Application of a comprehensive methodology for the evaluation of social innovations in rural communities

open4noThis 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).Despite the growing interest in social innovation (SI) in agriculture, the literature lacks validated tools for evaluating such initiatives. This paper provides an empirical application of the evaluation approach developed within the H2020 SIMRA project to a pilot experience conducted in a rural area of Southern Italy. The value added by this case study is the application of the five types of criteria used by the OECD for the evaluation of development programs, which are commonly referred to as REEIS: relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, and sustainability. This experiment demonstrates the adequacy of the evaluation framework in identifying strengths and weaknesses of the initiative, according to a multifaceted perspective. The overall evaluation proves that most indicators fall under the high (48%) and medium categories (36%), and only few indicators are low (16%). The usefulness of the evaluation results is manifold. First, this evaluation highlights relevant arguments to support the communication strategy addressed at civil society, therefore reinforcing the civic engagement of the initiative, which is the distinctive feature of SI. Second, it supports project managers in addressing interventions to face emerging weaknesses. Finally, the evaluation provides factual evidence to policy makers to perform cost-effective analysis of rural development policies.openBaselice A.; Prosperi M.; Marini Govigli V.; Lopolito A.Baselice A.; Prosperi M.; Marini Govigli V.; Lopolito A

Assessing and modelling socio-ecological interactions of sacred forests in northwestern Greece.

The purpose of this thesis is to disentangle the relative influence of ecological and social processes in the composition, spatial patterning and temporal extent of Sacred Natural Sites (SNS). SNSs are natural places with spiritual and religious significance for local communities. They are peculiar coupled socio-ecological systems arising from long-lasting interactions between ecological processes and anthropogenic influences. SNSs have been recently recognized as providers of crucial nonmaterial benefits related to human-nature relationships. However, how different ecological and social processes interact in time and space influencing their formation remains a largely unexplored topic. This is especially relevant, as SNSs face increasing risks of degradation due the cultural and demographic changes occurred in the past decades (e.g. depopulation of rural areas, knowledge loss of traditional management practices). We use ecological and social data, collected on a sample of sacred forests in Northwestern Greece, to: (i) understand the main socio-ecological processes that led to the sacred forests establishment, (ii) identify spatial (i.e. forests extent and boundaries) and temporal (i.e. forests’ establishments) patterns across sacred forests; (iii) model the spatial extent of sacred forests over time to quantify how social processes impact the forest expansion. We do this through an interdisciplinary methodology, which combines diverse set of data stemming from different sources (data on forest structure and vegetation, tree rings data, ethnographic data) integrated and analysed in the thesis using both quantitative and qualitative techniques (statistical analysis, spatial analysis, environmental modelling). According to the findings of this thesis, we conclude that it is possible to disentangle the relative influence of ecological and social processes in the composition, spatial patterning and temporal extent of SNS. In the context of sacred forests in northwestern Greece, results suggest that traditional management practices and social beliefs are main drivers in defining the spatial structure of sacred forests, and in preserving them as time passes. Unfolding the role of these processes is fundamental for understanding how the historical change in cultural practices related to management of sacred sites has determined the trajectory of their vegetation composition and function. This analysis provides the first multidisciplinary assessment of SNSs role in a changing society, giving clearer perspectives on how to design conservation practices tailored to SNSs facing cultural abandonment

Assessing the emotional and spiritual dimension of forests: A review of existing participatory methods

Spirituality, aesthetic enjoyment, relaxation, and emotions are key non-material intangible values experienced in forests. Despite being a central issue to present-day forest policy and regulation, they are difficult to assess because they are intertwined with people's values and beliefs. In this paper, we explore which participatory methods can serve best to identify and evaluate the emotional and spiritual contributions of forests to people (henceforward Forests' Intangible Contributions to People, FICP). We do so to formulate a series of practical recommendations for forest practitioners and researchers eager to use Participatory Methods (PM) to assess the emotional and spiritual contributions of forests to people. Results from a systematic literature review of different participatory tools were validated using semi-structured interviews with PM facilitators and experts. We found 15 participatory methods used to assess Forests' Intangible Contributions to People (FICP). Performative and walking methods emerge as the most widely used. These tools capture the vision of both individuals and communities and aim at giving an active voice to the environment, making nature part of the decision-making process. This research confirms that participatory approaches are pivotal methods to unfold connections amongst stakeholders dealing with Forests' Intangible Contributions to People, supporting the multifunctional role of forests and thus the delivering of national and worldwide policy objectives

