Fomento de la Innovación Social: La España vaciada

Abstract

The current zeal for Social Innovation (SI) is due to its potential for socio-economic betterment. However, this transformative power requires knowing that the solution to a local social problem is found more easily in the very territory in which it appears. Moreover, promoting SI requires starting from the point of understanding the place difference it affects; that is to say, the historical and cultural features that make up its character. This means advising against replicating successful models or practices of public policies in other territories. Since SI research must do more work along these lines, a methodological pathway is here identified, with a strong technological component, which provides this territorial identity. Its viability is shown by focusing on one of the least developed areas of the country with the most pressing need for SI, the area known as empty Spain, and specifically, the part most affected: Extremadura. The results confirm this approach and methodology.