Can social innovation make a change in European and Mediterranean marginalized areas?:social innovation impact assessment in agriculture, fisheries, forestry, and rural development

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

Compilation of Tools for Data Collection for SIMRA Pioneer and Regular Case Studies. Report 5.1 - Social Innovation in Marginalised Rural Areas (SIMRA)

Deliverable 5.1 provides a common baseline for the data collection of the SIMRA case studies with the aim of reducing biases in data collection, improve the quality of outcomes and limit the emergence of unforeseen risks. The data collection protocol consists of three main sections: (i) a general overview and guidance common to all the Case Studies; (ii) a Case Study specific section, including the Pioneer and Regular Case Studies; and (iii) Appendixes that support the operationalisation of the data collection. The general overview (Section 3) explains the purpose of protocols, the general procedures for use in data collection in SIMRA Case Studies, and the processes for obtaining ethical clearance. It explains in detail the SIMRA methodology, the involvement of stakeholders and participants, and the related dissemination tasks. It also introduces the data reporting required to build the database for the posterior analysis. The section on Case Study protocols (Section 4) sets out the timetable, methodological approach and feedback for the Pioneer Case Studies and the Regular Case Studies. The Social Innovation (conceptual variables, map and history) is introduced for each Case Study, which constitutes the first step for the individual Case Study protocols. The last section (Appendixes) provides a glossary of the terminology used, the ethical clearance templates, and a checklist for the fieldwork activities. Deliverable D5.1 is complemented by Report 5.1 on the compilation of set of tools for data collection for SIMRA Pioneer and Regular Case Studies (Secco et al., 2018), and Report 5.2 on the compilation of Case Study background information and individual protocols (G\uf3rriz-Mifsud et al., 2018b)