=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-1152/paper23
|storemode=property
|title=Climate Change, Rural Systems and Innovation: the Role of Internet
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1152/paper23.pdf
|volume=Vol-1152
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/haicta/BorrelliCMS11
}}
==Climate Change, Rural Systems and Innovation: the Role of Internet==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1152/paper23.pdf
Climate change, rural systems and innovation:
the role of Internet
Irene Paola Borrelli1, Gian Paolo Cesaretti2, Rosa Misso3, Debora Scarpato4
1
Simone Cesaretti Foundation, Italy, e-mail: irenepaolaborrelli@gmail.com
2
Department of Economic Studies “S. Vinci”, University of Napoli “Parthenope” and
Simone Cesaretti Foundation, Italy, e-mail: cesaretti@uniparthenope.it
3
Department of Economic Studies “S. Vinci”, University of Napoli “Parthenope” and
Simone Cesaretti Foundation, Italy, e-mail: misso@uniparthenope.it
4
Department of Economic Studies “S. Vinci”, University of Napoli “Parthenope” and
Simone Cesaretti Foundation, Italy, e-mail: debora.scarpato@uniparthenope.it
Abstract. Climate change can compromise the development of the territorial
systems with rural vocation. Nevertheless, these last can influence, both
positively than negatively, the factors that determine climate change. Starting
from this dichotomous vision of the relationship between climate change and
rural development, this study focuses on the role that Internet and the web
marketing strategies can develop in the mitigation and in the adaptation to
climate change trough the spread of information on virtuous behaviour by
individuals and firms. In such optics, the study, looking over agritourism as
multifunctional farm with an orientation to sustainability, provides a survey to
evaluate the diffusion of Internet in the Campania Region and the propensity of
firms to use the web in order to promote responsible behaviour among the
users of websites (suggesting virtuous behaviours) or to valorize their
commitment in the fight against climate change.
Keywords: rural systems, climate change, web marketing, multifunctionality.
1 Introduction
In the last years, global issues have exposed rural systems to challenges that have
begun to pretend a declination in key of sustainability of the relative development
processes. These challenges are very complex: management of natural resources and
the fight against climate change, the balanced development of territories and the
availability of healthy and safe foods, ask for strategic, but above all sustainable
answers, based on the integrated and shared vision of all the stakeholders in the
territory.
_______________________________
Copyright ©by the paper’s authors. Copying permitted only for private and academic purposes.
In: M. Salampasis, A. Matopoulos (eds.): Proceedings of the International Conference on Information
and Communication Technologies
for Sustainable Agri-production and Environment (HAICTA 2011), Skiathos, 8-11 September, 2011.
259
So, among the environmental factors that could jeopardize the development of
rural systems we have climate changes (Peixoto and Oort, 1992, European
Commission, 2010; Andreopoulou et al., 2011).
After the industrial revolution, in fact, the strong increase in the greenhouse gas
(GHG) indicated the existence of an unbalance among the different economic
sectors, society, environment and the different territories with their specific
particularities. The relationship between climate change and development has always
been considered from two points of view: both in terms of the impact that
development determines on the climate and in terms of the effect that climate change
can have on development (The International Bank for Reconstruction and
Development, 2010).
Starting from this dichotomous vision of the relationship between development
and climate change, this study focuses on the rural development, looking at the role
of agriculture. In this regard, it focuses on agritourism like an innovative form of
multifunctional agriculture projected towards sustainability. In fact, climate change
can be compromised by the development of the territorial systems with rural
vocation, but, vice versa the agricultural component of these systems can influence
the factors that determine climate change, either positively or negatively. In
particular, with the purpose of emphasizing the strategic role that today these rural
systems could play, in order to develop and overcome this challenge, the study looks
at the principal levers which are able to sustain their development by projecting them
in a perspective of sustainability. Among these, the modern Information and
Communication Technologies (ICT) constitute more and more the representative
tools of an innovating society moving towards an economy based on ever increasing
knowledge and information. In particular, considering the role that Internet and the
web marketing strategies can develop in the mitigation and in the adaptation to
climate change trough the sharing or the spread of information on the causes of
climate change or on virtuous behaviour by individuals and firms, a survey has been
conducted with the aim to provide useful reflections for policy makers, evaluating the
diffusion of Internet among the agritourisms of the Campania Region and, especially,
the marketing strategies they’ve implemented through the web with the aim to share
information on climate change, suggesting virtuous behaviours to users or valorizing
the commitment of the firm in the battle to fight climate change.
