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Can Social Innovation Make a Change in European and Mediterranean Marginalized Areas? Social Innovation Impact Assessment in Agriculture, Fisheries, Forestry, and Rural Development

Author

Listed:
  • Elisa Ravazzoli

    (Institute for Regional Development Eurac Research, Viale Druso, 1, 39100 Bolzano, Italy)

  • Cristina Dalla Torre

    (Institute for Regional Development Eurac Research, Viale Druso, 1, 39100 Bolzano, Italy
    Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry (TESAF), University of Padova, Via dell’Università, 16, 35020 Legnaro, Italy)

  • Riccardo Da Re

    (Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry (TESAF), University of Padova, Via dell’Università, 16, 35020 Legnaro, Italy)

  • Valentino Marini Govigli

    (European Forest Institute, Mediterranean Facility (EFIMED), St. Antoni Maria Claret, 167, 08025 Barcelona, Spain)

  • Laura Secco

    (Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry (TESAF), University of Padova, Via dell’Università, 16, 35020 Legnaro, Italy)

  • Elena Górriz-Mifsud

    (European Forest Institute, Mediterranean Facility (EFIMED), St. Antoni Maria Claret, 167, 08025 Barcelona, Spain
    Forest Science and Technology Center of Catalonia (CTFC), 25280 Solsona, Spain)

  • Elena Pisani

    (Department of Land, Environment, Agriculture and Forestry (TESAF), University of Padova, Via dell’Università, 16, 35020 Legnaro, Italy)

  • Carla Barlagne

    (The James Hutton Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen AB15 8QH, Scotland, UK)

  • Antonio Baselice

    (Department of Sciences of Agriculture, Food Natural resources and Engineering, University of Foggia, 71121 Foggia, Italy)

  • Mohammed Bengoumi

    (Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Subregional Office for North Africa, les Berges du Lac 1, Tunis 1053, Tunisia)

  • Marijke Dijskhoorn-Dekker

    (Wageningen Economic Research, Prinses Beatrixlaan 582-528, 2595 BM The Hague, The Netherlands)

  • Arbia Labidi

    (Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Subregional Office for North Africa, les Berges du Lac 1, Tunis 1053, Tunisia)

  • Antonio Lopolito

    (Department of Economics, Management and Territory, University of Foggia, 71121 Foggia, Italy)

  • Mariana Melnykovych

    (European Forest Institute, Mediterranean Facility (EFIMED), St. Antoni Maria Claret, 167, 08025 Barcelona, Spain
    Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL), 8903 Birmensdorf, Switzerland)

  • Manfred Perlik

    (Centre for Development and Environment, University of Bern, Mittelstrasse 43, 3012 Bern, Switzerland)

  • Nico Polman

    (Wageningen Economic Research, Prinses Beatrixlaan 582-528, 2595 BM The Hague, The Netherlands)

  • Simo Sarkki

    (Cultural Anthropology Programme, University of Oulu, 90570 Oulu, Finland)

  • Achilleas Vassilopoulos

    (Department of Economics, University of Ioannina, University Campus, 45110 Ioannina, Greece)

  • Phoebe Koundouri

    (School of Economics, Athens University of Economics and Business, 76 Patission Street, 104 34 Athens, Greece)

  • David Miller

    (The James Hutton Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen AB15 8QH, Scotland, UK)

  • Thomas Streifeneder

    (Institute for Regional Development Eurac Research, Viale Druso, 1, 39100 Bolzano, Italy)

  • Maria Nijnik

    (The James Hutton Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen AB15 8QH, Scotland, UK)

Abstract

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Elisa Ravazzoli & Cristina Dalla Torre & Riccardo Da Re & Valentino Marini Govigli & Laura Secco & Elena Górriz-Mifsud & Elena Pisani & Carla Barlagne & Antonio Baselice & Mohammed Bengoumi & Marijke , 2021. "Can Social Innovation Make a Change in European and Mediterranean Marginalized Areas? Social Innovation Impact Assessment in Agriculture, Fisheries, Forestry, and Rural Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-27, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:4:p:1823-:d:495583
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    5. Néstor Vercher, 2022. "The Role of Actors in Social Innovation in Rural Areas," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-24, May.
    6. Manfred Perlik, 2021. "Impacts of Social Innovation on Spatiality in Mountain–Lowland Relationships — Trajectories of Two Swiss Regional Initiatives in the Context of New Policy Regimes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-24, March.
    7. Antonio Baselice & Maurizio Prosperi & Antonio Lopolito, 2021. "A Conceptual Framework for the Evaluation of Social Agriculture: An Application to a Project Aimed at the Employability of Young People NEET," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-19, August.
    8. Bill Slee & Robert Lukesch & Elisa Ravazzoli, 2022. "Social Innovation: The Promise and the Reality in Marginalised Rural Areas in Europe," World, MDPI, vol. 3(2), pages 1-23, April.
    9. Živojinović, Ivana & Rogelja, Todora & Weiss, Gerhard & Ludvig, Alice & Secco, Laura, 2023. "Institutional structures impeding forest-based social innovation in Serbia and Slovenia," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    10. Néstor Vercher, 2022. "Territorial Social Innovation and Alternative Food Networks: The Case of a New Farmers’ Cooperative on the Island of Ibiza (Spain)," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-22, May.
    11. Ezio Micelli & Elena Ostanel & Luca Lazzarini, 2023. "“Wanna Be Provoked”: Inner Peripheries Generators of Social Innovation in the Italian Apennine," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-23, April.

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