Multifunctionality as territorial construction: Tensions and contradictions between the institutionalization and practice of Social Agriculture in South Tyrol

Journal title WELFARE E ERGONOMIA
Author/s Federica Viganò, Francesca Uleri, Alessandra Piccoli, Susanne Elsen
Publishing Year 2025 Issue 2025/1
Language Italian Pages 16 P. 77-92 File size 468 KB
DOI 10.3280/WE2025-001006
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Promoting social agriculture requires rethinking the ways in which businesses, institutions, and civil society participate in the creation and distribution of public goods. The production of such goods cannot be attributed solely to the capacities of individual actors, but depends on the ability of institutions and the territorial system to legitimize, support, and connect isolated already existing innovations, in order to valorize the public value of their operations. The framework for institutionalizing social agriculture practices intersects with initiatives led by farms and other actors, which frequently extend beyond the boundaries set by formal regulations. Focusing on the case of South Tyrol, this contribution explores the continuities and contradictions between institutionalized social agriculture and its practical implementations, highlighting processes of social re-signification of agriculture and its potential for territorial development.

Keywords: multifunctionality; post-productivism; expansion; institutionalisation; practice; re-signification.

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Federica Viganò, Francesca Uleri, Alessandra Piccoli, Susanne Elsen, Multifunzionalità come costruzione territoriale: tensioni e contraddizioni tra istituzionalizzazione e pratica dell’agricoltura sociale in Alto Adige in "WELFARE E ERGONOMIA" 1/2025, pp 77-92, DOI: 10.3280/WE2025-001006