Bio-districts and rural vitality: governance, place-based practices, and structural constraints in Italy and Sweden

Giacomo Packer, Cesare Zanasi, Cosimo Rota · 2026 · Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems

Summary. Bio-districts in Italy and Sweden use collaborative governance to connect fragmented rural actors through festivals, cooperatives, and networks. They strengthen rural vitality by preserving local food knowledge and cultural identity, while enabling economic diversification through on-farm processing, direct sales, and agritourism. However, institutional fragmentation, market concentration, demographic decline, and short-term funding constrain their effectiveness and reach.

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@article{packer-2026-bio-districts-rural-vitality-governance,
  title   = {Bio-districts and rural vitality: governance, place-based practices, and structural constraints in Italy and Sweden},
  author  = {Giacomo Packer and Cesare Zanasi and Cosimo Rota},
  journal = {Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems},
  year    = {2026},
  doi     = {10.3389/fsufs.2026.1872987},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2026.1872987}
}

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Bio-districts and rural vitality: governance, place-based practices, and structural constraints in Italy and Sweden
AU  - Giacomo Packer
AU  - Cesare Zanasi
AU  - Cosimo Rota
JO  - Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems
PY  - 2026
DO  - 10.3389/fsufs.2026.1872987
UR  - https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2026.1872987
ER  - 

Details

DOI

10.3389/fsufs.2026.1872987

Countries

Italy, Sweden

Regions

Europe

Categories

food-systems, regional-innovation-systems, policy, general-innovation

Added

2026-10-01