ERSA 60th Congress
CfP SPECIAL SESSION S59
The role of fragile territories
in the frame of national strategies:
description, tools and best practices in Italy and Europe

Bozen, Italy
CONFERENCE DATES: 25-28 August 2020
(NEW!) DEADLINE CfP: 9 March 2020
• ERSA - European Regional Science Association
• EURAC Research - Institute for Regional Development
• UNIBZ - Free University of Bozen-Bolzano
• Fragilità Territoriali

ERSA 60th CONGRESS | TERRITORIAL FUTURES
Visions and scenarios to cope with megatrends in a changing Europe
25-28 August 2020
Bolzano, Bozen | Italy

CALL FOR PAPERS | SPECIAL SESSION | S59
The role of fragile territories in the frame of national strategies:
description, tools and best practices in Italy and Europe

CONVENORS
Elena Fontanella, Agim Enver Kercuku, Cristiana Mattioli and Bruna Vendemmia | Politecnico di Milano | DAStU - Dipartimento D'Eccellenza sulle Fragilità Territoriali 2018-2022

SESSION ABSTRACT
In recent years, public investments in Europe have been concentrated especially in big metropolitan areas focusing on the construction of high-speed train lines and fast connections, improvement of flight connections and big events nourishing dynamics that make those territories even stronger. As counterparts, other territories emerged as marginal, remote, depopulated and low-infrastructure. We will define them: fragile territories. In Italy, due to historical, morphological and orographic conditions, this process is particularly visible: "fragile territories" in Italy are abandoned territories all along the Appennine, the South and the Islands, rural areas, but also the periphery of the big metropolitan areas that suffer low services and accessibility conditions. These territories experience today processes of demographic change, resources scarcity, loss of the existing social fixed capital (public facilities, sports, cultural and health centres, schools, public parks, and playgrounds, social housing) and infrastructures (streets, railways, water systems, digital network), social inequalities, migration and depopulation because of lack of local resources. Strategies are required to respond to new social, economic and environmental needs.
This session welcome proposal on: understanding the role of these territories in the frame of national strategies of development; presenting instruments and methodologies needed to describe those areas and their characteristics; introducing examples of projects and practices, in Italy and Europe, that, may help to develop non-sectorial and multi-scalar strategies for empowering those territories and dealing with territorial vulnerabilities, with particular reference to the concept of shrinking, welfare and accessibility.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES & KEY DATES:
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Special Sessions (S-)
• Submission of an abstract (200-400 words) and an extended abstract (1,200-2,000 words) or a full (draft) paper are required > deadline 2 March 2020.
• After a review process, a decision is made regarding acceptance to the Congress and session type > by 30 March 2020
• Registration for the congress requires the upload of a full (draft) paper, if not made during the submission period > deadline 15 June 2020
• After a registration check, a decision is made regarding final acceptance and programming of the paper in a S-, YS- or R- Session > before 15 June 2020
• All presentations will be assigned a discussant > early July 2020

All submissions will be reviewed by the LOC and/or the Scientific Committee. The LOC has the right to reject submissions from the congress or move submissions to another theme or another type of session. Special Sessions have a minimum of 4 submitted papers. In case a proposed Special Session does not meet this condition, The S- submissions will be programmed as an O-Session or an R-Session.