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Recent literature analyses the role of territorial specificities, as the core of territorial rural development strategies based on differentiation. Unfortunately, the proliferation of quality assurance schemes is provoking a "labyrinth of labels" which diffuses the local efforts for capitalizing rural specificities. A second-generation of labels is currently being developed to simplify the territorial differentiation message. A number of territories in Southern Europe are basing their rural development strategies joining the so-called European Territorial Quality Mark ( E T Q M ) Project. This paper proposes an original methodology, designed and developed by authors, for the evaluation of some of these second-generation labels. This methodology has been validated in i5 rural territories as the pioneers of the E T Q M in Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to analyze the role of the policies that support organic agriculture in the sector promotion, from the case of Andalucia in Spain, the largest in area and number of operators in the country. To do this, in the first place, key policies at regional, national and supranational levels that have potentially affected the supply of the sector are identified. Then, the evolution of the main variables related to it is illustrated (surface, producers, demand, etc...). Based on the foregoing, it is concluded that the existence of a relationship between the aids to organic production and the sectoral development could be presumable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Businesses use their resources and abilities to maximise their efficiency, and the implementation of innovative tactics has become common in recent years. Based on the evaluation of a performance model based on the variables of the Cobb-Douglas production function, the present paper intends to empirically confront the ways in which Spanish agribusinesses and farming companies, particularly the ones located in the Murcia region, can improve their management through their efficiency and their relation to innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to identify the determining factors of the agrarian crisis in Mediterranean Spain and the solutions agricultural cooperatives could provide. The methodology consists of the application of the Delphi Method through a questionnaire presented to experts in 2011. The conclusion of this study is that agricultural cooperatives represent an appropriate formula for facing threats and weaknesses in this sector. Implementing a competitive differentiation strategy based on quality is compatible with strategies to reduce production prices through the concentration of agricultural supply. Strategic alliances have the power to set up strategies aimed at improving professionalisation in management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The object of this paper is to analyse changes in the collective imaginary regarding Spanish rurality from 1940 to the present. For this purpose a historical-sociological methodology was used that allows for the differentiation of three different phases in the evolution of this imaginary. These phases are: 1) conservative mystification of rurality; 2) contempt and disdain for rural life; 3) current tendencies towards the revalorisation of rural areas, which came about simultaneously with growing consideration for rural areas as places for leisure and tourism. The study of these transformations shows that the Spanish collective imaginary on rurality is not intrinsic and indifferent to time and context, but the product of a social construction in constant social and historical change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]