The Consortium of Parma Ham plays an im- portant role of governance within a productive and territo- rial context that assumes the character of an agro-industrial district. The activities carried out by the actors involved in the district have a significant economic impact not only on the actors directly involved in the supply chain, but also on the environmental and social context of the territory. The objec- tive of this paper is to analyze the Parma Ham district and its relationships with the productive, environmental and social context, to identify a path of sustainable development for the district and rural areas in which it is located. The investiga- tion shows that the district has developed important employ- ment local systems that absorb occupation from marginal areas of the territory, causing depopulation of those areas, disintegra- tion of rural communities and the risk of losses in environ- mental safeguards. To integrate the economic interests of the district and the socio-environmental priorities of the territory, the French experience on the territorial projects provides suit- able tools that can be extended to the issue under analysis.