All this, to testify the propensity of agritourisms to assume responsible behaviour
toward the society, or better, toward a global and worrying question for the society.
2 Rural systems and challenge of climate change: the role of ICTs
Rural territories are areas of notable interest for modern development,
representing development systems directly interested in the consequences of climate
change: increase of mean temperature and extreme meteorological phenomena,
diminution of water resources, biodiversity loss and degradation of ecosystems. At
the same time, rural systems could determine climate change because of an incorrect
management of their physical and anthropic components, for example: the natural
systems - like parks, reserves, forest ecosystems, etc. - or the biological systems
260
modified by mankind like the agricultural ecosystems. In fact, in such optics, rural
systems would be ecosystems resulting from interaction between the environment
and man. Man, would have modified, in particular, some original features of the
natural resources and, at the same time, helped in determining its specificities, both
in terms of biodiversity and in socio-cultural terms (that is all the competences, uses
and traditions that mark out the local communities)1 (Inea, 2001; Cesaretti and
Scarpato, 2010).
The relationship between rural systems and climate change is very complex, due
to a multiplicity of interrelations and interdependences involving environmental,
social and economic aspects that evolve dynamically and in an unpredictable way.
Besides, this complexity subsequently increases when we try to classify the
responsibilities of the different components of the same system (e.g. agriculture and
other productive sectors, traditional handicraft, landscape and architectural
excellences, local institutions, eno-gastronomic tourism) towards climate change, and
when we try to classify the impacts of climate change on the rural systems.
This study focuses only on the agricultural component of a rural system.
It’s now broadly recognized that agriculture develops a double role towards
climate change because it passively suffers its effects but at the same time it can
increase or limit global warming (Essex et al., 2005). In fact, agriculture represents a
source and a reservoir of GHG, because it causes emissions in the atmosphere and
removes carbonic anhydride from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and the
memorization of the same process in vegetation and in the ground (a process known
as sequestration) (Bishop, 1993; Misso, 2010). Due to the link between nature and
agriculture, from the production point of view soil becomes a mix of biological,
cultural, social values, a source of biodiversity and hydrogeological equilibrium,
setting itself as nerve centre of the system of natural, human and social capital that
creates a territory and that from it takes energies.
In such optics, rural systems sustainability would be more and more connected to
the quality of life, or better: sustainability would represent the ability of rural systems
to assure economic, social and environmental wellbeing to the community living in a
territory, both for the present and for the future (Cesaretti and Misso, 2011). In this
respect, traditional measures for the wellbeing of the rural territory claim an
innovative model of rurality, able to develop and to know how to take opportunities
for example by ICT and this, above all, in light of the need to overcome more and
more complex global challenges like, for instance, climate change (Marsden and
Murdoch, 1994; OECD, 2001a; Commissione delle Comunità Europee, 2009;
Cesaretti, 2011).
1 In other terms, the rural and agricultural areas are not only considered in systemic key due to
their complex structure constituted by resources and relationships (exchanges of material,
energy, information) that they establish among them; but also and above all since they show
an inside organization that varies with their degree of development and a behaviour
(maintenance, reproduction, self-regulation, cycle of life) that according to the theory of the
systems, would aim to the equilibrium and the reproduction of the same system, in face of
climatic, demographic or technological changes. Finally, external relationships, the presence
of institutions (among which the marketplace), help in determining these areas as an open
system (Inea, 2001).
261
So, the overcoming of the challenge of climate change imposes new strategies and
tools on rural systems which are able to reread the territories of reference in light of a
multidimensional and integrated vision of their specificities, but especially in view of
a new culture of rurality. This last, in particular, has to be intended as an expression
of:
a more and more diversified and multifunctional agriculture, strongly rooted in
the territory;
environmental and landscaping resources which are increasingly more
integrated in identity and innovating matrixes;
relational and institutional assets based on systems of sustainability oriented
values.