Innovations sociales en fore\u302t/Social innovation in forests

La session consacre\u301e au the\u300me des innovations sociales en fore\u302t, organise\u301e par SEED-Int et EFIMED lors de la sixie\u300me Semaine fores- tie\u300re me\u301diterrane\u301enne, e\u301tait anime\u301e par Patricia R. Sfeir (Responsables des programmes a\u300 SEEDS-Int), le programme incluait des pre\u301sentations des chercheurs du SIMRA (Social Innovation in Marginalised Rural Areas -Innovation sociale dans les zones rurales marginalise\u301es), Riccardo Da Re (chercheur a\u300 UNIPD), et Valentino Marini Govigli (chercheur junior a\u300 EFIMED) et d\u2019experts tels que Bassam Kantar (SEEDS-int) et un atelier spe\u301cifique de pre\u301sentations d\u2019e\u301tudes de cas en contexte me\u301diterrane\u301en/During the VIth Mediterranean Forest Week, the panel \uab Social Innovation in Forests (SI) \ubb was moderated by Patricia R. Sfeir (Programs manager at SEEDS-Int), and included presentations from SIMRA (Social Innovation in Marginalised Rural Areas) researchers, Riccardo Da Re (researcher at UNIPD), and Valentino Marini Govigli (junior researcher at EFIMED), as well as experts such as Bassam Kantar (SEEDS-int). It included a special section on presenting real case studies of SI from the Mediterranean region

Civil society engaged in wildfires: Mediterranean forest fire volunteer groupings

In fire-prone areas such the Mediterranean basin, wildfire risk means a societal challenge. Governments in modern welfare states have generally addressed it through a “zero fire policy” focusing on suppression and professionalization. Such approach provides security to local populations, who in turn may detach from the socio-ecologic phenomenon of wildfire and become passive actors. In the face of increasingly virulent wildfires, local communities are often not prepared with consequent damages and casualties. Yet, some regions show pro-active locals organizing their efforts to tackle wildfires. These fire volunteer groups suppose a social innovation in rural communities that help in their adaptation to climate change. Going beyond homeowners’ preparedness, the actions of volunteers range from supporting firefighters’ efforts, first attack and/or year-round prevention. The investigation of these communities is in its infancy despite its practitioner and policy interest. In this study, we shed light on this civil society engagement across different Mediterranean forest settings, namely from predominantly public forest ownership in Greece, to predominantly private in Catalonia (Spain) and virtually entirely private in Portugal. Collecting data through a survey, the type of activities of these volunteer groups, their relations with fire and local actors (i.e. social capital) and trajectory have been analysed to find possible trends. Statistical results show that their portfolio of activities relates to their group size (i.e. available human resources) and their structural and relational social capital. Preliminary insights show an improvement in trust with fire and forest actors owing to the fire volunteer group establishment. No evidence has been found of forest area covered by fire volunteers, recent fire experience or variety in members’ profile to affect the type of activities. The results are discussed in the frame of social capital theory and suggestions for further research are put forward

The green side of social innovation: Using sustainable development goals to classify environmental impacts of rural grassroots initiatives

Social innovations are grassroots processes aiming to achieve impacts beyond an individual level and towards a broader societal good. The environmental dimension of impacts refers to any direct change to the environment resulting from social innovation activities, products, or services, which are not addressed by pre-existing systems. In this paper, we determine the role of social innovation in addressing environmental impacts by analyzing a database of social innovation examples in European and circum-Mediterranean rural areas, compiled within the H2020 Project SIMRA. We conceptualize the overall aim of environmentally-focused social innovation initiatives as furthering the sustainable development of their territories. To address the environmental impacts of initiatives in a structured way, we use the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) classification, to describe social innovation environmental impacts in relation to specific targets. We analyzed 238 initiatives from the SIMRA catalog and associated initiative websites to identify and classify their direct environmental impacts. Our results indicate that 68% of the cases have at least one direct environmental impact that aligns with a SDG target. The most common impacts are related to sustainable natural resource management (SDGs target 12.2), sustainable food production systems (2.4), and equal access to land (2.3). This SDG-based classification proved to be a useful analytical tool for categorizing internationally policy-relevant environmental impacts of social innovations