Social inclusion in the context of Czech rural development policy

Abstract

The paper addresses social inclusion. It aims to investigate how social inclusion was conceptualized in the main Czech policy documents related to the EU. The text argues that one of the tools of social inclusion – social economy represented by social entrepreneurship and social farming – is a sort of innovative practice. The findings suggest that the understanding of social inclusion evolves within policy documents towards highlighting social economy through matching its theoretical concept with political measures. However, social economy is still not considered by the documents as an innovative approach. If analysing projects funded under Czech Rural Development Programs, social inclusion in rural areas is not the main theme, especially in regions exposed to the risk of social exclusion. In addition, the main actors (NGOs or social entrepreneurs) who are said to support social economy or social farming are not active in submitting projects in rural areas under the Rural Development Program 2007–2013. These actors have not yet used their potential towards developing social economy.