Promoting and sustaining rural social innovation

Authors

Abstract

Bringing together conclusions from previous studies of social innovation in rural, local, multi-stakeholder and welfare contexts, this study aims to further develop the scientific insights into the specific mechanisms of rural social innovation, based on a case study of the Swedish part of the European project “Social empowerment in rural areas” (SEMPRE). By analyzing its aims and activities, crucial aspects of rural social innovation are pinpointed in a way that helps discern the main challenges and potentials in promoting and sustaining such innovation. The identified aspects include the identification of urgent societal challenges of rural decline, initiatives to increase the rural attractiveness by innovative forms of social service delivery, empowering mobilization of vulnerable groups, such as rural immigrants, in social service design and delivery, multi-stakeholder involvement of local community actors, as well as participatory workshops to delineate needs/visions, develop solutions to these, and implement the solutions in micro-projects. 

 

DOI: https://doi.org/10.31637/epsir.17-2.3

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Author Biography

Malin Lindberg, Luleå University of Technology

Malin Lindberg is Associate Professor at the Department of Human Work Sciences at Luleå University of Technology, Sweden. She conducts research on inclusive innovation and organization, with specific focus on social innovation, rural innovation, place innovation, gendered innovation, idealistic innovation and gender equality innovation in men-dominated industries such as forestry and manufacturing. She specializes in participatory research, where new knowledge is developed jointly between researchers and societal actors.

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Published

2018-05-10

How to Cite

Lindberg, M. (2018). Promoting and sustaining rural social innovation. European Public & Social Innovation Review, 2(2), 30–41. Retrieved from https://epsir.net/index.php/epsir/article/view/61

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 2 (2017)

Section

Research articles

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