Initial situation
Against the background of the Europe 2020 Strategy (smart, sustainable, inclusive growth), regionally very different developments are a challenge for rural development. Social innovations (SI) are seen alongside technical innovations as an effective way to make better use of existing resources and thus contribute to resilience and sustainability, especially in structurally weak regions. SIMRA aims to identify and assess the diversity and complexity of social innovations and new forms of organisation.
Objective
The aim of the SIMRA project is to close knowledge gaps on the topic of SI and new forms of organisation, especially in the field of agriculture, forestry and rural development. This concerns the theoretical foundations, the categorisation of different social innovations, the development of a set of methods to evaluate existing social innovations and their effects, a concrete evaluation based on several international examples as well as an identification of success factors and a dissemination of the acquired knowledge with innovative actions.
Status of the project
In 2019, as planned, the Federal Institute of Agricultural Economics and Mining Research intensively analysed an Austrian case study according to methodological specifications and elaborations of other project partners and prepared and interpreted the results for the cross-project joint analyses. Various dissemination activities were set (poster presentations, presentations, journal articles, blogs, tweets). In November 2019, interim results of the entire SIMRA project, including specifically the Austrian case study, were presented to a broad scientific audience in a separate BAB seminar. Reports for an interim project statement were prepared.
Work 2020
In 2020, the contributions to the BAB seminar will be compiled and published in a series of papers. Final reports for the SIMRA project at EU and BMLRT level are to be prepared. Further dissemination of the results will be sought and will take place as opportunities arise within the framework of national and international events, in particular scientific conferences.
Schedule
Project start: January 2016
End of project: December 2020
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