Welcoming and generative local welfare as an agent for territorial development: a case study from Southern Italy

In Italy, shrinking regions cover more than 60% of the national territory. Although these areas are in demographic and economic decline (Accordo di Partenariato, 2014), many resilient initiatives have been developed over the years (Moss, 1996; Meloni, 2015). Among these experiences, several are aimed at welcoming the migrant population (Corrado, 2013), becoming privileged spaces for more equitable and inclusive modes of territorial regeneration (Van der Ploeg et al., 2003; Oostindie et al., 2010). Drawing upon these premises, the paper intends to reflect on the presence of non-EU migrants in shrinking Italian areas and on their role in local sustainable development. The contribution presents some of the first results of the Horizon 2020 project “WELCOMING SPACES”, with a specific focus on the municipality of Camini, one of the most shrinking areas in Southern Italy, to highlight how migration can lead to local development and rural regeneration processes. Camini is a good case study, as the reception centre managed by the social cooperative ‘JungiMundu’ hosts 118 migrants out of a total population of 810. Thanks to the presence of this number of people, several public services (i.e., post office, school, etc.) have been (re)activated. In the first part of this article, we introduce the case study, while in the second part, we reflect on how the reception of migrants contributes to the implementation of collective and public services for the whole community. The increase in population, both in terms of newcomers and Italian returnees, has also allowed for the regeneration of the village, economically and socially, creating connections between different cultures and traditions that had almost disappeared.