Rural development between “institutional spaces” and “spaces of resources and vocations”: Park Authorities and LAGs in Sicily

This paper addresses the subject of the reference frames of territorialisation processes determined by local development initiatives. Its purpose is to offer a survey on a central issue: which spatial frames of reference influence or justify the choices of LAGs in the definition and delimitation of local development spaces. The paper is about the case of Sicily, presenting some possible interpretations of an evolution of the development space from “institutional space” to “space of resources and vocations”. The paper will highlight the relation between the spaces of natural parks and the spaces of LAGs in the Participatory Local Development Strategies.