Regional development planning capabilities and human resources capacities on rural areas of Greece and Italy

This paper aims to present the current situation, to identify and diagnose the problems and difficulties for regional and spatial development of West Greece and the neighbourhood part of Italy. The local capacities and applied practices are examined for the regional policy design and the utilization of research and technology, for the most essential economic sectors, under the light of the rapid changes in the labour markets and the structural role of the immigrant labour force for the realisation of any development scheme. The existing and planning regional capabilities are evaluated due to identify the common problems of the examined regions related to the sustainable growth. Best practices and case studies are analyzed, indicating the way the existing human resources could provide solutions under the important constrain of immigration movements. The main objective of this work is to look into the causes of the inadequate planning efforts and then to explore opportunities, which are suitable to a significant number of local and/or regional actors, to find solutions, to pending problems and meet the needs for future development planning.

XXIInd Congress of the European Society for Rural Sociology, Mobilities, Vulnerabilities and Sustainabilities: New questions and challenges for rural Europe

Regional development planning capabilities and human resources capacities on rural areas of Greece and Italy Conference Paper