TERRITORIAL APPROACH TO DEVELOPMENT: A VIEW FROM THE SOCIAL DIMENSION

Abstract

The historical processes of socioeconomic and cultural construction and reconstruction in relation to environmental surroundings, result in a set of assets and resources, material and immaterial, which accumulate throughout history in a given territory, that is, territorial heritage. In these processes, the social dimension acquires importance, as it comprises the different relationships that occur in societies and between these and nature. This article aims to establish a reflection on the social dimension of the territory from a territorial approach to development. The text is organized into sections in which the epistemological assumptions are explained, the basic components that allow us to understand the social dimension are detailed, and possible procedures for data collection and analysis are presented. These are capable to guide research focusing on territorial heritage from a social dimension. We worked with three major components and eighteen variables, from a transdisciplinary, multidimensional and multiscalar approach, which is attentive to the major changes taking place in world societies, but at the same time, maintain sensitivity to perceive the manifestations of different actors and the design of the different scenarios.