The Covid-19 outbreak has radically changed the world’s economy and has posed a new challenge into how sustainable development is to be understood, both socially and economically. In particular, the transition to a more circular economy has gained prominence in the international political debate and has been reaffirmed as a priority of the EU’s sustainable growth agenda as embedded in “The Circular Economy Action Plan” one of the blocks of the new EU Green Deal.
The circular economy is based on the idea that economic growth can be allowed by optimising and regenerating the use of (finite) natural resources, minimising environmental pressures and transforming production systems, supply chains and consumption patterns so that they gain long-term sustainability.

The transition to a circular economy could prove particularly successful in rural areas, as it encompasses a methodology for designing sustainable, place-based and resilient rural development strategies, aimed at counteracting the inexorable process of marginalisation , land abandoning, loss of biodiversity and of cultural and aesthetic values that by and large characterises these areas.
For instance, circularity increases the resilience of local agri-food systems and triggers changes in every phase of the productive process, from food and feed production, to distribution and consumption. There are some good examples of the possible policy applications of Circular Economy principles to the agri-food sector e.g. short supply chains, regenerative farming practices, organic fanning or social farming, bio-districts, agri-tourism and waste management through reuse of excess food or organic matter recycling, multifunctional valorisations of rural assets through participatory and community-based development governance models.
Following the results of the AI-NURECC Initiative’s past actions, the AI-NURECC PLUS project examined how successful circularity-based and innovative local development policies and policy instruments need to create interconnections between and within sectors, institutions and local actors.

Taken this into consideration, all AI-NURECC PLUS partners, under the CPMR leadership, produced a study on territorial challenges and development.
Territorial challenges and development in the Adriatic-Ionian Macroregion imply the cooperation between EU-member countries and non-EU member countries in different stages of EU integration. Such diversity is crucial to improve territorial cohesion in the Adriatic-Ionian area.
While territorial cohesion is a key European Union objective, cooperation and several innovative tools based on the involvement of local actors (such as ITI, CLLD and other) are gaining momentum as, on the one hand, they can really focus on territorial challenges and development needs and, on the other, connect them with European and global objectives, thus allowing for a smoother economic, social and territorial cohesion.
The role of Local and Regional Authorities in creating bridges between the territories and the structures and actors of the Strategy is to be promoted and coordinated if the area as a whole must sustainably prosper and unleash its full potentials.