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This study aims to evaluate the extent to which the criteria of the EFQM Excellence Model and the relationships between them are relevant in the management of rural territory development. Verifying this relevance is crucial as a first step to determine how the adoption of an excellence model could enhance the results of the local action groups (LAGs) in managing their territories. If successful, the benefits for the management of territorial rural development in Spain could be highly significant.

Field data were collected through a questionnaire distributed to the managers of 253 LAGs in Spain during the first quarter of 2021. Hypotheses were formulated to evaluate the significance of the EFQM model in the outcomes achieved by LAGs. The data were analysed using partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) and necessary conditions analysis (NCA).

This study validates all the formulated assumptions regarding the EFQM model, including the mediating role of process management in the impact of strategy and the technical team (people) on outcomes. Based on the obtained results, it can be concluded that the adoption of a model of excellence could increase the effectiveness of LAGs in managing the development of their territories.

Like all research, this study has its limitations. For example, the data used responds to an indirect approach to the criteria of the EFQM model. Direct measurement of the criteria was not possible because there were no LAG evaluations with the EFQM model or any other model of excellence. Additionally, the LAG sample used does not equally reflect the reality of the different autonomous communities, which, together with the relatively small nature of the sample, does not allow comparisons of the autonomous communities. The age of the participants was not included in the analysis, so it was not possible to evaluate the effect that this variable could have on the results. There are LAGs in other EU countries as well. It would be interesting to see whether the results obtained in this study with Spanish LAGs are consistent with those in other countries. The study was conducted at the criterion level. It would be of interest to delve deeper into the subcriterion level in future work. Finally, this study was based on the EFQM 2013, while the most recent study was from 2020, which is a limitation. When the study was designed, there was not yet sufficient experience with the 2020 model. It will be interesting to see in future work the extent to which the results and conclusions obtained remain consistent with those of the 2020 model.

Approaches to tackling the problem of rural development have often relied on intuitive and practical trial-and-error methods in the implementation of public policies rather than on a solid and validated theoretical foundation. Therefore, verifying the relevance of the criteria and their interrelationships, intrinsic to models such as the EFQM 2013 model, in the context of managing rural territories, can greatly aid the management of these types of organisations.

The development of rural territories is a critical issue that remains unresolved in many countries. Failure to address this, or not doing so in a timely manner, has consequences for equity and migration to large urban centres. Enhancing the effectiveness of the LAGs can improve the living conditions of people in rural areas and contribute to the overall development of rural territories in Spain. This can simultaneously help mitigate the depopulation of rural areas.

Traditional approaches to rural development have often relied on practical trial-and-error methods in implementing public policies. The decision to adopt an excellence management model for the development of rural territories hinges on the validity of criteria and their interrelationships, such as those intrinsic to the EFQM 2013 model, within the context of rural development.

The EFQM model of excellence is applicable in managing the development of rural territories, although some relationships between criteria, such as the case of Partnership and Resources on Results, are affected by the context in which local action groups currently operate in Spain.

This study applies PLS-SEM in the analysis of the relationships between criteria of the EFQM model in the context of managing the development of rural territories.

This paper deals with the spatial impact of cooperative entrepreneurship on territorial human development in Morocco. Within the background of the new development model in Morocco, this study aims to explore how the social and solidarity economy (SSE) through the cooperative model can reduce territorial inequalities by promoting economic dynamics in territories with suboptimal human development.

The empirical material is compiled from a database of 75 provinces in Morocco. After establishing a typology of the SSE in these territories, a test of the spatial effect of some indicators, such as the rate of urbanization and female employment, was undertaken. Moreover, a spatial impact study of the cooperatives' entrepreneurship and the local human development index will be carried out among the cooperatives' numbers and the share of their members.

This study's results indicate a diversity in the participation of the SSE in the regulation of territories. First, there is a heterogeneous relationship in the Moroccan space. Then, the cooperative model in Morocco shows that it plays a central role in readjusting social and spatial inequalities, pointing territories with suboptimal human development.

Although our theoretical contribution covers the impact of the three components of the SSE on territorial human development in Morocco. The empirical work of this study is limited to only one component of the SSE which are the cooperatives. The future perspectives of this work are to follow the impact of the three components after the implementation of the new development model in Morocco.

