The relationship between rural branding and local development. A case study in the Catalonia's countryside: Territoris Serens (El Lluçanès)

The aim of this article is to analyse the relationship between a rural branding strategy and a local economic development action through the case study of Territoris Serens in El Lluçanès (Catalonia, Spain). This initiative is framed within the process of economic restructuring which has taken place in rural areas in recent years, with local economic activity moving away from production and towards consumption. In this context, strategies of marketing, branding and communication take on a crucial role in making rural areas more visible and facilitating their economic diversification. Through the analysis of documentary sources and the results of a focus group, the article shows how the place branding strategy implemented in this case transcends the traditional functions of facilitating the promotion and marketing of place, becoming a fundamental part of a bottom-up process of local economic development and taking on a notable role in the internal, collective definition of a competitive territorial identity, the revaluation of endogenous local resources and the promotion of community-based rural development. We thus posit that the interplay between processes of locally defining place identity and economic development strategies leads to a restructuring of local economic activity in ways that serve local communities and values, thus contributing to sustainable, long-term development.