This Tuesday, the mobilisation and active management of the agricultural and forestry landscape was the focus at IBADER, where one of the working sessions of the Forum Resilient Rural Territory took place. This forum is a collective reflection process that brings together experts and representatives from different fields to analyse the challenges facing rural Galicia and propose lines of action. The session, coordinated by the USC’s Land Lab, included specialists from academic, institutional and professional backgrounds linked to rural territory.
Today’s meeting addressed the main difficulties affecting the management of agricultural and forestry land in Galicia, as well as the opportunities available to promote its productive and sustainable use. During the discussion, participants highlighted the importance of fostering generational renewal to ensure the active management of the territory —particularly by attracting and supporting new entrants—; stressed the need to improve information on land ownership, including its social dimension; and reflected on the conflicts that arise between agricultural–livestock and forestry uses in certain areas of Galicia. They also underlined the gap between the existing regulatory and planning framework and the practical ability of public administrations to implement it, whether due to issues of resources, governance or leadership.
This session follows another working session held on 12 March, also led by the Land Lab, which focused on spatial and land use planning. That session examined the complexity of the legal framework governing these uses and the need to ensure its coordination and long term stability. Participants pointed to the importance of applying planning instruments such as the catalogue of agricultural and forestry soils, promoting participatory processes involving all relevant stakeholders.
The Forum Resilient Rural Territory
These sessions form part of the preparatory process for the Resilient Rural Territory Forum, an initiative promoted by the Juana de Vega Foundation and the Territorial Laboratory (LaboraTe) of the University of Santiago de Compostela, in collaboration with Fundación RIA, Fundación Roberto Rivas and the Professional Association of Journalists of Galicia.
The forum aims to contribute to a more active rural territory, resilient to wildfires and better prepared to face economic, demographic, climate and environmental challenges through improved territorial planning and management. The conclusions drawn from these sessions will provide the basis for the debate at the Resilient Rural Territory Forum, which will take place on 28 May in Santiago de Compostela and will present the main recommendations and lines of action emerging from the process.
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