According to Hodge (1986) rural development can be defined as "a general
increase in the wellbeing of the residents of the rural areas and, in general, in the
contribution that the rural resources give to the wellbeing of the whole population".
Just because of this last contribution, all the components of a rural system, in
particular the agricultural ones (e.g. agritourisms, farms, agricultural and territorial
institutions, tourist agencies), have to contribute in the overcoming of the challenges
to the sustainability, including precisely climate change (Hoggart, 1988; Groote et
al., 2000). In particular, this becomes the key to interpreting the ability of
development of a territory and of its typical elements. This is true for the rural
territories, for which the challenge of climate change is a real constraining factor of
development that requires a substantial review of the territorial strategies with a view
to sustainability2. In fact, the complex meaning attributed to rural development must,
necessarily, consider the changes in the role of the agriculture in the economy of a
territorial system. Today, agriculture has a multifunctional role, so it not only
provides for the production of foodstuffs and non, but also for the production of
protection and conservation services for the territory, receptive and recreational
services, through the valorization of the local resources.
In the last few years, the multifunctionality of agriculture, has attracted the
specific attention of the people responsible for the politics of agricultural and rural
development, both in industrialized and in developing countries, and on the definition
of such functions. The key functions of the agriculture are the following: food safety;
environmental function; economic function; social function (FAO, 2000a). The
importance of multifunctionality of agriculture, can be examined in relation to
2
Literature has consolidated the strategic vision of the territory in which the analysis of all
the present components, their different combinations and their different levels of
radication provide a more appropriate theoretical picture in the study of context with rural
and agrifood vocation. At the same time, the analyses to support the rural development
strongly underline the territorial features, considering the development as a socio-
economic, cultural and environmental phenomenon deriving from "local" features. All of
this, obviously, pushes towards the recognition of the non homogeneity of the territory,
and of the necessity to read and interpret the differences of the rural areas and to
undertake trajectories of sustainable development calibrated on the specificities of each
one.
262
specific global environmental problems, such as climate change3, desertification,
biodiversities, the quality and the availability of water and pollution (FAO, 2000b).
Moreover, on the wave of the new orientations of Common Agricultural Policy
founded on the multifunctional and sustainable European agricultural model, rural
systems are living a moment of strong innovation, starting with the rediscovery of the
multifunctional nature of agriculture and with the new awareness that the farmer has
of this, with the development of agricultural practices with smaller environmental
impact4 or new approaches to consumption and to distribution (for instance, km0 or
biological products), and the spread of new productive and consumption models
more and more inspired and founded on innovation (OECD, 2001b).
Therefore today, more than ever rural systems have to testify on their ability to
innovate themselves and to offer their own contribution to the construction of a
productive system able to answer social claims on environmental issues, like the
struggle to combat climate change, besides the need to obtain margins of sustainable
competitiveness on the markets.
It is in the sphere of this process that ICTs play an important role. Their advent (in
particular of Internet) has become an important production and organizational factor
in the search for new opportunities both for enterprises and for rural systems, but also
an important tool for the environmental, social, economic and territorial
sustainability. Many companies, for example, are developing projects on Green ICT5,
but this last play also a significant role in enhancing rural development in developing
countries and in general as a key enabler of renewed and sustainable growth, given
that it has become an essential element of the infrastructure underpinning competitive
economies (Niederhauser et al., 2008). In this way, ICT can play an equally central
role in promoting environmental and social sustainability, both as an industry and as
a key element of enabling infrastructure (Guimarães Pereira et al., 1999; Guimarães
Pereira and O’Connor, 1999; Pade et al., 2006; Dutta e Mia, 2010). From the phases
of production to processing and marketing, the firm has the opportunity to use
precision farming or web marketing tools and to adopt a variety of technological
applications: all this for the pursuit of their sustainability and for the sustainability of
society.
3
Agriculture can contribute to reducing the greenhouse effect, through better management in
the use of nitrate fertilizers and replacing coal with the use of bio-fuels. Moreover, it
supports the development of "green economy" by promoting a model of energy production
by small-or medium-sized cogeneration plants powered by renewable sources. Moreover,
the efforts for agro-energy, in reference to the overall development of renewable energy is
one of the main challenges of the new agricultural and environmental policy that will
contribute significantly to CO2 reduction and the achievement of the 2020 objectives of
Kyoto and the European ones.
