The Integration of Local Resources in Search of a New Product – on the Example of the Lublin Region (Poland)

Regional development is very much conditioned by the quality and quantity of internal resources, as well as the level of use that is or can be made of these. Local resources are often features, factors and phenomena in a defined territory that are unique in some way, of social or economic utility, and in a position to help steer development opportunities. They (can) play a particular role in regions whose development has remained weak, and in peripheral areas, given the possibility of them becoming major factors behind growth, if only they can be activated in an appropriate way. Against that background, the main aim of the work detailed here has been to conduct a structural reconnaissance of a given set of local resources and then to have these evaluated in the context of the potential development of new local products. As they capitalise on features of a multiplicity of local resources, the products referred to here may manifest a higher level of development potential. Consecutive parts of this study thus offer a conceptualisation of how such a new local product may be constructed, along with a specific diagnosis of the resources that can be involved, as these are manifested in the Lubelskie Voivodeship, located in SE Poland. Concrete proposals for local products are then made, in order to further illustrate the concept.