council of Europe
(Council of Europe, 2020).
2.2 Local Food
Sustainable food and drinks production and local gastronomy embody agricultural practices, rural landscape,
local history and traditions, and symbolizes the cultural heritage of a territory. Food serves as a strong
C. De Luca, S. Tondelli, H.E. Åberg - The Covid-19 pandemic effects in rural areas
123 - TeMA Journal of Land Use Mobility and Environment. Special Issue | Covid-19 vs City-20
connection between nature and human society bringing together land, heritage and the people. As in the case
of RURITAGE Role Models, the Coffee Landscape of Colombia and the local Agro-food production in Puglia,
local food production is a diverse and dynamic channel for sharing stories, forming relationships, create
development and building communities. While food production is mostly located in rural areas, population is
increasingly living in densely populated urban areas (Seto et al., 2017) far away from places where the food
is actually produced. In the last decades, the global food trade changed the eating habits of consumers which
moved from local and retail markets to supermarkets and discount stores. Moreover, the significant change in
lifestyle, the increase in working hours, and the decreasing availability of time to cook, led to triumph of
supermarkets, fast food services and discount store (Cappelli & Cini, 2020). On the other side, a huge
movement in slow food production and consumption, healthy lifestyle and zero kilometres philosophy is rising.
The current Covid-19 emergency re-opened the discussion on food security in Europe which seemed to be
distant memories due to shortage in agricultural workers (Hobbs, 2020; News European Parliament, 2020)
and issues in food transportation and global logistic (Gray, 2020). There is a well-known issue concerning the
lack of agricultural workers that has resulted in unharvested and unsold stock. Food producers and farmers
are currently greatly challenged to find temporary workers due to travel restrictions. However, there are
recognised ethical challenges of temporary labour for agriculture where workers are often treated differently
than inhabitants (Chung, 2019). Instead of temporary labour, there are opportunities to enable formal
engagement for workers.
On the top of this, a report coming from the UK (Loopstra, 2020) described how the Covid-19 lockdown not
only exacerbated food insecurity among those who regularly struggle, but also created new economic
vulnerabilities due to loss of work and income, or even because people are self-isolating and unable to get the
food they need. This situation created several private solidarity actions, where businesses, public sectors and
the civil society have teamed up together to provide services to the local communities. In Izmir, Turkey, the
municipality has stepped into support at the same time local food producers and vulnerable people and
families. They developed food-aid packages containing locally produced food that are funded by private
donations either online or directly in stores. The municipality delivers packages directly to vulnerable groups
and economically disadvantaged families. In this way, less benefited members of society are supported as well
as the local entrepreneurs and farmers. Also, in areas where initiatives have not been directly coordinated by
authorities, local food producers and farmers are forced to rethink and adapt their businesses. Across rural
Europe, many initiatives for distributing food directly from the producers to the customers’ homes are taking
place. The initial aim has often been to maintain an active production in order to adapt to current challenges.
But at the same time, by receiving deliveries to the door, inhabitants are less exposed to risk. This is both a
way to ensure the health of vulnerable inhabitants but also an action to strengthen local production and
entrepreneurs. For elderly and vulnerable groups this action can be a potential lifesaver. The action of food
delivery has taken different shapes depending on where it has been initiated and the kind of local
entrepreneurs, producers, and farmers. Most businesses have made their usual products possible to order via
their homepages or directly by phone. In other areas, initiatives have arisen from networks of local farmers,
through the support of social networks, where customers can place an order via Facebook pages, while in
others there was a top-down approach achieved in cooperation with regional authorities. Another model has
been to list local producers on the municipality website where the inhabitants can easily reach and buy local
food/products directly from the manufacturer.
Both in urban and rural areas the crisis sped up and supported the development of new business models based
on sustainable door-to-door food delivery. It is now crucial to work on the sustainability of these new business
models as these logistic innovations towards online commerce of food can arguably be an excellent opportunity
to reach and maintain new customers for local food producers. In rural areas, there is a need of further
C. De Luca, S. Tondelli, H.E. Åberg - The Covid-19 pandemic effects in rural areas
124 - TeMA Journal of Land Use Mobility and Environment. Special Issue | Covid-19 vs City-20
developing local capacity and skills towards digital tools for advertisement, logistic and e-products. Local
authorities and relevant stakeholderssmall farmers and local producer associations - could build upon this
new trend to boost the capacity of local farmers through on online training and educational tools as well as
interactive webinars to spread knowledge.
In the medium-long term, this change of perspective could increase awareness of food independence in
communities and it can also contribute to develop a greater trust-building between local farmers and
inhabitants. Also, through the crisis, there is a high potential of reinforcing the role of local producers and
farmers and to boost the recognition of local communities’ bond with their territories. The reinforcement of
such relations could enhance the local microeconomy also in non-crisis situations, since it allows to increase
local employment and improve people's quality of life (Cappelli & Cini, 2020), contributing to the regeneration
of rural territories. The crisis has highlighted the importance of the rural world as the food producer for the
sustainability of life and the deep relations between the urban and rural worlds. Rural areas should not lose
this opportunity but start to work on this further in relation with the closest peri-urban and urban areas,
building and reinforcing existing Short and Slow Food Ecosystems of relevant producers, consumers and other
stakeholders.
2.3 Migration
Beyond the challenges presented by the migration crisis, migrant arrivals in rural contexts serves as a great
opportunity for rural regeneration (Green et al., 2009; Greve Harbo, Lisbeth; Ström Hildestrand, Åsa; Heleniak,
Timothy; Sigurjónsdóttir, 2017). Indeed, despite the challenges posed, rural areas can take advantage of the
opportunities provided by an influx of migrants as a source of new vitality to restore declining villages. In areas
suffering from population decline and closing services, the arrival of migrants can create new opportunities for
growth.