4 The no-till land, the minimum tillage, establishment of grasslands and permanent crops, the
cultivation of a deep root, the use of manure and compost, crop residue management
including their use for energy production, improving techniques of fertilization and
irrigation, the reintroduction of rotations, the spread of organic and all so-called land use
changes that characterize the transformation of farmland into forests, meadows and pastures.
5
The formulas of Enterprise 2.0, for example, allow to reduce significantly costs de-locating
their data and using social platforms Software-as-a-Service.
263
3 Internet and sustainability of rural systems: the case of
agritourism in Campania Region
The challenge of climate change exposes the rural systems and farms that operate
in them to constant search of innovative approaches, in terms of managing internal
and external relations. To support these requirements are involved:
the new formulas of increasingly multifunctional and diversified agriculture;
ICT as an undisputed lever of sustainability.
As regards the first aspect, a multifunctional farm innovates itself developing a
series of activities besides the traditional ones. The agricultural entrepreneurs have to
rethink their own activity not only so that it can be more and more competitive, but
also because they are called to take upon new responsibilities in society, aiming more
and more to innovation. In the last decades the most remarkable example of
multifuntionality is represented by agritourism which is also seen as the most
important innovation of product which has involved Italian agriculture. The
remarkable spread of agritourisms in Italy has indicated on, one side, new
possibilities of economic development in agriculture, and on the other, the role of the
agricultural sector in the promotion of the territory and in the satisfaction of the
claims of society in terms of environmental and social sustainability.
Agritourisms are determinant and "innovative" components of the development of
the rural systems and so they assume a key role in the orientation of such territories
to sustainability and therefore, they can also affect, in a significant way, the
contribution that rural systems can give to the fight against climate change.
As regards the second aspect, instead, among the numerous applications of ICT,
the Internet is now widely used at individual and institutional level and very
important for the sharing of economic, social, environmental or territorial
information (Anderson and Weert, 2002; Steinke and Nickolette, 2003; Schiefer,
2008). In the companies, Internet can be used with different modalities, not only for
e-commerce but also in support of commercial activity in pre- and post-selling
phases and as a channel of communication to and from markets as a means of
promotion and marketing (Canavari et al., 2000; Wolcott et al., 2008; Wang, 2008).
Company policies have evolved, focusing on “information” and on company-
client relations in an integrated vision that may produce value. In such optics,
enterprises have developed web marketing strategies with high potential for agrifood
products (especially for highly differentiated products), giving enterprises located far
from the main commercial areas access to direct and short commercial channels and
visibility with the ever-growing public of web surfers. As recognized by Canavari et
al. (2005) Italian agrifood companies although recognizing that Internet increases
their visibility in the world markets, have yet to exploit it as a relational tool to
increase competitiveness, or better, they must invest more in websites that are more
coherent with more general communication and promotional strategies6.
6
Among the latter, advergames or the new opportunities of exploiting knowledge and
information offered by the Web 2.0, blogs, forums, online videos, are innovative web
marketing tools.
264
Based on the spread of Internet, the use of web marketing has increased with the
evolution of relational marketing (innovative web marketing tools, for example are
linked to the Web 2.0) that allows enterprises to understand consumers and to adapt
their strategies to the consumers’ needs. In this way, the possible applications offered
by Internet represent important tools for the implementation of strategies that aim to
satisfy collective and more global interest (e.g. consumer health) because it allows
enterprises to keep a fine tuning with society’s needs. As regards rural areas,
however, it is indisputable that the provision of infrastructural networks and
telecommunication services, accompanied by access to Internet at high speed
(broadband) by now constitutes an essential condition for the development of such
areas, as they are able to reduce isolation, stimulate and transfer innovation to
improve the quality of life (Commissione Europea, 2010).
So, one of the most pressing challenges facing humankind and in particular the
rural systems is climate change. Taking this into account, we have investigated the
diffusion of Internet in agritourisms as an innovative form of the farm business
which, in multifunctionality, find its orientation to the sustainability of development.