The main implication of this study is to map out the spatial role of cooperatives in territorial planning in Morocco. Policy makers still need to consolidate the implication of the cooperatives as a tool for promoting spatial equity, through the governance and the convergence between the different support and accompaniment programs for cooperatives in areas of human development deprivation.

The originality of this work comes from the exploration of the spatial dimension for the analysis of the role of the cooperatives for the promotion of a territorial human development. The SSE typologies described in the Moroccan provinces can allow actors to develop a business plan for the implementation of SSE initiatives.

This paper aims to investigate whether the competitiveness of a certain territory may be developed and maintained in the context of a global economy through the exploitation of its intrinsic value. The paper contributes to managerial literature by embracing a systemic perspective using business models (BMs) and adapting the original Osterwalder and Pigneur’s (2010) framework (canvas) to the specific context of territorial development.

The paper proposes a conceptual framework placing the territory and its actors in a dominant position. This choice allows us to look at BMs as the instruments of success of an entire territory (instead of a single firm as typically assessed in managerial literature) – a cooperating system. To do so, the authors build on previous works on “triple” and “quadruple helix”, which, although primarily focused on technological innovation, may also be used for more general aims such as guiding the specialization of a specific territory and supporting its economic sustainability. The paper contends that a BM might be the instrument to orchestrate actors’ (helices) cooperation by combining the focus on territories with a systemic perspective. Through the implementation of a common BM, each system should be able to orchestrate policies implemented by the different leading forces of the territory to assist processes of economic development.

The paper extends the literature on BMs conceptually linking its roots to the existing managerial literature on territory governance and networks. It offers a dual range of outcomes: first, it provides public policy makers with useful guidelines with regard to political, institutional, educational and entrepreneurial choices to be implemented for the development of a given geographical area; second, it examines the relational network linking the various actors of a territory, which are key to its growth and success.

This paper offers a new way for recovering/sustaining economically depressed areas. To the authors’ knowledge, BMs have never been used at territorial level, but only at firm level. They believe that, through this new view of BMs, policy makers can help each territory to express its intrinsic and peculiar value. By combining BMs with the concepts of triple and quadruple helix, the authors offer a new way to look at how governments, educational institutions and firms can cooperate to help a territory in finding and improving its intrinsic specialization.

This chapter explores the role of Creative Tourism in territorial development, highlighting the differences between urban and rural territories. The dynamics of creative development and tourism must be assumed as an advantage for rural territories in times of exhaustion of the growth model of large cities, climate change and COVID-19 disease. This is a new scenario that these territories must profit from, as they continue to face challenges to capture investment, tourists and to offer sustainable models. Urban studies of creative industries and initiatives have been taking place in big cities for several decades now, marginalising small cities and, more specifically, rural areas. Some examples at an international level are highlighted in this chapter, with Southern Europe specifically in focus. Therefore, Creative Tourism appears as a key development option for distinct reasons and aims. First, it answers to the need for tourism to reinvent itself as well as to the need for destinations to do something different in a saturated market. It can also meet the desire of tourists for more fulfilling and meaningful experiences. However, which role can each type of territory play in the present, and how can these territories reach development through Creative Tourism?

Cycle tourism is considered as a trendy opportunity of local development that should be taken into consideration by several destinations to (further) increase tourism according to the sustainable development approach. It is a broad and complex phenomenon that involves various social and economic actors. Cycle tourists are looking for new and deep experiences to better benefit from the local identities and the uniqueness of the landscape of a territory. Cycle tourism gives sustainable access to environmental and cultural resources of territories often neglected. Despite its evident potentialities, the lack of studies represents a drawback that could compromise the local development. The aim of this chapter is first to describe the characteristics of this form of tourism both in terms of its contribution to the sustainable development and of demand and supply features. Second, the study focuses on an Italian area that is strongly investing in the development of this form of mobility: an area called “Insubria,” which is located in the Lombardy region, near the Swiss border and includes, as main cities, Varese and Como. The work explores whether the supply of the tourism product in this area is aligned with the current and future demand trends of cycling and tourism. The analysis ends with some suggestions about possible improvements in the area and for the long-term industry competitiveness.

This paper promotes a critical approach to co-operative studies by contributing new theoretical insights. The aim is to propose a new view on the co-operative firm as a socioeconomic phenomenon embedded into the local contexts in which it is situated. Sociological and economic analyses have mainly explored the relationship between co-operative members and the organization, the economic performance of co-operatives or compared co-operatives with other firm types. Less attention has been given to the co-operative–territory relation, which can reveal insights into members' collective actions, a co-operative's origins from specific social groups or how they establish relationships with certain community stakeholders over others.

