Can Social Innovation Make a Change in European and Mediterranean Marginalized Areas? Social Innovation Impact Assessment in Agriculture, Fisheries, Forestry, and Rural Development

Elisa Ravazzoli, Cristina Dalla Torre, Riccardo Da Re, Valentino Marini Govigli, Laura Secco, Elena Górriz-Mifsud, Elena Pisani, Carla Barlagne, Antonio Baselice, Mohammed Bengoumi, Marijke Dijskhoorn-Dekker, Arbia Labidi, Antonio Lopolito, Mariana Melnykovych, Manfred Perlik, Nico Polman, Simo Sarkki, Achilleas Vassilopoulos, Phoebe Koundouri (), David Miller, Thomas Streifeneder and Maria Nijnik
Additional contact information
Elisa Ravazzoli: Institute for Regional Development Eurac Research, Viale Druso, 1, 39100 Bolzano, Italy
Cristina Dalla Torre: 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, Italy
Valentino Marini Govigli: European Forest Institute, Mediterranean Facility (EFIMED), St. Antoni Maria Claret, 167, 08025 Barcelona, Spain
Laura Secco: Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry (TESAF), University of Padova, Via dell’Università, 16, 35020 Legnaro, Italy
Elena Górriz-Mifsud: European Forest Institute, Mediterranean Facility (EFIMED), St. Antoni Maria Claret, 167, 08025 Barcelona, Spain
Carla Barlagne: The James Hutton Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen AB15 8QH, Scotland, UK
Antonio Baselice: Department of Sciences of Agriculture, Food Natural resources and Engineering, University of Foggia, 71121 Foggia, Italy
Mohammed Bengoumi: Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Subregional Office for North Africa, les Berges du Lac 1, Tunis 1053, Tunisia
Marijke Dijskhoorn-Dekker: Wageningen Economic Research, Prinses Beatrixlaan 582-528, 2595 BM The Hague, The Netherlands
Arbia Labidi: Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Subregional Office for North Africa, les Berges du Lac 1, Tunis 1053, Tunisia
Antonio Lopolito: Department of Economics, Management and Territory, University of Foggia, 71121 Foggia, Italy
Mariana Melnykovych: European Forest Institute, Mediterranean Facility (EFIMED), St. Antoni Maria Claret, 167, 08025 Barcelona, Spain
Manfred Perlik: Centre for Development and Environment, University of Bern, Mittelstrasse 43, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
Nico Polman: Wageningen Economic Research, Prinses Beatrixlaan 582-528, 2595 BM The Hague, The Netherlands
Simo Sarkki: Cultural Anthropology Programme, University of Oulu, 90570 Oulu, Finland
David Miller: The James Hutton Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen AB15 8QH, Scotland, UK
Thomas Streifeneder: Institute for Regional Development Eurac Research, Viale Druso, 1, 39100 Bolzano, Italy
Maria Nijnik: The James Hutton Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen AB15 8QH, Scotland, UK

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 4, 1-27

Abstract: Social innovation (SI) impacts are long-term changes that affect different dimensions of territorial capital (i.e., economy, society, environment, governance) for the territory in which SI occurs. Yet, systematic empirical evidence and theoretically sound assessments of the impacts of SI are scarce. This paper aims to fill the gap and assess the different aspects of SI’s impacts in European and Mediterranean areas that are characterized by marginalization processes. To assess the impacts of SI in marginalized areas, we use the evaluation framework developed within the Social Innovation in Marginalized Rural Areas (SIMRA) Horizon 2020 project and apply it to nine SI initiatives related to the fields of agriculture, fisheries, forestry, and rural development. Our findings show that SI produces cross-sectoral (societal, economic, environmental, and governmental) and multi-level impacts (on individuals, community, and society), which have improved the societal well-being, and contributed to the reduction of certain forms of marginality, mainly inside the territory in which SI occurred.

Keywords: social innovation; socio-economic impacts; institutional impacts; environmental impacts; societal well-being; European societal challenges; marginalization; sustainability challenges; local level (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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