Suchergebnisse

Although the concept of SI in agriculture is relatively recent, EU has already shown interest in the approach and a willingness to invest in innovative social projects. In the field of agriculture, the most common social innovation initiatives that have emerged in the latest years are either linked to social farming or community supported agriculture. These initiatives aim at exploiting the multifunctionality of agriculture activities, coupling productive agricultural activities with educational, caregiving, or inclusive services, in the former; and connecting consumers and producers in direct informal relationships in the latter. Despite the growing interest in social innovation in the field of agriculture, literature lacks validated tools for evaluating social innovations. This work provides an empirical application of the evaluation approach to the SI in Marginalised Rural Areas as developed by the SIMRA consortium. It is as a pilot experience which demonstrates as the evaluation framework actually works and which results is able to produce in terms of monitoring of critical points and strengths of the initiative. According to our findings, the overall distribution of the indicators, show positive picture of the SI, where the adopted indicators detected strengths and weaknesses of the project. Behind the positive evaluation, this enable us to identifying some issues which requires a special focus to be improved. This information will be helpful to specific categories of actors, who are responsible for the project management. On the contrary, the correct identification of strengths may be useful for actors who are responsible for communication and community engagement. In addition, policy makers may also be interested in grasping the potential of the SI in terms of possible outcomes.

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. ; This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program under Grant Agreement No. 677622 (H2020 SIMRA–Social Innovation in Marginalised Rural Areas Project).

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. View Full-Text Keywords: social innovation; socio-economic impacts; institutional impacts; environmental impacts; societal well-being; European societal challenges; marginalization; sustainability challenges; local level