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

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

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.

References

Aldea-Partanen, A. (2011). Social innovation in service delivery to youth in remote and rural areas’, International Journal of Innovation and Regional Development. Vol. 3, No. 1, pp.63–81.

André, I., Abreu, A., Carmo, A. (2013). Social innovation through the arts in rural areas: the case of Montemor-o-Novo. I Moulaert, F., MacCallum, D., Mehmood, A., Hamdouch, A. (red.). The international handbook on social innovation: collective action, social learning and transdisciplinary research. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

Bailey, K. (2008). Methods of Social Research. New York: Free Press.

Berglund, K-E., Lindberg, M., Nahnfeldt, C. (2016). Social innovation now and then in the Church of Sweden. Diaconia Journal for the Study of Christian Social Practice. 7(2): 125–141.

Brandsen, T., Cattacin, S., Evers, A., Zimmers A. red. (2015). Social innovations in the urban context. London: Springer.

Brundenius, C., Göransson, B., Carvalho de Mello, J. M. (Eds.) (2016). Universities, Inclusive Development and Social Innovation: an international perspective. Cham: Springer.

Cajaiba-Santana, G. (2013). ‘Social innovation: Moving the field forward. A conceptual framework’, Technological Forecasting & Social Change, Vol. 82 No. 1, pp.42 - 51.

Copus, A., Perjo, L., Berlina, A., Jungsberg, L. Randall, L. and Sigurjónsdóttir, H. (2017). Social innovation in local development: Lessons from the Nordic countries and Scotland. Nordregio Working Paper 2017:2. Stockholm: Nordregio.

Davies, A. and Simon, J. (2013). The value and role of citizen engagement in social innovation. A deliverable of the project TEPSIE. Brussels: European Commission, DG Research.

Dawson, P. and Daniel, L. (2010). Understanding social innovation: a provisional framework. International Journal of Technology Management. 51(1): 9-21.

Dodd, J.A. and Franke, J. (2011). Towards a localised and comprehensive innovation policy in the EU. International Journal of Innovation and Regional Development, Vol. 3, No. 6, pp.535–550.

Eurich, J. and Langer, A. (2016). Social Innovations as Opportunities: How Can Innovations in Social Services Be Stimulated and Managed? Diaconia Journal for the Study of Christian Social Practice. 7(2): 174–190.

Evers, A., Ewert, B., Brandsen, T. red. (2014). Social innovations for social cohesion. Transnational patterns and approaches from 20 European cities. Liege: EMES European Research Network.

Godin, B. (2012). Social Innovation: Utopias of Innovation from c.1830 to the Present. Project on the Intellectual History of Innovation, Working Paper No. 11. Montreal: Institut national de la recherche scientifique (INRS).

Grimm, R., Fox, C., Baines, S., Albertson, K. (2013). Social innovation, an answer to contemporary societal challenges? Locating the concept in theory and practice. Innovation: The European Journal of Social Sciences. 26(4): 436–455.

Guest, G., MacQueen, K. M., Namey, E. E. (2012). Applied thematic analysis. Thousand Oaks: SAGE.

Ionescu, C. (2015). About the conceptualization of social innovation. Theoretical & Applied Economics, Vol. 22 No. 3, pp.53 - 62.

Lindberg, M. (2014). From exclusion to inclusion in public innovation support? Innovative practices in bottom-up networks. Scandinavian Journal of Public Administration, Vol. 18 No. 4, pp.91 - 107.

Lindberg, M. and Berg Jansson, A. (2016). Regional social innovation – pinpointing socially inclusive change for smart, inclusive and sustainable growth in European regional development policy. International Journal of Innovation and Regional Development. 7(2): 123-140.

Lindberg, M., Gelter, J., Karlberg, H. (2017). Tourism networking for regional place innovation in Swedish Lapland. International Journal of Innovation and Regional Development.

Lindberg, M. and Portinson Hylander, J. (2017). Boundary dimensions of social innovation: Negotiating conflicts and compatibilities when developing a national agenda. Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research. DOI: 10.1080/13511610.2016.1204534.

Martinelli, F. (2013). Learning from Case Studies of Social Innovation in the Field of Social Services: Creatively Balancing Top-down Universalism with Bottom-up Democracy. In Moulaert, F., MacCallum, D., Mehmood, A., Hamdouch, A. (Eds.). The international handbook on social innovation: collective action, social learning and transdisciplinary research. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

Moulaert, F., MacCallum, D., Mehmood, A., Hamdouch, A. (Eds.) (2013). The international handbook on social innovation: collective action, social learning and transdisciplinary research. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.

Nicholls, A., Simon, J., Gabriel, M. (Eds.) (2015). New Frontiers in Social Innovation Research. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Rønning, R. and Knutagård, M. (2015). Innovation in social welfare and human services. Routledge, London.

Sirovátka, T. & Greve, B. red. (2014). Innovation in Social Services: The Public-private Mix in Service Provision, Fiscal Policy and Employment. Farnham: Ashgate.

Tanimoto, K. (2012). The emergent process of social innovation: multi-stakeholders perspective. International Journal of Innovation and Regional Development. 4(3/4): 267-280.

Wijkström, F and Zimmer, A. (Eds.) (2011). Nordic Civil Society at a Cross-Roads. Transforming the Popular Movement Tradition. Nomos, Baden-Baden.

Yin, R. K. (2009). Case Study Research: Design and Methods. London: SAGE.

Downloads

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

Section

Research articles