This is the case of Lesvos UNESCO Global Geopark (GR), that has developed integration and information
programs for newly arrived as well as citizens on local cultural and natural heritage and of PIAM Onlus (IT),
that works on migrant’s hospitality and inclusion in Asti province, also rediscovering the autochthonous
varieties of ancient wheat as local food and heritage as a way for boosting migrants’ integration (Conticelli et
al., 2019) through the connection with local food, territory and traditions. They have demonstrated that it is
possible to boost and accelerate the process of integration and regeneration by means of (i) integrating
migrants within the local agro-food chain and the creative industries, (ii) restoring old and unused buildings
to give hospitality to the migrants, (iii) offering training to migrants and residents related with organic farming,
arts, built heritage restoration, traditional crafts and trades, etc. (iv) facilitating the connection with residents
with defined food- (ethnic cuisine) and art-related activities (traditional dance, music performance), (v)
offering internships for migrants in local businesses, farms, tourism related activities, (vi) developing
integration and information programmes for migrants and citizens, (vii) offering educational programmes and
guided tours, specifically tailored for migrants to make them aware of the cultural and natural heritage of the
territory.
The Covid-19 pandemic has posed new challenges to the areas hosting migrants and refugees, because of the
need to stop many integration activities (i.e. language courses, work on the field) due to total or partial
lockdown measures, thus in some cases exacerbating already existing problems. Many government services
have been suspended because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. To help approximately 220,000 migrants
in Germany resume their lessons, the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees has invested about 40 millions
of euros to continue the courses in a digital format and currently, nearly 83,000 immigrants are participating
in digital integration and language courses (Bathke, 2020). As social distancing rules and guidelines have been
implemented across Europe, authorities and migrant associations have expressed concerns about the living
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conditions of some of the most vulnerable members of society. In Italy, migrants living in reception centres
have written an open letter to authorities expressing their concerns about living in close, confined spaces and
officials have voiced concerns about the conditions of asylum seeker camps on the Greek islands (European
Commission, 2020c). On the other hand, the imposed sanitation measures forced all reception centres to adopt
adequate sanitation, including the ones that did not have acceptable quality levels before the emergency. In
this sense, the pandemic could boost the finding of a permanent solution to overcrowded asylum camps and
low living conditions.
One crucial part of the response to the Covid-19 pandemic is to make sure that all members of society have
the information they need to stay healthy and follow quarantine guideline (World Health Organisation (WHO),
2020b). To ensure that migrants are not overlooked in the response, civil society organisations have been
busy translating and communicating vital information to their communities. Authorities have also made an
effort to communicate critical information in multiple languages (European Commission, 2020c). Moreover,
support measures to improve communication and counter xenophobia have been activated in many areas in
order to provide accurate and timely evidence-based information, aiming at dispelling fears and misperceptions
among host populations regarding refugees or migrants and the Covid-19 outbreak (World Health Organisation
(WHO), 2020a).
Because of the pandemic, countries have tightened their borders and restricted the entry of most foreign
nationalities. This has strongly affected some economic sectors, and mainly the agricultural one that strongly
relies on seasonal migrant farm workers. Covid-19 has also posed controversial challenges to migrant domestic
workers. For some, workload has increased, and free Sundays have been denied as the whole family is staying
at home and is demanding more constant assistance. Others have been let go by employers confined at home,
refusing contact with outsiders (Jordan and Dickerson, 2020; IOM-CREST, 2020).
In some countries, like for instance in Canada, temporary migrant workers were among those permitted entry;
they have been deemed essential workers due to the central role they play in supporting Canadian farmers
and the food supply (Hastie, 2020). In Italy, to find a solution to the urgent need for farm workers, PIAM
Onlus has promoted and agreement with farmers organizations, through which refugees are employed in the
agriculture sector under the supervision of the managers of reception centres. These procedures involve
regular working agreements, therefore counteracting illegal exploitative activities (a phenomenon that is
known as "caporalato" in Italy).
The pandemic has thus emphasized that migrant workers (farm workers, but also workers in health sector and
migrant caregivers, etc.), are essential to the local economy due to their expertise and skills. As highlighted
by the Communication from the Commission Guidelines concerning the exercise of the free movement of
workers during Covid-19 outbreak (European Commission, 2020a) it is necessary that those workers are
treated in the same manner as the workers that exercise critical occupations referred to above. Beyond
allowing such workers to continue crossing the borders, it also needed to guarantee that the employers provide
them for adequate health and safety protection. Identifying and disseminating good practices, strengthening
dialogue and coordination between recruiters and employers, and stimulating business action in global supply
chains to effectively protect migrant worker health, well-being and rights, could definitely enhance the
commitment and capacity of employers and labour recruiters to protect migrant workers, including seasonal
workers, not only during the pandemic but also after the end of the emergency, and thus could help in
addressing improving the future integration of migrants in local communities.
2.4 Art&Festival
Cultural and creative sectors tend to be considered less accessible for rural communities. By enabling
participants of all ages and abilities to take part in artistic activities, RURITAGE intends to use culture, art and
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festival as a mean to further increase territories’ attractivity, creativity and to eventually revitalize local
communities. Accordingly, RURITAGE clearly aspires to make the arts more accessible to rural communities to
experience, participate, and work in.
