The nonprofit Sector in Italian Inner Areas

Abstract

The Nonprofit Institutions (NPIs) provide social and economic support to local communities by offering services, goods and resources and fulfilling the purpose of building public benefit. Moreover, the nonprofit sector is a significant actor to cope with social and economic vulnerability, especially in fragile territories where it plays a key role in enhancing empowerment of local population and fostering communities’ development. Half of Italian municipalities host the “Inner areas” which are fragile territories, far away from main centres of supply of essential services and too often abandoned to themselves, due to their rural identity according to the European classification of degree of urbanization. The Inner areas are manly located in South of Italy, which represent the 44.8% of total: 1,718 municipalities overall (67.4%) where Region such Basilicata, Sicily, Molise and Sardinia show higher incidence (more than 70%). The paper aims to describe the spread of NPIs in Italian Inner areas, within central and peripheral contexts, by highlighting their role in terms of services offered and human resources employed, in connection with the local socioeconomic development and level of vulnerability. The analysis is based on the integration of the data gathered by the Statistical Register of Nonprofit Institutions with the main indicator provided by different data sources (Permanent Census of the population, ASIA Statistical Register of active enterprises, Frame SBS Register), allows studying territories by providing important insights to sectorial and territorial planning and reducing costs and statistical burden, as well. Socioeconomic characteristics of communities and level of vulnerability, in association with data on nonprofit sector are considered. The analysis of the provision of social services by non-profit institutions, including cultural and environmental amenities, human welfare services, along with their role in local employment, will allow to explore to what extend nonprofit sector’s performance contribute to build a resilience process at local level, by fostering community economic development and enhancing the quality of life for its residents.