**6. Conclusions**

The decisive force for rural transformation is the transition to a post-productive society, which in rural areas, is characterized, among other things, by the reorientation of the economics from agriculture to tourism. The rural landscape is becoming an agricultural production area into a consumption area for tourism and housing. The concepts of permaculture and downshifting have emerged-as detailed in the article-based on the refusal of people to consider material values as defining elements of their existence, instead preferring the idea of the quality of life and protection of nature. People attached to these values express themselves both through the behavior in the production of goods and services in general and, also, in the sphere of consumption of environmentally friendly tourist goods and services. Their lifestyle, shown in the professional and personal sphere, has contributed, over time, to changes in tourist demand. More and more, people are taking time to visit rural areas, to understand local people and the local traditions, to consume organic products produced in the community, to integrate with nature and to build an ecological lifestyle. These activities are facilitated by rural tourism, which becomes a certain solution for the local development of some tourism areas. The article has highlighted

some ways that permaculture and downshifting—as possible sources to develop rural tourism—can contribute to rural development.

The research brings the first element of novelty, by highlighting the specific involvement of each link between the components of the networks of the supply chain in this case: primary producers of organic goods, ecological tourist service providers, and tourists, as carriers of demand for tangible products and ecological services. Several elements specific to distribution in rural tourism have been identified, leading to the shaping of environmentally sound networks, based on specific concepts, such as good, clean, ethical, nature integration, local culture, and communication.

Permaculture and downshifting are defined not only by the theoretical elements highlighted in the literature but, also, by specific issues revealed in the research that subscribe in a clear manner these networks in a "green framework"—orientation to spiritual values, nature integration, ecological lifestyle, valorizing local culture. Permaculture and downshifting mean not only planned exploitation of the rural resources but, also, the valorization of natural and cultural heritage, as other studies revealed [67].

Another element of novelty brought by the research is represented by the creation of a possible system of measurement/appreciation of the characteristics that network stakeholders possess. The results were gathered in a matrix that integrates the theoretical characteristics (coming from the literature) and the specific characteristics (found from the involved stakeholders), with the possibility to assign levels of evaluation to appreciate the degree to which the elements within it are held. Such a tool may be used by all the involved stakeholders-primary producers of organic goods, ecological tourist service providers, tourists, and local authorities–to create tourist products in accordance with the requirements of consumers in rural tourism and to contribute to rural development.

The research results revealed some aspects that could guide us to the following conclusions:


These conclusions are in concordance with previous studies [29,30,32,33] but the research brought into attention a more detailed perspective, since it pointed out these aspects on different categories of stakeholders involved in rural tourism (local producers and service providers; intermediaries and tourists). This might be considered not only a novelty element but also an element of added value.

The results of the present study provide a series of practical implications for different categories of stakeholders from rural destinations. Public authorities from local, regional (county), and national levels, in cooperation with representatives from nongovernmental organizations, may consider promoting downshifting and permaculture as good practices in the implementation of sustainable rural tourism. Several campaigns (online and offline) may be organized to raise the awareness of different categories of rural tourism stakeholders regarding the perspectives of approaching these good practices in their rural tourism activities. Connecting different categories of rural tourism stakeholders interested in downshifting and permaculture in online communities and groups may also support the implementation of these concepts in rural destinations.

Despite its contribution to the academic studies on rural tourism, the present study has some limitations, which open the path for future studies which may address these issues. The main limitation is related to the fact that it is focused on a single region (Bras, ov County) and country (Romania). Future research may be based on international studies, including comparisons between different regions/countries. Such an approach may provide supplementary information on the perspectives of sustainable tourism development in rural areas. Another limitation is given by the qualitative research method. Other researchers may consider conducting surveys, to be able to generalize the results. Furthermore, the interviewed rural stakeholders are representatives of the private sector or consumers. Governmental authorities were not included in the qualitative research. Therefore, future studies may consider analysing the perspectives of both private and public representatives regarding the implementation of sustainable rural tourism, through permaculture and downshifting.

**Author Contributions:** All the authors equally contributed to this work, to the research design and analysis. Conceptualization, G.E., B.T. and I.-S.I.; methodology, G.E. and A.-S.T.; writing, review and editing, G.E., B.T., A.-S.T., I.-S.I. and A.-N.C.; interviews, A.-S.T. and A.-N.C.; supervision, G.E. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** The research was financed by the Transylvania University of Bras, ov.

**Institutional Review Board Statement:** Not applicable.

**Informed Consent Statement:** Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study.

**Data Availability Statement:** Data available on request due to restrictions eg privacy or ethical. The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy reasons.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
