Call for abstracts “E-empowerment in marginal rural and mountain”

3rd DIGITAL GEOGRAPHIES CONFERENCE

can digital technologies bring hope to vulnerable territories? https://ceg.ulisboa.pt/digitalgeographies/ 3rd digital

 In particolare la sessione curata da Paolo Giaccaria, Nicolò Fenu, Samantha Cenere (University of Turin).

Organisers: Paolo Giaccaria, Nicolò Fenu, Samantha Cenere (University of Turin)

Contact: paolo.giaccaria@unito.it

Following Macintosh (2004: 3) tripartition of e-participation (e-enabling, e-engaging and eempowerment), we agree that much attention has been paid to mere e-enabling, making digital government procedures accessible and understandable in order to deliver services. The focus on the e-enabling aspect is particularly worrisome in marginal rural and mountain areas, where depopulation is a most serious issue, and the digital gap is higher. In such contexts, the digitalisation of everyday services is seen as a shortcut to secure civil rights for the (elderly) population and to attract new residents thanks to remote working, digital infrastructures, and distance learning. As a consequence, the higher level of e-participation (e-engaging and e-empowerment) is often seen as secondary given the centrality of service provision as a means to contrast the depopulation trend. On the contrary, we stress the importance of active citizenship in setting the goals and means of marginal rural and mountain areas regeneration and the role of digitalization in securing effective citizens’ empowerment. Because of marginality and depopulation, marginal areas can be a locus to experiment with participation and citizenship in planning and policy-making fruitfully. The session welcomes original conceptual and empirical research contributions about eempowerment in marginal rural and mountain territories. For example: – civic digital platforms (e.g. digital living lab, civic social networks) and their impact on policies co-design and co-production; – blockchain-based technologies (local currencies, digital wallet, digital twinning) and the emergence of decentralised legitimation in marginal areas; – digitally enabled rural and mountain new inhabitants (e.g. digital nomads, makers, temporary residents) and their impact on e-empowerment.