Integrated approaches and strategies for enhancing sustainable development of Italian small villages in the South of Italy

The contribution provides hints for promoting, according to integrated perspectives, a sustainable development of small villages, which represent the 70% of Italian Municipalities. Many of these villages suffered in the last decades a significant socio-economic decline due to their geographical location, being placed in mountainous and scarcely accessible areas, often prone to different natural hazards, and to massive migrations due to the lack of jobs and urban facilities. However, these villages might represent a key resource for Italy, being very often characterized by relevant historical and architectural values as well as by a significant natural heritage and a robust agricultural tradition. Hence, after a brief overview of the peculiarities of Italian Small Villages, we will focus on the recent initiatives recently launched in Italy in favour of small villages, by critically discussing their strengths and weaknesses in respect to specific case studies in the South of Italy.