The paper begins with a literature review of academic studies that situate co-operatives in relation to community, with a focus on how social capital theory has been deployed to understand this relation. It then proposes a theoretical examination of two fundamental authors in the field of social capital theory: Robert Putnam and Pierre Bourdieu. Drawing on findings from the literature review and considerations derived from the theoretical dialog between Putnam and Bourdieu, the paper proposes a revised social capital-based framework for analyzing key relations and expected outcomes of the co-operative–territory relation.

Reconsidering the role of social capital theory for co-operative studies, this article unfolds a dual reflection. First, it underlines the necessity for research that more closely considers co-operatives' territorial relationships. Second, it critically interrogates and pushes forward social capital theory as a framework for examining the social relations that embed co-operatives and their capacity to activate territorial economies.

The paper highlights the necessity for a further examination of the co-operative–territory relationship. It presents an innovative framework for improving sociological understanding of co-operatives as organizations embedded into their local socioeconomic contexts.

Actors of territories faced with new managerial innovations have to develop new knowledge and behaviours to seize these innovations and create a vision of the territory. This is part of what we call governance learning: the ability of individuals to create new knowledge and behaviour for collective action within the territory. The purpose of this chapter is to explore this concept.

Drawing from a case study of a periurban territory in France, we analyse how the board members of a Community of Communes can learn to work together, articulating organisational learning theories, actor-network theory and the concept of organisational myths.

We explore the enrolment process necessary to ‘build’ the network and interest them in using the innovation; identify three types of governance learning that turn the network into a collective: sensemaking, instrument-seizing and sensegiving; show how these myths are necessary to turn collective knowledge into organisational knowledge.

With both a behavioural and evolutionary approach to governance, we show that power, relationships and learning processes are tightly intertwined within the governance networks. Our use of organisational learning theory also demonstrates how it can be used in a more systematic way to describe the learning processes witnessed in governance situations.

This research brings new light to the understanding of how territorial governance can be developed and how managerial innovations can provoke learning situations and more specifically how stakeholders learn to define common goals and a shared vision of their territory to enable collective action.

The chapter is devoted to analysis of the structure of regional identity. Topicality of this issue is caused by the processes of social differentiation of regions. The purpose of the research is to describe the factors of regional identity. Regional identity is predetermined by natural, geographical, socio-cultural, ethnic, and socio-political factors. Regional identity is viewed as a complex dynamic structure. It is analyzed on the basis of application of concepts of constructivism and symbolic capital. The authors come to the conclusion that dynamics of regional identity are determined by individuals’ evaluation of the conditions of the territory for satisfying the needs and implementation of life plans. This aspect is analyzed from the positions of the concept of constructivism. It is also concluded that dynamics of regional identity depends on attractive image of the territory and realization of its uniqueness. This aspect of regional identity is viewed as a symbolic capital, which stimulates the development of territory.

This paper sets out describe the creation of sustainable urban planning concepts based on optimized urban landscape functioning. It gives an account of the formation and transformation processes of natural and artificial streaming structures.

The paper examines the present‐day approaches to the environmental assessment and zoning of urban territories. This was achieved by creating the conceptual methodological basis for the assessment and classification of urban landscapes.

Based on an analysis of the urban planning development of the Moscow agglomeration, principles have been proposed for the shaping of sustainable urban planning structures – landscape planning that can be applied to the management of the territorial growth of large cities and urban agglomerations. First, the shaping and reconstruction of the city structure, including the structure of land management, as well as the mutual arrangement of functional areas, should be based on the need to preserve the axes – the lines and planes of mass, energy and information transfer of landscapes of various orders. Second, the order of preserved landscape axes depends on the organisational complexity of a territory. Third, assessment of the sustainability of the structure of a city and agglomeration should be based on the criteria of river systems along their borders, such as the quantity and composition of water, its temperature, retention of the annual functioning cycle and biodiversity. Finally, urban planning control regimes should be established across the entire city and they should be determined by the position of the territory in the city's landscape structure.

This work will provide a better understanding of integrated environmental systems to enable development of best management practices in the city of Moscow.