Social Innovation to Sustain Rural Communities: Overcoming Institutional Challenges in Serbia

Italian municipalities distant from main service supply hubs are defined by the Development Ministry as “inner areas”. A new business model, called community-based cooperatives, has recently developed in these areas. The name itself highlights the strong link between these firms and the local population. Their essential features are the pursuit of general interest and the creation of partnerships. This research explores the potential contribution of these enterprises to the growth of Italian inner areas. The data come from a direct survey, and the methodology includes text analysis techniques and correspondence analysis to create useful concept maps that define the paths that community-based cooperatives can take to regenerate their territories. The results highlight the critical issues of inner areas and the needs of their communities, together with the potential fields of business for the establishment of a community-based cooperative. In conclusion, these new firms may lead to real and enduring benefits to local communities. They could also contribute to demographic decline inversion by introducing new practices that reduce inequalities, enhance social, natural, and artificial capital, and boost the sustainable development process.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Community-Based Cooperatives: A New Business Model for the Development of Italian Inner Areas

Mastronardi

Romagnoli

2020

“…Three interviews were conducted, one with the project manager of the Fenomena Association, one with the head of a government unit supporting the initiative, and one with the representative of the coalition for the development of the solidarity economy, which is an informal network of organizations that support the development of solidarity entrepreneurship. Parts of the data from these interviews were used in another publication focusing on the analysis of institutional challenges confronting social innovation in Serbia [26].…”

Section: Applying the Heuristic Model In Three In-depth Case Studies mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, this body is financed by the Swiss Confederation as international donor only for a limited time. One of the major successes of the SIPRU team was to mobilize direct financial support to social enterprises through the EU IPA (Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance) 2013 program [26]. Fenomena was one of the rare rural social enterprises to be financed through this instrument, namely, to create a curriculum for a training program for hard-to-employ groups of young people that aimed to start agricultural businesses.…”

Section: Agricultural Development Fund Fenomena In Serbiamentioning

confidence: 99%

Social Innovation, Societal Change, and the Role of Policies

Lukesch

Ludvig

Slee³

et al. 2020

Self Cite

Political frameworks and policies have a strong influence on the institutional ecosystem and on governance patterns, which in turn shape the operational space of civil society initiatives. This article aims to explore the social and institutional conditions and policy initiatives that foster or hinder social innovation and the pathways leading from social innovation to institutional change through to actual impacts on policies and political frameworks, in order to understand how policymakers can encourage and enable social innovation. The article builds on an extensive empirical background to develop a heuristic model to facilitate decision making for a policy environment propitious for the emergence of social innovation. The resulting model sets up a triadic configuration of (i) a committed core of key actors, (ii) the benevolent shadow of hierarchy represented by public actors, and (iii) multifunctional and malleable intermediary support structures for a successful development of social innovation initiatives. The model is discussed and validated by reference to three in-depth case studies from differing institutional settings. We conclude that policy should recognize that social innovation will achieve most when the triadic relationships between the state, intermediary organizations, and local actors are working together synergistically.

“…Gaining access to meaningful advice, funding and networks are factors that are highly likely to act as "innovation accelerators". Such support functions may take many forms and be provided through NGOs [57], producer associations, cluster organisations or regional and rural development programmes. Whichever approach to support is settled upon their needs to be a room for manoeuver, flexibility and the ability to create customised opportunity structures that are as unique as the respective regions they serve.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Governance of Social Innovation in Forestry

Ludvig

Rogelja²,

Asamer-Handler

et al. 2020

Self Cite

Over the last decade, the term social innovation has received increased attention as a potential solution to address complex global social problems and to add collective values to society. The forest sector has great potential for fostering employment, community development and reducing increased emigration from rural to urban areas. This potential is not always realised, especially in economically weak and remote rural areas. Hence, this paper tackles the question of how social innovations in forestry are able to succeed under adverse circumstances and contribute to respond to some of the before mentioned challenges? To answer this question, we first identified four very different cases across Europe that are compatible with the criteria of social innovation. Proceeding from this starting point, comparative research was undertaken with the aim to identify the cases´ specific features and key criteria for success. In the cases considered, it is evident that the sheer determination and voluntary investment of time and effort by key individuals, who were convinced of the value of the idea for the community, provided indispensable impetus to all four social innovations. In drawing its conclusions, this paper highlights the principal areas that need consideration and that hence have implications when developing supportive policies. Furthermore, we provide some insight into future research topics that would allow us to better understand the positive impacts of social innovation in the forest-based sector.