For SIMRA Case Studies, the principle objective will be to collect and analyse empirical evidence of social innovations in agriculture, forestry and rural development in marginalised rural areas in selected pilot case studies covering European, Associated and non-EU countries, particularly focusing on the Mediterranean region. A co-constructed evaluation of success factors for social innovations across selected case studies will be carried out not only by the academic community, but also by the people involved in rural development practice (such as technicians, LEADER groups, etc.), covering spatial variation and heterogeneity of regions (e.g. in terms of natural conditions, socio-economic development, social capital, governance and institutional settings).
This part of the project will start during Spring 2017 with the selection process and the implementation from summer onwards.
Case studies will be selected among those compiled in the database of social innovations. Candidate examples are listed below:
Innovation Actions will enable that relevant actors in marginal rural areas to test and exploit their potential for social innovation, with the aim of realizing impacts in the territory and the market, in businesses, investments opportunities and in building capacity within local governments. In the demonstration sites, depending on the context and specific actions, Innovation Actions will include the organization of periodic networking events to encourage interested actors to present, learn about, discuss and initiate innovative inter-sectorial actions for rural development; the creation of market places (physical and virtual) for social innovation projects; and the start up or establishment of new networks amongst local actors.
A preliminary list of Innovation Actions are listed below:
