The article aims to discuss the role of a local development association, Associação Transmontana pelo Desenvolvimento (ATPD) – the Transmontana Association for Development – which was recently established in a region in the northern hinterland, Trás-os-Montes, Portugal. The association has set itself several objectives, including the ambition to address the lack of a voice experienced by most vulnerable groups (as Roma and migrant communities and ageing population) that is sparse and scattered across a rural and mountainous territory.

In: Bieling, T., Jonas, W., dos Santos, M. (eds) Community (&) Design. Design Meanings, vol 4. Mimesis International, Sesto San Giovanni