The municipalities of Odemira and Mértola, in the Beja district, will develop a joint strategy to affirm rural territories as spaces of innovation, knowledge, sustainability, and value creation.
“We share a common view that knowledge production and innovation are decisive factors in the development of territories, and that this also happens in rural territories,” stated the president of the Odemira Municipal Chamber, Hélder Guerreiro.
This strategy is based on a memorandum of understanding signed on Thursday between the mayor of Odemira and the president of the Mértola Municipal Chamber, Mário Tomé.
The agreement establishes a cooperation framework based on the concept of “New Centralities,” reinforcing the capacity of these two territories to generate knowledge and innovation, attract investment, companies and talent, and respond to demographic, environmental, economic and social challenges.
In Hélder Guerreiro’s view, it is necessary to counter the idea that rural territories are spaces without the capacity for innovation.
“Many times national public policy thinks that, in fact, rural territories are territories empty of ideas, of innovation, of structure and end up applying public policies that are blind to these territories,” he argued.
Through this agreement, he added, these Alentejo municipalities want “to affirm that in these territories there is a commitment to knowledge production, to innovation” and to “value creation at the national level.”
In a release, the Mértola City Council explained that climate change adaptation and landscape regeneration, the valorization of the bioeconomy and endogenous resources, territorial science and innovation, and digitization are among the partnership’s priority areas.
The memorandum also provides for the development of living labs and joint applications for national, European and international funding programs.
Among the priority initiatives is the establishment of two pilot territories for the national application of what the document designates as the “New Nature Restoration Law.”
“Our objective is to work with the Minister of the Environment, so that, in September, when she has to present that plan to Brussels, she can also present two territories that want to be pilot territories for the implementation of a set of measures,” stated Hélder Guerreiro.
The agreement, which has a four-year term, also provides for the creation of a scientific network between the Mértola Biological Station and ARCO — Academy of Art and Science of Odemira.
In social areas, the memorandum provides for the development of territorial service networks, based on cooperation between the two municipalities, especially in health, education, housing and mobility.
The memorandum foresees the future expansion of cooperation to other municipalities and regions, forming a Network of New Centralities.
