Abstract: The papers of this issue of Culture of Sustainability originate from the conference held in Rovigo on 22-23 March 2019, that was focused on the fact that the community of practices Fragile Areas finds itself suddenly operating in a radically changed context. The places left behind – as many international scholars call these areas – are showing strong signs of discomfort, and seem to be oriented towards the search for closed communities, scepticism and repulsion towards scientific knowledge, intolerance and rejection of diversity, the contrast between a pure people and a corrupt elite and the demand for strong men capable of restoring order. These new political geographies are emerging in all Western countries, and voting in recent months seem to confirm this orientation. If this is true, for those who are committed to the theme of fragile rural areas urgent questions are asked, from which the conference started: what are the causes of this dynamic, which many call neo-populism or authoritarian populism? Does a rural dimension of this trend also exist in Italy, as seems to be in many other countries? If so, what is the real situation? Do we have tangible signals both in our fieldwork and research, as well as from the data emerging from political studies? What actions can be put in place, which policies, what new commitment for civil society organizations?