The cultural and creative industries is one of the sectors most heavily affected by the Covid-19, with
performances and concerts cancelled, and theatres, museums, and cinemas that have been closed. As in urban
areas, cultural life and social exchange in rural areas is halted. SMEs are largely affected by the Covid-19; in
Italy, for example, approximately a third of SMEs in the creative sector will suffer from a 15% decline (OECD,
2020a). According to a preliminary estimation by Eurostat, the Covid-19 crisis might affect about 7.3 million
cultural jobs across the EU. Over 30% of the affected workers are self-employed and lack adequate social
protection (EU Science Hub, 2020). On the 27 March 2020 the Culture and Education Committee Chair, Sabine
Verheyen, stated that the cultural and creative sectors across Europe have been disrupted by the impact of
stringent public health measures. Verheyen claimed that cultural and creative businesses are among those
struggling the most and in most need of financial support. Under the Coronavirus Response Investment
Initiative, European Member States will be able to use Structural Funds money to support small businesses
and employment schemes. Verheyen asserted that businesses and individuals in the cultural and creative
sector should receive access to this financial support (European Parliament, 2020). As there is no common
strategy on EU level yet, most EU countries have developed own approaches. For instance, Italy has set an
emergency fund addressed to performing arts, cinema and audio-visual media and has removed taxes for
cultural sites. At the same time, in Denmark, there is a funding coverage of 75% of cultural work salaries
(EUNIC Global, 2020). Rural access to creativity and culture has not been explicitly mentioned in any of such
initiatives.
Although culture has already been accessible online for many years, the globally occurring lockdown made
virtual access the only way to approach culture. Many significant cultural institutes have moved partly online
as a way to boost and enrich reality. The biggest European museums designed online tours allowing visitors
to see parts of the collections, while smaller venues are following. Culture in rural areas has not been at the
centre of this debate. Nevertheless, in rural areas, libraries have made their collections available online where
some have even provided videos of librarians reading out loud directly to children. The same applies for rural-
based festivals, where some will instead manifest themselves virtually (Rowen, 2020). However, digital tools
are not only used by grander organizations but also by smaller art groups, study circles or networks which
continue meeting virtually while performing and executing their art. An example of this is a smaller study circle
on the island Gotland, Sweden, where seniors paint together virtually on a weekly basis. By encouraging
societal groups to sustain their usual practices but in a new format can help to maintain a sense of community
in rural areas.
The effect of abandoning tangible experiences for the benefits of online participation should also be noted.
Although digitalization is generally conceived as an opportunity, increasing accessibility and connectivity, it has
its limitations. By bringing culture online there is a risk of creating something excluding, in particular in rural
areas where there is a lower access to internet connection. There is also a lower usability among an older
population, who often constitute a noticeable part of rural inhabitants. In this case, accessibility may turn into
unapproachability, depending on technological access and skills. In regard of this, it is suggested that the
online activities are mainly complimentary means (Kużelewska & Tomaszuk, 2020)The urge for tangible art
experiences and social exchange can be stressed as a result of post-isolation and social distancing. The fear
of disease transmission can also pose for more vulnerable groups both physical and psychological problems
that go beyond government regulations and that could lead to exacerbate vulnerability and exclusion.
At the same time, there may be an emergence of other type of events and gatherings. The easiest solutions
approached by several local authorities is to create a spread offer of open- air events with smaller audiences
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and closer contact. However, the questions on how limited audiences would affect the ticket prices and the
affordability for locals should be raised. The demand for arts will perhaps increase and offer more frequent
opportunities for artists to perform and for locals to take part in performances. For example, interactive
transformational festivals can be sustainable opportunity for people of all ages explore, participate and work
within (Rowen, 2020). By developing more flexible “menus” of art and festivals for communities, adapting to
local needs, conditions and practices, a more sustainable rural cultural exploration may emerge.
The state of emergency at local level has forced to redirect resources towards the health care systems, in
order to respond to the most urgent needs, leaving little room to the cultural sector, in lack of an EU strategy.
The crisis can arguably have caused a fear of widening social inequality while revealed the crucial role of
culture for cohesion and mental wellbeing. However, the current restrictions can be viewed as an opportunity
to strengthen the rural arts and festival scene from within. Reinforcement of the local scene can possibly
enhance the local sense of recognition and further on interest in heritage and history. The restrictions may
even allow local artists to gain greater appreciation and therethrough, lead to a regeneration of the local art
scene and provide a catalyst for creative grassroots projects where the outcome might be a social meeting
place for locals which creates a sense of belonging and pride within the rural communities.
2.5 Resilience
RURITAGE explores the concept of resilience as driver of regeneration, turning challenges in learning and
development opportunities, by enhancing the role of cultural and natural heritage for building resilience against
the threats of climate change, natural disasters and social and economic crisis, simultaneously boosting
economic growth, creating jobs and livelihoods, strengthening access to health and education, and contributing
to foster the responsible ownership of cultural and natural heritage in rural areas. Within RURITAGE, Psiloritis
UNESCO Global Geopark (GR) and KATLA UNESCO Global Geopark (IS) are good examples of how responsible
ownership of cultural and natural heritage in rural areas can turn a challenge as a natural disaster into an
opportunity for revitalizing the rural territory basing on participative projects, on resilience training for the
community and on traditional storytelling as a mean to understand the environment, foster awareness on the
relation among landscape, hazards and man’s interventions. The Covid-19 crisis has highlighted that new
crises of unforeseeable nature are likely to emerge, as the combination of environmental degradation, societies
with increasing inequalities and deep economic interconnections have made the world more vulnerable, thus
underlining the need to approach societal resilience from a 360-degrees system approach (Giovannini et al.,
2020).The Covid-19 shock is so extreme in its duration and intensity that it is simply impossible to address it
through absorptive capacities or a simple adaptation of the system. Therefore, it should become an opportunity
to progress and “bounce forward” through adaptation and transformation (Giovannini et al., 2020).
