Inovações sociais e desenvolvimento sustentável sinergismo entre agroecologia e agroturismo no brasil meridional

In the last decades, the idea of sustainable territorial development (STD) and the initiatives aimed at its promotion have gained space in academic research and in the agendas of various institutions. Actions carried out in this direction, especially when they lead to important changes, may be considered as social innovations. Apparently, something of this kind is under way since the 1990s at the Encostas da Serra Geral in Santa Catarina: alternative agriculture, assimilated to agroecology, and agrotourism, practices that have been incorporated into the activities of numerous small rural properties with the support and encouragement of institutions such as the Associação dos Agricultores Ecológicos das Encostas a Serra Geral and the Associação de Agroturismo Acolhida na Colônia. The study describes and analyzes the emergence and growth of both activities, emphasizing their intertwining and reciprocal stimulus. The objective is, besides suggesting its socioeconomic importance, to point out that they mean social innovations among which there is synergism representative of new local possibilities, according to sustainability principles. Inspired by the debate about STD, the study is based on bibliographical and documentary research involving material coming from academic and technical-institutional environments.