In particular, this study wants to investigate on the propensity of these firms to
implement web marketing strategies that testify their responsibility towards the
challenge of climate change (Borrelli et al., 2011). In such optics it focuses on the
type of information they provide by the websites to give a contribution in the fight to
climate change, promoting responsible behaviour among the users of websites
(suggesting virtuous behaviours) or valorizing their commitment in the fight against
climate change. Especially, the survey has aimed to evaluate the diffusion of Internet
among the agritourisms of the Campania Region by their presence on the world wide
web, the characteristics of the websites and, overall, their capability to share
information on climate change (Havlìcek et al., 2009, 2010; Niederhauser et al.,
2008).
3.1 Brief presentation of Campania agritourism
According to the data of the National institute of Statistic (Istat), in 2009, in Italy
there are 19.019 farms authorized to exercise agritourism (539 more (+2,9%) in
comparison to the previous year). The major increases regard catering and
accommodation, increasing respectively of 407 and 347 units.
The 44,9% of agritourisms are located in the North of the Country, 35,2% in the
Centre and the remaining 19,9% in the South. In particular, the highest percentage of
farms with catering (respectively 44,2% and 31,4% of the total) are in the northern
regions and in the South, while in central Italy 59,1% of the agritourisms also have
tasting.
In the Campania Region, the agritourist activity has significant dimensions.
Considering that a firm can be authorized to exercise one or more typologies of
the agritourism activities (e.g. lodging, catering or tasting). Istat data (2009) observes
that in Campania there is 7% (in comparison to the National total) of the firms
authorized to exercise catering. Those firms however represent around 22% of the
firms of the Southern of Italy. Whilst as regards the firms authorized to exercise
tasting, Campania represents about 8% of the National total, but 50% in comparison
265
to Southern Italy. In regards to lodgings the percentage of representative decreases
significantly, to about 4% in comparison to the National total and to 19,6% in
comparison to the South.
On the basis of the typology of the majority of lodgings some regional
specializations can be distinguished and, as regards full board, it is more available in
Campania (480 lodgings, i.e. to 78,9%).
The combination of restoration with lodging and other activities, although present
in all regions, is mostly diffused in Campania (besides Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna
and Sardinia).
However, the Campania Region is a territory in which a strong rural vocation
persists, especially in the inside zones, where the wealth of biodiversity, local
wisdom and popular traditions, have preserved its wine-gastronomic patrimony
which only in the last few years is receiving adequate valorization through the
development and the diffusion of the agritouristic activity.
Fig. 1. Farms authorized to exercise the activity of agritourism in Campania Region.
In July 2009, there were 1.345 farms registered in the regional register authorized
to exercise the activity of agritourism. In the five provinces of the Region the number
of authorized farms is distributed as follows: 14.3% in the Province of Avellino,
21.9% in the Province of Benevento, 13.2% in the province of Caserta, 10.9% in the
Province of Naples; 39.7% in the Province of Salerno.
3.2 Methods, targets and main results
Internet provides two different ways of online presence of agritourisms: an active
presence and a passive presence. The first concerns the presence of web sites of the
266
owner of the firm. The second, provides the availability of informative elements (e.g.
mail address, phone contacts, photo, video) or comments on the firm that circulate on
the web through forum, blog or other portals.
Starting from these considerations, the study has aimed first of all to investigate
the attention that agritourisms of the Campania Region give to the use of Internet,
defining the kinds of participation in the network in an active or passive way.
In particular, research aims to give some indications about the tendency of
Campania Region agritourism to employ the web as a supplementary instrument for
marketing policies, trying to understand the consistency of planned offline marketing
strategies with web marketing tools in order to inform users or to suggest virtuous
behaviour regarding the commitment of the firm in the fight against climate change.
Specifically the empiric analysis proposal was to achieve the following goals:
Verify the presence of Campania Region agritourism on the world wide web;
Illustrate the use of Internet in agritourism marketing strategies, analyzing the
typology of diffused information.
To analyze the web marketing strategies and their possible correspondence with
the management model of the firm.
Firstly, to achieve these goals, the analysis has identified, surfed, directly observed
and evaluated the web sites of Campania Region agritourism.
