Innovation, competitiveness and sustainability factors for evaluation and prospection of geographical indications in Brazil

The paper systematizes critical factors for the development of Geographical Indications, allowing to identify potentials of intervention in order to support GIs' structuring and consolidation, to prospect new ones and to compare GIs from different regions or products. Despite the importance of the GIs, there is a relative consensus among experts that its success is related to factors ranging from actor engagement and governance to institutional support and public policy. Twenty critical factors were selected, classified into five dimensions: environmental, economic, social, political-institutional and territorial. The factors were evaluated and validated by ten experts regarding their pertinence and relation with sustainability, innovation and competitiveness. The evaluation of the experts validated the 20 factors, considering more significant those linked to the territorial and political-institutional dimensions. Environmental factors were considered important but not essential; however, the process of consolidation of GIs has the potential to improve performance in this direction. Also, the evaluation allowed to relate the main factors in terms of innovation, competitiveness and sustainability for GIs' structuring and management. The application of the scale allows assessing different regions, indicating opportunities and barriers for their development.