Social Innovation in Rural Areas of the European Union Learnings from Neo-Endogenous Development Projects in Italy and Spain

Francisco Navarro-Valverde, Marilena Labianca, Eugenio Cejudo-García and Stefano de Rubertis
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Francisco Navarro-Valverde: Department of Human Geography, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
Marilena Labianca: Department of Economics, University of Foggia, 71122 Foggia, Italy
Eugenio Cejudo-García: Department of Human Geography, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 11, 1-18

Abstract: Within the framework of the LEADER approach to rural development applied in rural areas of the European Union, a high degree of social innovation (SI) has been achieved with the support of public–private partnerships. This research analyzes the different forms of SI achieved in specific projects in marginal rural areas facing depopulation. These initiatives make important, sometimes intangible, contributions to rural society, which are not sufficiently valued in rural development practice. Using an exploratory qualitative methodology, we made a selection of projects carried out in rural areas of Spain and Italy by searching for specific keywords (“innovation”, “entrepreneurship”, and “LEADER”) in the European Network of Rural Development database. According to the typology of promoters, we considered Transnational Cooperation Projects promoted by various Local Action Groups (LAGs), by public sector initiative and by private promoters. In-depth interviews were also conducted. The main findings include: the crucial role played by local leaders, social enterprises and LAGs in overcoming resistance and reluctance amongst the local community to participate in and support rural development projects; the importance of creating collective learning processes; the complexity of the network affects the number of contributions; the need for long-term continuity of processes and projects, and the importance of combining exogenous and endogenous development and knowledge.

Keywords: social innovation; LEADER approach; rural development projects; transnational cooperation projects; rural planning; actors in rural development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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