Action Plan of the Douro Valley Urban Community Municipalities

The study has elaborated the core document of the Douro Valley local development strategy, through the model of an Action Plan for the period 2007-2013.  The strategic process that has been implemented was targeted at mobilizing the local and regional agents and actors around a development strategy negotiated with regional and central administration bodies. The approach emphasized the update of our team strategic knowledge about the region and analyzed how the region could be integrated in the strategic guidelines of the NSRF and Operational Programmes. It  covers the main dimensions of the region's characterization, the evolving trends and the way how external trends will affect the prospective trend scenarios of the region. A set of strategic objectives, established for the period 2007-2013 and organized by Douro development dimensions, organize the strategy aiming to achieve a deeper and progressive integration of the region in the European territory: i) Stop the demographic regression; ii) Evolve the Douro territorial model towards a polycentric model; iii) Improve the competitiveness of the most relevant economic sectors (wine, tourism, excellency regional products, forest, renewal energy);  iv) Preserve and enhance high-premium natural and cultural resources; v) Strength the institutional thickness and improve public participation and governance practices.