The lack of fast internet connection, already considered a crucial hamper in the development of rural territories,
could be one of the main barriers to allow smooth and fast communication, creating trouble in distance learning
for pupils and smart-working for adults and contribute to make rural inhabitants even more isolated during
the lock-down measures. Also, people in rural areas are suffering of more severe mobility issues, due to social
distances and private cars’ use restrictions. Reaching rural areas in the time of crisis was and still is much
more difficult than it was before. At the same time, social distancing, the lack of adequate open public green
areas and the possibility of smart-working or working from home could drive people living in densely populated
settlements to look for moving to more natural environments. In most cases, rural areas have proved to be
safe shelters compared to urban agglomerations: a lower rate of infection and better daily living conditions
during confinement. This perception could lead to big opportunities for repopulating ageing rural areas, and
to make rural areas attractive poles of development. Some rural areas are already thinking about developing
co-working space with fast internet connection to host digital and nomad workers in their territories. This
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process represents a huge opportunity but could also lead to an unplanned gentrification issue. Indeed, urban
smart workers tend to have much higher income than rural inhabitants and could speed up a rural gentrification
process. To avoid such unwanted consequences, this process should be carefully planned and managed by
local administration. Improve services and infrastructures both for mobility and internet connections - for
rural inhabitants is crucial to create long-lasting communities of people that decide to stay, live and work in
rural territories.
Moreover, the need to face a completely new scenario lead to invent new ways to contribute to health, training
and education of the population, thus empowering the human capital, i.e. through improved the skills and
abilities of people to develop and enhance their resources. Covid-19 emergency showed, even more clearly
than before, that to boost digital skills in the local community is a real priority.
The main challenges that both urban and rural areas are currently facing is the need to recover activities after
the pandemic in safe conditions and to give children the possibility to attend educational and social activities
while schools are closed. With reference to the former, business and local activities had to face both a great
loss of revenue, for which financial support by the governments is needed, and the adoption of measures to
guarantee safety conditions and the respect of social distancing among workers and users that are not always
clear and that make it difficult to understand what needs to be done. Moreover, to implement the safety
measures, costs are needed that small businesses are not able to sustain and for this reason they prefer to
remain closed. On the other hand, new economic activities linked to the crisis have born and could become
permanent. In Ireland, for instance, a collect-and-deliver service offer services from pharmacies and local
shops for passengers, delivering critical medical supplies for the elderly, the vulnerable, and the sick within
rural areas. Finally, after a long period of “home-schooling” and social distancing, new measures are needed
to give children the chance to safely attend educational and social activities.
To turn the COVI-19 crisis into a new opportunity or revitalization for total areas, opening up new possibilities
of counterbalancing depopulation and ageing characterizing many rural areas, policy measures are needed
able to provide better infrastructures (physical and technological) for guaranteeing the physical and
technological accessibility to the areas. Strengthening digitalization, training, sustainability combined with a
stronger local financial capital, represents strategic measures to support people and local community.
2.6 Landscape management
RURITAGE not only intends landscape as cultural or protected landscape, but more as rural territories with
multi-level governance, and heritage-based planning and management strategies. The cases of the Wild
Atlantic Way (IE), the Duero-Douro cultural landscape (ES,PT) and the Austrått and Ørland, manorial
landscape (NO) well represent example of diverse integrated landscape management and governance models
that boosted regional development through their natural and cultural heritage. Even though rural areas may
have been less hardly hit by the pandemic, the current Covid-19 crisis is presenting huge challenges to regions
that are trying to boost rural regeneration through dedicated networks, funds and agreed strategies and
visions. At the same time there is a shared fear that funds dedicated to rural development and environmental
protection may be reduced in the following years and reallocated to more urgent public sectors (i.e health,
education, etc.), even though European Union is working on increasing the European Agricultural Fund for
rural development. This would of course further exacerbate existing unemployment and issues, forcing even
more rural inhabitant to move to urban areas.
Also, the values of the natural and cultural capitals of rural territory have not been altered, and this offers
good opportunity to offer safe and beautiful tourist and work destination. The reduction of tourists has given
a respite to those areas that received more visitors, favouring their ecological recovery.
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In this sense, regional and local authorities a have a great occasion to increase the value of their natural
capital integrating ecosystem and their services into decision making process and local policies. In line with
the EU Green New Deal (European Commission, 2019), local authorities and stakeholders could use this
moment to focus on shaping a more sustainable future rethinking how ‘
to protect, conserve and enhance the
EU's natural capital, and protect the health and well-being of citizens from environment-related risks and
impacts’.
Also, as mentioned in the
recently released EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 (European Commission,
2020b)
the recent Covid- 19 pandemic makes the need to protect and restore nature all the more urgent. The
pandemic is raising awareness of the links between our own health and the health of ecosystems’
. Investing
in green infrastructure, wellness corridor, and slow mobility infrastructure can on the one side improve and
restore natural ecosystem, but at the same time creating options for sustainable tourism.
Regional governments, tourism agencies, cluster of innovators in heritage and landscape management have
a great opportunity to rethink tourism in a more sustainable way and to work on the peculiar characteristics
on their areas. Indeed, rural territories have now the possibility to develop their distinctive characteristics,
building on their natural and cultural heritage resources and enhancing human capitals.