From the research, in particular, it has emerged that only 20% (271) of the 1.345
farms on the regional register and authorized to exercise agritourism is online. As
regards the kind of involvement online, unfortunately, the percentage of active
presence is rather modest: in fact only the 61% (or, only 166 firms) is online with a
well structured web site, while the remaining firms use the net with the purely
promotional purpose of the activity providing principal information such as location,
e-mail contacts and phone numbers and the typology of services offered (lodging,
restoration, spoken languages, number of seats) or extras such as swimming pool,
park for children or solarium. Primarily, such firms are on other portals that
sometimes simply allow users to get directly in touch with the agritourism, whilst
others contain a whole lot of information for each agritourism such as:
clients’ comments about their stay;
location and proximity sites of interest;
prices;
equipment and facilities offered.
We are speaking substantially of information of a structural and economic type
useful to the client that substantially expresses the potentialities of the Net in
transmitting the vitality of the firms and which cannot be considered satisfactory not
even from the touristic point of view. Starting from this data a casual sample
composed of 25 agritourisms reflecting the regional distribution and representing
about 40% of the total number of regional agritourisms with an active online
presence has been extracted.
The devices of the virtual retailing mix has been used to observe and analyze the
elements used in the web marketing strategies. The analysis has substantiated that
most of the agritourism websites have an informative and promotional character.
The information commonly found in the websites is essentially related to the
description of the offered services, the prices, the equipment of the structure. Rarely
267
(only in 10% of the cases) the web sites draw the attention of the consumer to the
management philosophy of the firm or to the values and the traditions of the territory
of reference. On the other hand, video and virtual visits (60% of the cases) to the
agritourism to see the eventual bedrooms and the structural equipment of the firm are
used. Only in one case the site offers the possibility to purchase products of the firm
through a service of e-commerce, while in all the other cases for information or for
bookings (which is obligatory in 87% of the cases), the site promotes e-mail contact
or telephone contacts.
Moreover, the websites don’t offer advanced and interactive services to the guests,
like discussion forums, blogs, virtual visits, and so on.
Finally, it is significant to underline that in about 90% of the cases the websites
visited have an English version and only in 10 cases is the website available in
another language, mainly German.
In other words, the sites resemble business cards in which the active role of the
agritourism doesn't appear and that substantially it denotes a state of backwardness in
marketing strategies which, in fact, seem to offer only a tourist answer, giving little
importance to the agricultural component.
With the aim to analyze the strategies of web marketing and their possible
correspondence with the model of management of the firm, a focus group with 6
managers of the investigated firms has been conducted.
In particular, two farms were chosen for the province of Salerno, while for the
other four provinces one farm. The choice of the six entrepreneurs was made on the
basis of:
the presence of the farm on the world wide web with a well-structured site;
the territorial relevance of the company7;
and finally, above all the willingness of the entrepreneur to participate in the
focus.
First of all, the managers were asked, in particular, to express their interest
regarding the fight to combat climate change. Further topic of discussion regarded
their trust in Internet and the role that they assigned to it. In fact, the focus group
showed the elevated attention and worry of the managers of the agritourism in regard
to climate change even if, in effect, none of the firms tries any specific actions to
mitigate the effects of such changes. In other words, it appears evident that the firms
consider themselves more the victims than the cause of the changes of climate
because they still haven’t acquired awareness of their role. The lack of information
on the sites (concerning the theme of climate change) is therefore justified by the fact
that none of the firms undertake concrete actions in the fight to combat climate
change denouncing thus a substantial backwardness of the rural systems of reference.
However as regards Internet, the managers of the 6 firms recognize the importance of
such tool to communicate commercial information to tourists (not only foreigners but
also local) while they don't give any value to the use of such tool to communicate
7
Have partecipated in the focus the following agritourisms: Di Meo (Avellino:
http://www.dimeo.it/); Torre Gaia (Benevento: http://www.torregaia.net/home.php);
Masseria Giò Sole (Caserta: http://www.masseriagiosole.com/masseriagiosole/); La
Villanella (Napoli: http://www.lavillanella.it/); Petrosa and Scaraiazzo for the province of
Salerno (www.lapetrosa.it; http://www.loscaraiazzo.it/) .
