The role of social innovation in negotiations about recreational infrastructure in forests – A mountain-bike case study in Switzerland

In the last two decades public pressure for infrastructure provision, such as mountain-bike trails, has increased and led to illegal trail constructions in some Swiss forests. This article investigates the role Social Innovation (SI) plays in successful negotiations (e.g. to legalize existing illegal mountain-bike trails) between the many interest groups and the challenges involved in these negotiations. Such challenges include how negotiating stakeholders deal with issues of liability, financing, forest and infrastructure maintenance, and environmental and landscape protection. We understand SI as a reconfiguration of social practices in response to societal challenges leading to enhanced outcomes for societal well-being and the necessary engagement of civil society. Based on two in-depth case studies of mountain-bike trails in rural areas of Switzerland, the article analyses the role SI plays in increasing the benefits of forest-based recreation for providers and users. Our findings suggest that in the forestry sector, SI plays a vital role in meeting social needs (e.g. enhancing forest-based recreation). Additionally, the findings indicate that without SI, the trails would not exist, increasing financial pressure on the region (e.g. high costs for managing recreational forests and for the provisioning of forest-based recreational infrastructure).