Cultural and nature-based tourism is increasingly growing in the last decade and it is very likely that it will
keep growing after the Covid-19 pandemic. Working on an integrated management of the landscape and
heritage could support regions and rural territories to find their local distinctiveness and identity, building their
own local brand for regeneration. There is arguably a great opportunity to create or reinforced existing
networks to build a community response around a common purpose.
3. Discussion and Conclusion
At the moment, not much scholars have focus on the effects, challenges and potential opportunities for rural
areas caused by Covid-19 crisis. Fragmented responses in rural areas are starting to raise around EU and
beyond through reinforced networks, better collaboration, cooperation and solidarity for strengthened
resilience.
Partial social restrictions or total lockdown experienced in some countries could have reverted citizens’ priorities
leaving space for ‘rural renaissance’, where rural areas would assume a central role in developing sustainable
and resilient communities. Social distancing, the lack of adequate open public green areas and the possibility
of smart working could persuade urban inhabitants to move to more natural environment. This cannot be seen
as a spontaneous process, since it requires local authorities to improve basic infrastructures and services, but
also properly plan future development of the areas, to repopulate ageing and uninhabited rural areas avoiding
unplanned gentrification issues. Also, the tremendously fast digital transition we are living should not leave
anybody behind and should be carefully planned in rural areas, allowing people to get the basic digital literacy
to access information and activities available online. At the same time, sustainable nature-based recreation,
landscape enjoyment and pilgrimage and hiking activities, could boost the development of a new form of slow,
sustainable and proximity tourism enhancing the value of local cultural and natural heritage and human capital.
The pandemic has emphasized that migrants and refugees are essential resources for the local communities
due to their expertise and skills, and that their social inclusion would be a great achievement for rural
communities. Actions for enhancing the commitment and capacity of employers and labour recruiters to protect
migrant workers, could help in addressing improving the future integration of migrants in local communities.
Last, rediscovering local food production and demanding a short and slow food chain could not just improve
the quality and the health of the food we eat, but also contribute to reduce greenhouse gas emissions related
with the food industry, nurturing at the same time local farmers and rural microeconomy and.
The Covid-19 crisis has caused a fear of widening social inequalities while revealing the crucial role of natural
and cultural heritage for social cohesion, rural regeneration, and mental wellbeing. Competent authorities on
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rural territories should build on this momentum to develop comprehensive heritage-led regeneration plans
based on local heritage and resources. Building equitable, sustainable and inclusive rural communities will
require to work on reinforcing human capital, through capacity building and awareness-raising activities, and
social and cultural capitals, taking back arts to rural and working on the recognition of local heritage by local
communities. Also, local authorities should urgently act to maintain and enhance natural capital, through a
better integration of ecosystem and their services into decision making process, and to further develop built
capitals, working on essential infrastructure for mobility and fast internet connection. It is urgent to give shape
to a network that will improve not only the response to crises but also the competitiveness of rural territory.
In line with this, the EU Commission is proposing to reinforce the budget for the European Agricultural Fund
for Rural Development. These investments could sustain and enhance local food production and the
recognition of natural capital as a crucial characterizing element of rural areas. Nevertheless, there is a strong
need for further integrated framework of policies and investments able to sustain such a complex environment
of natural, cultural, human, social and built capitals, as intrinsic and inalienable resources of rural communities.
Such a coordinated response could support the renaissance of rural areas as vibrant poles of development
based on local heritage, natural resources, creativity and social inclusion as essential baseline to regenerate
rural areas and rapidly support their transition towards sustainable future.
Acknowledgment
The work has been developed within the H2020 RURITAGE project (GA No 776465). Authors would like to
thank all project partners for their valuable contribution to the discussion in occasion of the RURITAGE General
Assembly held online on the 26th and 27th of May 2020. Also for more information about the collected actions
we invite readers to check the project website: https://www.ruritage.eu/resources/resilience_actions/
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Author’s profile
Claudia de Luca
She is a Ph.D. candidate at the department of Architecture, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna. She is an
Environmental scientist (MSc), now focusing on sustainable urban and spatial planning and urban and rural regeneration
processes. Specifically, she works on two main research topics: rural regeneration through heritage-led plans and the use
of nature into the cities for sustainable and resilient future (Nature Based Solutions). Involved in the Planning and
Regeneration research group, she is actively involved in several H2020 and INTERREG funded project (RURITAGE,
ClimateKIC ACTonNBS and MATCH-UP).
Simona Tondelli
She is associate professor of Urban Planning at the University of Bologna (UNIBO). She has 22 years of research experience
in sustainable urban planning and regeneration. She is vice director of the UNIBO Interdepartmental Centre for Applied
Research on Buildings and Construction (CIRI-EC) and scientific responsible for the Refurbishment and Restoration division
of CIRI-EC. At present, she is coordinator of RURITAGE H2020 project, of MATCH-UP INTERREG EUROPE project, of
ADRISEIMIC Interreg Adrion project, and partner in one ERA-NET JPI Urban Europe project (SPN), SHELTER H2020 project,
SEERRI H2020 project and many Erasmus + projects. She is scientific responsible of many regional/local Research Projects.
Vice-Director of the Emilia-Romagna section of the National Urban Planning Institute INU and national Treasurer of INU.
Member of the scientific board of the UNIBO PhD Programme in Architecture and Design Cultures. Author of over 100
publications.
