Place-based Organizations as Drivers for Inner Areas Development through Ecosystem Services: The case of Casentino and Valtiberina valleys and Beyond

This doctoral thesis is situated within the critical debate concerning Italian inner areas, a topic that has gained considerable scientific relevance in recent years due to the consequences of rural-to-urban migration over the last few decades. Specifically, this trend has led to the disappearance of essential services for citizens who chose to remain and a reduction in the maintenance of ecosystem services fundamental to the well-being of all. This particularly affects those who have moved to cities, given the CO2 storage and water resource flow regulation that occur primarily in forests that are mainly located in Inner areas. This research project focuses specifically on the role that place-based organizations and multistakeholder partnerships can play in valuing local ecosystem services and providing essential services to citizens based on the genuine needs of the context. It is funded by the Municipal PhD Scholarship Call, XXXVIII Cycle, promoted by the Department for Cohesion Policies and the South under the Italian Presidency of the Council of Ministers and conceived to foster academic support to the policymakers in the implementation of the Italian Inner Areas strategy. In particular, this scholarship is awarded to the Union of Municipalities of Casentino - acting as the proposing entity for the "Casentino-Valtiberina" Inner Area - and the Department of Economics and Management Sciences at the University of Florence, for financing my 3-year doctoral study program in Development Economics and Local Systems. The aim of the research and of this thesis is supporting the implementation of the Italian Inner areas strategy, a set of policies which seeks to offer a development perspective for younger generations in their community. This is made by applying a conceptual framework inspired to the literature on human sustainable development and on sustainability transitions to Casentino-Valtiberina as a case of Italian Inner area. The thesis will be shared with stakeholders from the local community as well as other inner areas, with the goal of proposing replicable solutions for local development. This aligns with the spirit of the National Strategy for Inner Areas, which emphasises the importance of sharing the results of research initiatives focused on Italy’s inner areas. The thesis is structured in an article-based format, developing three autonomous chapters that address specific aspects of the problem. To ensure the narrative coherence of the thesis, the published material has been integrated and re-elaborated with an Introduction, a subsequent chapter featuring a conceptual framework, and a concluding chapter that synthesizes the overall contributions.