Policy framework as a challenge and opportunity for social innovation initiatives in eco-tourism in Colombia

Héctor Javier García Higuera, Todora Rogelja and Laura Secco

Forest Policy and Economics, 2023, vol. 157, issue C

Abstract: Colombia confronts a multitude of societal and environmental problems, which severely manifest in rural areas, leading to loss of biodiversity, reduced legal income opportunities, marginalization, poverty, etc. Alternatives that can voluntarily mobilize collective agency, such as social innovation (SI), have emerged as a means for addressing the challenges of rural areas due to the potential they proved to have in other countries to enhance outcomes on societal well-being. This study focuses on the current policy conditions (domains and instruments) for the development of SI in eco-tourism in Colombia, both those registered as legal entities or individuals or networks operating informally. A total amount of 25 policy documents from tourism, cohesion, rural and regional development, forest, environment, and innovation policies were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Our results show the slow introduction of SI concepts and the inoperability of instruments into the national policy framework. Formally recognised SI initiatives in eco-tourism bear strict requirements for operating in natural and protected areas with numerous administrative procedures. The SI is not addressed explicitly in most of the explored policies. Its significance and untapped potential are shadowed by other overarching terms such as “entrepreneurship”. Consequently, SI remains informal in practice. This context is challenging for the development of both formal SI initiatives in eco-tourism as well as for the formalization of the informal ones.

Keywords: Policy analysis; Social innovation; Tourism; Rural development; Colombian politics; Content analysis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1389934123001715
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:forpol:v:157:y:2023:i:c:s1389934123001715

DOI: 10.1016/j.forpol.2023.103076

Access Statistics for this article

Forest Policy and Economics is currently edited by M. Krott

More articles in Forest Policy and Economics from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().