268
information that we could define as extra-commercial, as for example those
connected to the themes of health, environment, territory and so on.
5 Conclusion
This study wants to offer some points of reflection for the future of agritourisms in
Campania Region. In fact, we are faced with a clear case of scarce exploitation of the
potentialities offered by Internet to share information, but also with an evident case
of educational indifference, by part of the firms, in regard to the theme of
environmental order of notable interest for the rural society.
The main findings of this survey on one hand encourage a deeper research on the
typologies of firms investigated to verify their propensity to innovation but overall on
their real interest to participate to the fight to one of the most pressing challenges
facing humankind and in particular the rural systems like climate change. Moreover,
these findings push to understand if really the agritourisms have consciousness of
their responsibility towards the environment and the society.
On the other hand, this study aims to offer important suggestions to the policy
makers of the Campania region regarding the necessary actions to ri-direct the
agritourist sector towards more responsible web-marketing strategies. These latter, in
particular, have to find foundation in a more aware use of Internet that is, the
employment of Internet has to consist of an exploitation both of its informative
potentialities and its educational ones. In this optics, fundamental will be the
territorial governance to make the tools of ICT the lever for sustainability of its
territorial system with rural vocation, promoting a responsible use of them by the
enterprises and in this case by the agritourisms.
References
1. Anderson, J. and Weert, T. van (Eds.) (2002) Information and Communication
Technology in education, A curriculum for schools and programme of teacher
development. Paris: Unesco.
2. Andreopoulou, Z., Manos, B., Polman, N., and Viaggi, D. (Eds) (2011)
Agricultural and Environmental Informatics, Governance, and Management:
Emerging Research Applications. IGI-Global.
3. Borrelli, I.P., Carbone, G. and Misso, R. (2011) “Responsible valorization and
Internet in the dairy sector” in Gelb E., Charvàt K. EFITA/WCCA 2011, Czech
Centre for Science and Society, Prague, Czech Republic.
4. Bishop, R.C. (1993) Economic Efficiency, Sustainability, and Biodiversity.
Ambio 22 (2-3), p.69-73.
5. Canavari, M., Regazzi, D., Spadoni, R. (2000) Origin labels on the World Wide
Web: A study of the presence in the Internet of Italian PDO labelled food
products in: Sylvander B., Barjolle D., Arfini F. (Eds), The Socio-economics of
269
Origin Labelled Products in Agrifood Supply Chains: Spatial, Institutional and
Coordination Aspects, 67th European Association of Agricultural Economics
Seminar, Le Mans, Oct. Economie et sociologie rurales - Actes et
Communications, 17-1/17-2.
6. Canavari, M., Farneti, A., Lucchi, M. and Warren, M. (2005) E-business and
terroir-linked products in Italy: a case study on Romagna wine producers.
EFITA/WCCA 2005 25-28 July 2005, Vila Real, Portugal.
7. Cesaretti, G.P. (2011) “L’approccio della Fondazione Simone Cesaretti alla
Sostenibilità dello Sviluppo umano”. Rivista di studi sulla sostenibilità, n.1 –
2011, Milano: FrancoAngeli.
8. Cesaretti, G. P. and Misso, R. (2011) “Poles of excellence and sustainability in
development systems with rural territorial vocation”, in Gelb, E. and Charvàt, K.
EFITA/WCCA 2011, Czech Centre for Science and Society, Prague, Czech
Republic.
9. Cesaretti, G.P. and Scarpato, D. (2010) (Eds) Politiche integrate per lo sviluppo
competitivo sostenibile dell’agroalimentare. Milano: FrancoAngeli.
10. Commissione europea (2010) Europa 2020. Una strategia per una crescita
intelligente, sostenibile e inclusiva. COM(2010) 2020 def. Bruxelles.
11. Commissione delle Comunità Europee (2009) Le problematiche dell'adattamento
dell'agricoltura e delle zone rurali europee ai cambiamenti climatici, documento
di lavoro dei servizi della Commissione che accompagna il Libro bianco
sull'adattamento ai cambiamenti climatici, Bruxelles, SEC(2009) XXX definitivo.
12. Dutta, S. and Mia, I. (eds) (2010) The Global Information Technology Report
2009–2010 - ICT for Sustainability, World Economic Forum and INSEAD.
