In order to give a contribution to the study of territorial social policies the case study of Sardinia within the wider Italian context is explored. The main focus is on how public institutions, informal and community actors, as well as third sector and social private subjects come to build up a system of services. Another aspect treated is how design, discourse and practices become social policies. The Regional Law n° 4 (1988) recognises the role of local territory in elaborating social policies based on the assessment of local needs. That is why such important normative provisions can be thought of as anticipation of the national framework law n° 328 (2000). Nonetheless, attention must be driven on some contradictions that shed a light on the distance between enunciation and its actual implementation.