The Role of Agency in the Emergence and Development of Social Innovations in Rural Areas. Analysis of Two Cases of Social Farming in Italy and The Netherlands

Cristina Dalla Torre, Elisa Ravazzoli, Marijke Dijkshoorn-Dekker, Nico Polman, Mariana Melnykovych, Elena Pisani, Francesca Gori, Riccardo Da Re, Kamini Vicentini and Laura Secco
Additional contact information
Cristina Dalla Torre: Institute for Regional Development - Eurac Research, Viale Druso, 1, 39100 Bolzano, Italy
Elisa Ravazzoli: Institute for Regional Development - Eurac Research, Viale Druso, 1, 39100 Bolzano, Italy
Marijke Dijkshoorn-Dekker: Wageningen Economic Research, Prinses Beatrixlaan 582-528, 2595 BM The Hague, The Netherlands
Nico Polman: Wageningen Economic Research, Prinses Beatrixlaan 582-528, 2595 BM The Hague, The Netherlands
Mariana Melnykovych: Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland
Francesca Gori: Institute for Regional Development - Eurac Research, Viale Druso, 1, 39100 Bolzano, Italy
Riccardo Da Re: Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry (TESAF) - University of Padova, Via dell’Università, 16, 35020 Legnaro (PD), Italy
Kamini Vicentini: Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry (TESAF) - University of Padova, Via dell’Università, 16, 35020 Legnaro (PD), Italy
Laura Secco: Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry (TESAF) - University of Padova, Via dell’Università, 16, 35020 Legnaro (PD), Italy

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 11, 1-25

Abstract: Social innovation is considered a relevant concept to tackle societal challenges and needs in rural areas and to promote smart, inclusive and sustainable growth. The characterising sector of rural areas is agriculture; therefore, the focus of this paper is on social innovation in the field of social farming. Among the many factors leading to the emergence and development of social innovation, agency has been considered relevant in the literature on transformability and transformative social innovation as it is the ability to turn contextual difficulties into opportunities for social innovation and for inclusive growth. This paper proposes an evaluation framework to assess the different dimensions of agency by triangulating quantitative with qualitative data and by using indicators. This paper adopts a case study approach, analysing two cases of social farming in Italy and the Netherlands. The results show that the social innovation idea and the resilience of the agency are among the most relevant dimensions for the emergence and development of social innovations. Finally, this paper discusses the three most relevant factors for agency to lead to social innovation: idea and embeddedness of the agency, transformability of the context through agency´s resilience, and agency as catalyst for empowerment.

Keywords: agency dimensions; transformability; resilience; social innovation idea; rural areas; societal challenges; vulnerable groups; empowerment; embeddedness (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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