The aim of this paper is to show the importance of wind energy in the development of Italian rural areas. The frame in which to pursue this objective is twofold: on the one side, there is the literature on regional or local development; on the other, the shift towards more flexible forms of administration. The two perspectives can perhaps be unified into the broad idea of the governance of local development. This means the inclusion of private and non-profit organisations in the management of public goods like the environment and localities. Wind energy is a suitable test case with which to understand such process. It arises at a time when local development policies have exhausted their main “assets”, such as inter-sector interventions and place identity promotion, and when political trends are moving towards the decentralisation and outsourcing of administrative functions. Thus, wind energy should be a new source of revenue for rural areas, and management of its development should be assigned to local authorities or to mixed agencies. But the ways in which renewable energies are happening in rural areas are various. The theoretical ‘glue’ will be exchange: this category should clarify the more symmetrical relationships that are replacing the command and control principle typical of public administration. Moreover, it would enable better specification of the purported process of the energy colonisation of rural areas.

Wind Energy Exchanges and Rural Development in Italy

OSTI, GIORGIO
2012-01-01

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to show the importance of wind energy in the development of Italian rural areas. The frame in which to pursue this objective is twofold: on the one side, there is the literature on regional or local development; on the other, the shift towards more flexible forms of administration. The two perspectives can perhaps be unified into the broad idea of the governance of local development. This means the inclusion of private and non-profit organisations in the management of public goods like the environment and localities. Wind energy is a suitable test case with which to understand such process. It arises at a time when local development policies have exhausted their main “assets”, such as inter-sector interventions and place identity promotion, and when political trends are moving towards the decentralisation and outsourcing of administrative functions. Thus, wind energy should be a new source of revenue for rural areas, and management of its development should be assigned to local authorities or to mixed agencies. But the ways in which renewable energies are happening in rural areas are various. The theoretical ‘glue’ will be exchange: this category should clarify the more symmetrical relationships that are replacing the command and control principle typical of public administration. Moreover, it would enable better specification of the purported process of the energy colonisation of rural areas.
2012
9781409446774
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11368/2639243
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