FOODEV results allowed a better understanding of: 1) place’s common, recurrent, and transversal local food and gastronomy resources across academic disciplines, and how they can support more sustainable approaches to place development if addressed in a systemic way; 2) the pivotal role played by place’s local boundary (change) agents, as actors able to appropriate the sustainable development discourse to make it relevant at local level. “Good” practices can hardly be imported from somewhere else, indeed the place development strategy has to fit the context in which it is carried out – the “what works for whom in what circumstances” place-based approach, which requires considering the peculiarity of local and regional contexts; 3) factors that support EU project sustainability, by providing an integrated framework across academic and policymakers/funders perspectives on the topic.
FOODEV has contributed to academic research in the field of food and gastronomy for sustainable place development, and offered several policy implications:
- Most recurrent transversal and significative F&G local resources across literatures were identified (Local food and Geographical Indication (GI) products; Landscape (terroir); Local food consumption places; Local gastronomy; Local food systems; Food events and festivals). They might represent the core of F&G’s potential for place development, but often each resource is considered within one policy sector (e.g. local food within agriculture, festivals and events within tourism). The result is that often policies might be conflicting, fragmented or duplicated. Mapping local resources and their correspondent policy sector to better understand how sectors, stakeholders and resources might be interconnected might support identification of self-reinforcing place development strategies.
- To support transitions towards more sustainable approaches to place development, “growth at all costs” mentality should be overcome: growth should be distinguished from development as the former means getting bigger, while the latter means get better by increasing in quality and diversity. Increasingly, it appears essential to reflect upon what kind of tourists and businesses may be deemed worth to attract to places. While deciding how to leverage on local available resources, knowledge and culture to increase the attractiveness of a place, it is essential to decide towards whom the development strategy is addressed, otherwise the place development strategy might lead to landscape degradation and ecosystems disruption, and socially might lead to conflicts between residents and tourists (e.g. overtourism).
- Place-based approaches to development should take into account not only the geographical area and available resources, but also the cultural elements constituting a place. Not only hard factors should be considered but also intangible factors related to entrepreneurial and political culture, history and local people’s characteristics.
- Governance for transitions towards sustainability entails involving different stakeholder categories into the development strategies, as sustainability challenges are broad and knowledge needed to address them is fragmented among actors. Integrating different types of knowledge might help identifying sustainable development paths.
