Abstract:During the last few years, the definition of sustainability and the translation of its general principles into practical and operative tasks have come into the foreground of scientific research and political agendas throughout the world. The understanding and the evaluation of the environmental, social and economic performances of complex agricultural food systems is probably the real challenge, and the design of more sustainable alternatives has been recognized as necessary for a correct territorial management. This study's primary goal is the proposition of an interpretive structure "Sustainable Agri-Food Evaluation Methodology" (SAEMETH), able to guide the evaluation of the sustainability of the various organizational forms of the small-scale agri-food supply chain. As a case study, the methodology was applied to 10 small-scale agri-food systems. The application of SAEMETH, as a monitoring tool based on qualitative indicators that are user-friendly and strongly communicative, demonstrates that it is possible to carry out sustainability evaluations of the small-scale agri-food systems through a long-term approach that is participatory, interdisciplinary and multi-institutional and that integrates a solid theoretical base with an OPEN ACCESSSustainability 2015, 7 6722 operative framework tested in the field. SAEMETH can, in this way, generate a cyclical process that increases the probability of success in the design of sustainable alternatives and the implementation of projects and initiatives at the local/regional scale.

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The issue of energy production is assuming an ever more pivotal role in the most recent international debate on sustainable development. In particular, the development of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) is seen as a great opportunity to achieve sustainability objectives and targets. This consideration reinforces the great debate on the active role of the local dimension in achieving sustainability objectives. A RES-based energy model implies complex re-organisation of the territory with, usually, increased decentralisation of energy production and consumption and the use of widely-diffused energy resources. This paper argues that utilisation of RES implies the need for careful consideration of their relationship with the territory and, more generally, with the local scale. The real commitment of the local scale in promoting RES development depends on the multiple possible relations that exist between renewable energy and socio-economic complexity, on the one hand, and ecosystem complexity, on the other. This paper aims to achieve three main objectives: (1) establish the role of the local dimension in the most recent debate on sustainable development; (2) illustrate how multiple relationships between RES and the territory may be represented; (3) verify how, through RES, the local dimension can actively contribute to pursuing sustainable development objectives.renewables, territory, ecosystems, sustainability,