Context Matters : a qualitative study of social innovation in rural Sweden
Recently, the concept of social innovation has gained increased attention both in academia and in policy, presented as a useful tool for solving complex societal challenges, also the societal challenges apparent in rural areas. The rural context, however, and its implications for social innovatio...
| Autor principal: | |
|---|---|
| Formato: | H2 |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés sueco |
| Publicado: |
SLU/Dept. of Urban and Rural Development
2020
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| Materias: |
| _version_ | 1855572684334694400 |
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| author | Bengtsson, Amanda |
| author_browse | Bengtsson, Amanda |
| author_facet | Bengtsson, Amanda |
| author_sort | Bengtsson, Amanda |
| collection | Epsilon Archive for Student Projects |
| description | Recently, the concept of social innovation has gained increased attention both in academia and in
policy, presented as a useful tool for solving complex societal challenges, also the societal
challenges apparent in rural areas. The rural context, however, and its implications for social
innovation, is often neglected. This study sets out to increase knowledge about the interplay
between social innovation and the rural context by exploring how the context of rural Sweden
constrains or enables social innovation, and how the assets and liabilities of the context are utilised
or overcome. The empirical cases are five social innovation initiatives in rural locations across
Sweden. The study finds that different dimensions of context enable or constrain social innovation
to a varying extent throughout the process. In line with previous research, the social context appears
to enable social innovation while the institutional context constitutes the main liability. Extra-local
networks and individuals are found to be crucial to overcome such constraints. In sum, this study
contributes to the field of rural development by underscoring the matter of context and the need for
governmental action in order to release the potential of social innovation as a tool for solving rural
societal challenges. |
| format | H2 |
| id | RepoSLU16064 |
| institution | Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences |
| language | Inglés swe |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publishDateSort | 2020 |
| publisher | SLU/Dept. of Urban and Rural Development |
| publisherStr | SLU/Dept. of Urban and Rural Development |
| record_format | eprints |
| spelling | RepoSLU160642024-08-20T13:31:37Z Context Matters : a qualitative study of social innovation in rural Sweden Bengtsson, Amanda social innovation rural development Sweden context Recently, the concept of social innovation has gained increased attention both in academia and in policy, presented as a useful tool for solving complex societal challenges, also the societal challenges apparent in rural areas. The rural context, however, and its implications for social innovation, is often neglected. This study sets out to increase knowledge about the interplay between social innovation and the rural context by exploring how the context of rural Sweden constrains or enables social innovation, and how the assets and liabilities of the context are utilised or overcome. The empirical cases are five social innovation initiatives in rural locations across Sweden. The study finds that different dimensions of context enable or constrain social innovation to a varying extent throughout the process. In line with previous research, the social context appears to enable social innovation while the institutional context constitutes the main liability. Extra-local networks and individuals are found to be crucial to overcome such constraints. In sum, this study contributes to the field of rural development by underscoring the matter of context and the need for governmental action in order to release the potential of social innovation as a tool for solving rural societal challenges. Under senare år har begreppet ’social innovation’ uppmärksammats allt mer, av såväl akademiker som beslutsfattare. Social innovation presenteras som ett effektivt sätt att möta och lösa dagens komplexa samhällsutmaningar, vilket borde gälla även de utmaningar som utmärker många landsbygder. Trots detta förbises ofta den rurala kontexten och dess förutsättningar för social innovation. Syftet med den här studien är att bidra till ökad kunskap om samspelet mellan social innovation och den rurala kontexten genom att undersöka hur förutsättningarna på svenska landsbygder möjliggör eller hindrar social innovation och hur dessa möjligheter och hinder kan nyttjas eller övervinnas. De empiriska fallen utgörs av fem sociala innovationer i landsbygder runt om i Sverige. Studien visar att olika aspekter av kontexten påverkar den sociala innovationen på flera sätt i olika delar av processen. I linje med tidigare forskning visar sig den sociala kontexten vara viktig för att möjliggöra social innovation, medan den institutionella kontexten utgör det främsta hindret. Vidare visar studien att individer och sociala nätverk som sträcker sig utanför det lokala sammanhanget är viktiga för att övervinna faktorer som hindrar den sociala innovationen. Sammanfattningsvis bidrar den här studien till området landsbygdsutveckling genom att understryka betydelsen av kontexten samt behovet av politiska åtgärder för att ta tillvara potentialen i sociala innovation som lösningar på dagens samhällsutmaningar. SLU/Dept. of Urban and Rural Development 2020 H2 eng swe https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/16064/ |
| spellingShingle | social innovation rural development Sweden context Bengtsson, Amanda Context Matters : a qualitative study of social innovation in rural Sweden |
| title | Context Matters : a qualitative study of social innovation in rural Sweden |
| title_full | Context Matters : a qualitative study of social innovation in rural Sweden |
| title_fullStr | Context Matters : a qualitative study of social innovation in rural Sweden |
| title_full_unstemmed | Context Matters : a qualitative study of social innovation in rural Sweden |
| title_short | Context Matters : a qualitative study of social innovation in rural Sweden |
| title_sort | context matters : a qualitative study of social innovation in rural sweden |
| topic | social innovation rural development Sweden context |