“Douro em Movimento, Aldeias com Vida” (Portugal) Carta de Boas Práticas

Abstract

The “Wine Villages Network” (Douro, Portugal), formulated as a result of the local reconstruction and promotion in a group of Douro villages, aimed to encourage people to settle and deepen the area’s socioeconomic dynamics. Based in a territory where the wine and tourism industries complement each other, a territorial management model is advocated that involves participation by multiple public and private actors, together with a framework providing “negotiation, discussion and cooperation” among them all. In addition to desk research, data collection also uses open techniques, namely: surveys, focus groups and interviews (with stakeholders and local traders), and the Delphi questionnaire. It is therefore intended to question the territorial development model and ways of asserting the holistic vision of the territory, comprising its natural, cultural and ethno-anthropological elements. In order to strengthen the research, the creation of a Charter of Good Practices is proposed to help reduce the tension between the destination’s competitiveness and sustainable development which is hoped will be joined by the revitalization and well-being of the resident population.