Inter and Intra-Organizational Communication: The Facilitation Approaches to Strengthen and Sustain Rural Development Management in Portugal

The study describes and evaluates inter-organizational communication and relationships involving rural development management of community lands within specific perimetros florestais in Portugal. The research design is an exploratory research study approach that collected information with a mail questionnaire, interviews and information gleaned from community land association meetings and an international seminar.  The design reflects a multi-disciplinary approach to the collection and analysis of information. The seminar and meetings allowed community leaders and other agents with responsibility and concerns for these rural community territories to discuss and identify management issues and problems. The findings describe the inter-organizational concerns and arrangements in the management and governance of these rural community territories and their natural resources. The findings suggest that a facilitation process can improve the organizational management and communication with local users and other organizations in the sphere of interest.  The facilitation process involves local actors and stakeholders to improve their management and communication skills and capacity to construct governmental policies for these rural territories. These local actors need to improve their social skills and abilities to construct governmental policies for these rural territories. A rural extension service can play an important role in the facilitation process for the construction of rural development and governance policies.