Hanna Elisabet Åberg
She is a Ph.D, student at the Department of Architecture, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, with a background
in landscape architecture and heritage studies. Her research interests include rural planning, landsca-
pe valuation and perception. Åberg’s studies revolve around mapping and foreseeing landscape changes in rural areas due
to rapid economic development. As a part of the Planning and Regeneration research group, she is actively involved in
H2020 and ERASMUS+ funded projects (RURITAGE, UNINET Cultural Heritage).
... According to the cited authors, the last challenge is reflected in lower GDP per capita, lower productivity and less diversified economy, what makes them more vulnerable to economic shocks. These issues have been exacerbated by recent global events, including the economic recession (Perpiña Castillo et al., 2023), the COVID-19 pandemic (Luca et al., 2020), and the ongoing climate crisis (Dieppe et al., 2020). Consequently, rural entrepreneurs face unprecedented complexity and uncertainty in their business environments, such as economic, social and environmental issues (Tabares et al., 2022). ...
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Rural areas across the European Union face common structural challenges, exacerbated by recent global events. The OREN (Opportunities for Rural Entrepreneurship Networks) Erasmus+ project addresses these challenges by focusing on four key areas: forestry, agrifood, tourism, and renewable energy. The primary objective is to equip rural entrepreneurs with advanced managerial and business skills through an innovative educational platform. The project methodology combines multi-stakeholder interaction, development of impact evaluation capabilities, and promotion of continuing education in strategic business management. A multi-level approach was utilized, including literature review, collection of case studies, development of simulation models, and creation of educational modules. The project resulted in a comprehensive training course and a multistakeholder platform featuring a Process Models Repository, Model Authoring Environment, Simulation Interactive Learning Environment, and Data Acquisition Component. This holistic approach, grounded into the Systems Thinking approach and System Dynamics methodology, aims to catalyze a new paradigm of sustainable rural entrepreneurship. Hence, building on this, the OREN platform addresses critical challenges in Bulgaria's agricultural sector and offers a promising mechanism to enhance the competitiveness and sustainability of rural economies across Europe, by bridging the innovation gap and supporting emerging sectors. Keywords: rural economy, entrepreneurship education, interactive learning environments, business models, impact evaluation, systems thinking, system dynamics
... In Spain, intercity bus transport, particularly in rural areas with low population density, has experienced unprecedented challenges [27]. This sector, already facing challenges due to depopulation and lack of adequate infrastructure, has seen its difficulties exacerbated by the health crisis, further reducing demand for services and jeopardising the economic viability of many routes. ...
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The aim of this research work consisted of assessing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the interurban public transport system in a rural region with a sparse population density, considering the number of tickets sold and passengers in each locality, as well as the different connecting lines. From a methodological point of view and with the intention of identifying patterns to explain the behaviour of both routes and passengers, a series of variables were selected, becoming determining factors that sought to offer a solution to the search for a common trend. Additionally, data processing by means of statistical analysis and the application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tools complemented the procedure. The results obtained in the investigation were provided both by municipality and by interurban route. An interesting finding of the research was the uneven recovery of the municipalities. The localities closest to the attractor nucleus have recovered more quickly to pre-pandemic mobility levels due to their geographical proximity, larger population, higher income per household and the need to access certain public services. In terms of routes, all lines showed significant decreases in ticket sales, although with variations. Although passenger numbers have shown a gradual recovery, the initial loss was considerable, and pre-pandemic normality has not been completely achieved. The authors consider that future research should include other alternative means of transport in these interurban areas, incorporating variables to characterise passengers, such as age, gender...etc.
... Furthermore, the existing capacity of critical patient provision in rural areas was backward [21]. Te corresponding emergency stockpile of medical materials in rural areas was also limited, especially in remote rural areas [22]. Tese factors meant that one of the most seriously afected group in the pandemic crisis were older adults, especially those in rural areas [23,24]. ...
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Background. Rural older adults are an important vulnerable group facing the pandemic crisis. They are at a greater risk and have suffered more. They need more support and have challenged the society more. Thus, their pandemic crisis coping is essential for national emergency management. Objectives. This study was designed to address issues of rural older adults’ pandemic crisis coping, with the aim of better protecting rural older adults’ health and supporting national emergency management. Methods. Grounded theory was employed in this study. Open questions were designed by theoretical sampling and theoretical coding processes until theoretical saturation. In total, 56 participants were recruited via a snowballing process, from ZX city, Hubei Province, China. Results. Rural older adults’ pandemic crisis coping was impacted by many limitations, including less coping awareness, lower coping capacity, and insufficient coping support. Pandemic crisis coping awareness was difficult to initiate and lagged. The older adults’ pandemic crisis coping capacity was impacted by limited knowledge, weak personal finances, and a deficient ability to obtain and stockpile materials. Social support for coping with the pandemic crisis was limited to life support, official support, and health support. Conclusion. Much attention needs to be paid in strengthening the pandemic crisis coping of rural older adults. Thus, future works should focus on raising rural older adults’ pandemic crisis coping awareness, improving their pandemic crisis coping capacity, and providing them with appropriate pandemic crisis coping support.
... Ghosh, Email: idebikaghosh@gmail.com well as mental health of individuals across the globe (Shukla et. al., 2021). The pandemic has significantly affected local people psychologically; it has led to socioeconomic vulnerability in human society (Shafi et. al., 2021). Rural communities were highly affected by COVID-19 by lowering financial resources (Luca et. al., 2020). There is a high chance of deeper poverty for 400 million workers in India engaged in an informal economy during the coronavirus pandemic (Margaret, 2020). The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on health, economy and education have been felt in rural America (Muller et. al., 2021). Students of rural areas of Pakistan faced the adverse ef ...