13. Essex, S.J., Gilg, A.W, Yarwood, R.B., Smithers, J. and Wilson, R. (2005) (eds)
Rural Change and Sustainability: Agriculture, the Environment and
Communities. CABI Publishing.
14. European Commission (2010) International climate policy post-Copenhagen:
Acting now to reinvigorate global action on climate change. Communication
From The Commission To The European Parliament, The Council, The European
Economic And Social Committee And The Committee Of The Regions (COM
(2010) 86 final).
15. FAO (2000a) Issue paper: The multifunctional character of agriculture and land,
Maastricht, UK.
16. FAO (2000b) Cultivating our Futures, Final paper.
17. Groote, P., Huigen, PPP. and Haartsen, T. (2000) Claiming rural identities, in
Haartsen, T., Groote, P, Huigen, PPP (eds), Claiming rural identities. Dynamics,
Contexts, Policies, Van Gorcum, Assen, pp. 1 – 7.
18. Guimarães Pereira, Â., Gough, C. and De Marchi, B. (1999) Computers, citizens
and climate change — The art of communicating technical issues. International
Journal of Environment & Pollution, 11(3), 266–289.
270
19. Guimarães Pereira, Â. and O’Connor, M. (1999) Information and communication
technology and the popular appropriation of sustainability problems. International
Journal of Sustainable Development, 2(3), 411–424.
20. Havlìcek, Z., Benda, P. and Lohr, V. (2009), Agritourism web presentation
evaluation, in Agrarian Perspectives XVIII, PEF CULS Prague, 727-731.
21. Havlìcek, Z., Benda, P. and Lohr, V. (2010), ICT support for agritourism, in
Agrarian Perspectives IXX, PEF CULS Prague, 327 – 334.
22. Hodge, I.D. (1986) The scope and context of rural development. European review
of agricultural economics, 13 (3), pp. 271-282.
23. Hoggart, K. (1988) Not a definition of rural. Area, 20.1, p. 35-40.
24. Inea (2001) Biodiversità e sviluppo rurale. Quaderno informativo n. 11.
25. Marsden, T. and Murdoch, J. (1994) Reconstructing Rurality. Class, community
and power in the developmnet process. London: UCL Press.
26. Misso, R. (2010) L’uomo, il clima e l’agricoltura: verso nuovi strumenti e
politiche. Milano: FrancoAngeli.
27. Niederhauser, N., Oberthu, T., Kattning, and Cockj, S. (2008), “Information and
its management for differentiation of agricultural products: The example of
specialty coffee”. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 6 – 1 (2008), p. 241-
253.
28. OECD (2001a) Information and Communication Technologies and Rural
Development. Paris: OECD Publishing.
29. OECD (2001b) Multifunctionality towards an analytical framework, Agriculture
and food.
30. Pade, C. I., Mallinson, B. and Sewry, D. (2006) "An Exploration of the
Categories Associated with ICT Project Sustainability in Rural Areas of
Developing Countries: A Case Study of the Dwesa Project," in Proceedings of the
2006 annual research conference of the South African institute of computer
scientists and information technologists on IT research in developing countries
Somerset West, South Africa: South African Institute for Computer Scientists and
Information Technologists.
31. Peixoto, J.P. and Oort, A.H. (1992) Physics of climate. American Institute of
Physics, New York, 520 pp.
32. Schiefer, G. (2008) Tracing and Tracking–A Challenge for System Organization
and IT. Journal of Information Technology in Agriculture, 3, pp. 19-25.
33. Steinke, G. and Nickolette, C. (2003) “Business rules as the basis of an
organization’s information systems”. Industrial Management and Data Systems,
103, 1, p. 52-63.
34. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank
(2010) World development report 2010 - Development and Climate Change.
35. Wang, Y. (2008) “Web-based destination marketing systems: assessing the
critical factors for management and implementation”. International Journal of
Tourism Research, 10, 1, p.55-70.
271
36. Wolcott, P., Kamal, M. and Qureshi, S. (2008) "Meeting the challenges of ICT
adoption by micro-enterprises". Journal of Enterprise Information Management,
21, 6, p. 616 – 632.
272