This article brings to light two case which represent different efforts to implement territorial policies guided by what we shall define as a "new development paradigm centered on the territory." We start with a synthetic reconstruction of the possible meanings of two key concepts: Territory and Development, in order to analyze their semantic range and how these concepts have changed over time. The emerging principles, the contradictions, the limits and epistemological dilemmas experienced in this phase of transition between paradigms is examined. In the practices we aimed to highlight the (in)congruence between the theoretical constructs and their multiple possibilities of application, according to the criticism addressed in the literature review. We conclude that the complex nature of the new paradigm is not to be taken as a model or recipe, but as a reference point for the consistent and innovative interpretation of newly shaped systems of government. After all, the incipient condition of the observed cases oscillates between the inertia of the given models and the emerging reference, foreshadowing a long road of compulsory coexistence, conflict and challenges to be overcome.
Territorial development; Public policy; New paradigm; Participatory policy making; Araripe Geopark