... In their critical commentary, Florida et al. (2023) assumed that the pandemic may bring changes in the structure and morphology of cities, suburbs, and metropolitan regions. Luca, Tondelli, and Åberg (2020) even went so far as to announce a post-Covid 'rural renaissance', with rural areas playing a central role in developing sustainable and resilient communities. This proclamation of a 'rural renaissance', on the other hand, is not necessarily based on actual evidence of people moving to rural places, but is often linked to anti-urban sentiments that have been sparked since the outbreak of the pandemic (Boterman, 2020). ...
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Full-text available
The aim of this research consisted of assessing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the interurban public transport system in a rural region with a sparse population density, considering the number of tickets sold and passengers in each locality, as well as the different connecting lines. From a methodological point of view and with the intention of identifying patterns to explain the behaviour of both the routes and passengers, a series of variables were selected, becoming determining factors that sought to offer a solution to the search for a common trend. Additionally, data processing by the means of statistical analysis and the application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) tools complemented the procedure. The results obtained in the investigation were provided both by municipality and by interurban routes. An interesting finding of this research was the uneven recovery of the municipalities. The localities closest to the attractor nucleus have recovered more quickly to pre-pandemic mobility levels due to their geographical proximity, larger populations, higher incomes per household, and need to access certain public services. In terms of routes, all the lines showed significant decreases in ticket sales, although with variations. Although passenger numbers have shown a gradual recovery, the initial loss was considerable, and pre-pandemic normality has not been completely achieved. This research provides a comprehensive overview of the changes in interurban mobility over a four-year period. The incorporation of critical variables and the segmentation by municipality and route provide a way to identify discernible patterns of mobility. However, the lack of previous research focusing on the impact of the pandemic in rural areas of low population density restricts the possibility of establishing a comparison and to generalise the findings. The authors consider that future research should include other alternative means of transport in these interurban areas and incorporate variables to characterise passengers, such as age, gender, etc.
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The global response to the COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it significant changes to human mobility patterns and working environments. We aimed to explore how social distancing measures affected recreational use of urban green space during the partial lockdown in Oslo, Norway. Mobile tracking data from thousands of recreationists were used to analyze high resolution spatio-temporal changes in activity. We estimated that outdoor recreational activity increased by 291% during lockdown relative to a 3 yr average for the same days. This increase was significantly greater than expected after adjusting for the prevailing weather and time of year and equates to approx. 86 000 extra activities per day over the municipality (population of 690 000). Both pedestrians (walking, running, hiking) and cyclists appeared to intensify activity on trails with higher greenviews and tree canopy cover, but with differences in response modulated by trail accessibility and social distancing preferences. The magnitude of increase was positively associated with trail remoteness, suggesting that green spaces facilitated social distancing and indirectly mitigated the spread of COVID-19. Finally, pedestrian activity increased in city parks, peri-urban forest, as well as protected areas, highlighting the importance of access to green open spaces that are interwoven within the built-up matrix. These findings shed new light on the value of urban nature as resilience infrastructure during a time of crisis. The current pandemic also reveals some important dilemmas we might face regarding green justice on the path towards urban planning for future sustainable cities.
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The 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognized that “everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits”. As a result, cultural rights have been understood as inseparable from human rights and require protection mechanisms within particular international (including regional) legal systems. The European continent is proud to have developed one of the most effective mechanisms of the human rights protection by establishing the Council of Europe and adopting the European Court of Human Rights. The recent outbreak of the COVID-19 reformulated many concepts of access to human rights and possibilities to enjoy freedoms. Even if access to culture (access to cultural heritage) has been available online for many years, it is the time of globally occurring lockdowns that forced people to stay home and found themselves in a situation when all of a sudden online access to culture became the only way of access to culture. The article aims to analyze the current situation in Europe by asking questions if and how online access to culture is recognized and protected under the Council of Europe’s mechanisms with special emphasis on the case-law of the European Court of Human Rights in this field.
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Examining transformational festivals can offer conceptual resources for a transformation of tourism into a more responsible and sustainable practice. By thinking together two usually distinct scholarly treatments of “transformation”—those of transformational tourism and those of transformational festivals—the COVID-19 pandemic can itself also be treated as a spatiotemporal threshold for the transformation of the travel industry. This approach can also help deconstruct the mechanisms that sustain deleterious aspects of tourism’s guest-host divide. As borders reopen and mobility and recreation recommences, the capacity of transformational festivals—both within and beyond their highly porous time-spaces– to transform their participants offer lessons for the blurring, if not the outright obliteration of the demarcation between guests and hosts. The creative and pro-social responses of members of one such transformational festival culture—Burning Man– to this and past crises are presented as examples for how values such as participation and civic responsibility may help people overcome shared conditions of hardship, and support more sustainable tourism practices in the post-COVID-19 world. Such subversive inter-subjective inversions may bring the recognition, in-itself, and production, for-itself, of a shared humanity of co-creators and participants in not just ephemeral, but accretive transformational social and environmental projects.
Technical Report
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The current COVID-19 emergency seems to be warning governments worldwide that new crises of unforeseeable nature are likely to emerge, as the combination of environmental degradation, societies with increasing inequalities and deep economic interconnections have made the world more vulnerable. In these circumstances, ensuring the resilience of our society is crucial. We need to be able to face shocks and persistent structural changes in such a way that societal well-being is preserved, leaving no one behind and without compromising the heritage for future generations. To respond in a resilient way, different resilience capacities need to be evoked. The COVID-19 shock is so extreme in its duration and intensity that it is simply impossible to address it through absorptive capacities or a simple adaptation of the system. Therefore, it should become an opportunity to progress and “bounce forward” through adaptation and transformation. As this would not happen automatically, policies need to provide the necessary positive impulses for it, with a mix of prevention, preparation, protection, promotion and transformation measures.
