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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
This investigation aims to examine innovation in a selected successful Portuguese social venture
(The Cooperative Terra Chã) and to analyse the extent to which innovative social ventures are able to contribute
to local development. Specifically, the paper highlights the activities developed by the social organization
in response to the needs of particular (micro) segments of society and illustrates which key factors triggered the
success of the examined social initiative. A case study methodology is used to describe the distinctive characteristics
and strategies pursued by the managers of the social venture and to establish the links between the opportunities
for social innovation and the territory. The data collected for the study were triangulated from desk research
and from in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted with privileged actors.
The results show that social innovation is a viable strategy to revitalize the region’s socio-economic tissue,
through the creation of new economic activities and consequently local employment that are based on the village’s
traditional activities. This strategy seeks to achieve sustainable economic growth and well-being for the people
of the region. However, to be successful, the strategy demands a deep knowledge of existing social problems
as well as the availability of endogenous local resources and capabilities for use by social entrepreneurs. In this
context, social innovation should be a participatory process, in which different entities and the beneficiaries of social
programs were active players.
Description
Keywords
Social innovation Social ventures Social entrepreneurship Endogenous development Regional resources Capabilities
Citation
Bernardino, S. & Freitas Santos, J. (2017). Local development through social and territorial innovation: An exploratory case study. CIRIEC-España, Revista de Economía Pública, Social y Cooperativa, 90, 159-187.