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Background An epidemic model based only on respiratory droplets and close contact could not fully explain the regional differences in the spread of the recent severe acute respiratory syndrome COVID-19 in Italy, which was fast and dramatic only in Lombardy and Po Valley. On March 16 th 2020, we presented a Position Paper proposing a research hypothesis concerning the association between higher mortality rates due to COVID-19 observed in Northern Italy and the peaks of particulate matter concentrations, frequently exceeding the legal limit of 50 µg/m ³ as PM 10 daily average Methods To assess environmental factors related to the spread of the COVID-19 in Italy from February 24 th to March 13 th (the date when the lockdown has been imposed over Italy), official daily data relevant to ambient PM 10 levels were collected from all Italian Provinces between February 9 th and February 29 th , taking into account the average time (estimated in 17 days) elapsed between the initial infection and the recorded COVID positivity. In addition to the number of exceedances of PM 10 daily limit value, we considered also population data and daily travelling information per each Province. Results PM 10 daily limit value exceedances appear to be a significant predictor (p < .001) of infection in univariate analyses. Less polluted Provinces had a median of 0.03 infection cases over 1000 residents, while most polluted Provinces had a median of 0.26 cases over 1000 residents. Thirty-nine out of 41 Northern Italian Provinces resulted in the category with highest PM 10 levels, while 62 out of 66 Southern Provinces presented low PM 10 concentrations (p< 0.001). In Milan, the average growth rate before the lockdown was significantly higher than Rome (0.34 vs. 0.27 per day, with a doubling time of 2.0 days vs. 2.6), suggesting a basic reproductive number R 0 >6.0, comparable with the highest values estimated for China.
Article
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Objective To better inform efforts to treat and control the current outbreak with a comprehensive characterization of COVID-19. Methods We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and CNKI (Chinese Database) for studies published as of March 2, 2020, and we searched references of identified articles. Studies were reviewed for methodological quality. A random-effects model was used to pool results. Heterogeneity was assessed using I². Publication bias was assessed using Egger's test. Results 43 studies involving 3600 patients were included. Among COVID-19 patients, fever (83.3% [95% CI 78.4–87.7]), cough (60.3% [54.2–66.3]), and fatigue (38.0% [29.8–46.5]) were the most common clinical symptoms. The most common laboratory abnormalities were elevated C-reactive protein (68.6% [58.2–78.2]), decreased lymphocyte count (57.4% [44.8–69.5]) and increased lactate dehydrogenase (51.6% [31.4–71.6]). Ground-glass opacities (80.0% [67.3–90.4]) and bilateral pneumonia (73.2% [63.4–82.1]) were the most frequently reported findings on computed tomography. The overall estimated proportion of severe cases and case-fatality rate (CFR) was 25.6% (17.4–34.9) and 3.6% (1.1–7.2), respectively. CFR and laboratory abnormalities were higher in severe cases, patients from Wuhan, and older patients, but CFR did not differ by gender. Conclusions The majority of COVID-19 cases are symptomatic with a moderate CFR. Patients living in Wuhan, older patients, and those with medical comorbidities tend to have more severe clinical symptoms and higher CFR.
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Widespread, non-stop, and often sensational coverage of the coronavirus (COVID-19) has caught many governments flat-footed in efforts to protect the health and safety of their citizens. In response to the current global health event, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Mass gatherings present a historic challenge in protecting the health and safety of attendees. The majority of the prominent mass gatherings are religious in nature. Global sporting events, such as the Olympics and the World Cup, pose unique health risks to attendees and host nations. Deferment or cancellation of such mass gatherings may exert an extraordinary economic loss to the host nation. Universal adoption of best practices for infection control is the surest way for governments to prepare for mass gatherings. In these uncertain times, it is up to intergovernmental organizations to be the voice of reason.
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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a devastating respiratory illness that has dramatically changed the medical landscape around the world. In parallel with a rise in the number of cases globally, the COVID-19 literature has rapidly expanded with experts around the world disseminating knowledge and collaborating on best practices. To date, the literature has predominantly consisted of case reports, case series, and systemic protocols for dealing with this deadly disease from a plethora of specialties with larger observational and randomized studies only now starting to emerge. This scoping review of MEDLINE, EMBASE, SCOPUS, and the Cochrane Library aims to evaluate and summarize the current status of the COVID-19 literature at it applies to neurology and neurosurgery. Neurological symptomatology, neurological risk factors for poor prognosis, pathophysiology for neuroinvasion, and actions taken by neurological or neurosurgical services to manage the current COVID-19 crisis are reviewed.
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In this short paper, I assess how COVID-19-related disruptions in transportation services, as well as new demands for transportation services, could impact Canadian agricultural supply chains. The brief analysis reveals that agricultural access to bulk ocean freight, rail movement, and trucking has generally improved in the pandemic, bolstered by the reduced demand for these transportation services by other sectors of the economy. The intermodal containerized movement of grains and food products has seen some disruption from the lack of empty containers in North America. The widespread consumer adoption of physical distancing measures has vastly increased the demand for retail food pickup and delivery services to the point where these services are being rationed by long wait times. From a policy perspective, there is an apparent need for (a) continued supply chain monitoring and industry engagement, (b) the proactive development of strategies to deal with absenteeism and other potential threats to the supply chain, and (c) an assessment of the economic and health merits of providing additional public resources to provide greater access to grocery pickup and delivery services.