The role of social innovation initiatives in contributing to sustainable rural development has been discussed both in academia and practice. Some scholars argue that, rather than delivering solely on unmet needs and services, social innovation should have a broader transformative impact. By applying Castro-Arce and Vanclay’s analytical framework for transformative social innovation (2020), the paper seeks to analyse the experience of a rural development initiative based in Portugal. The results of this exploratory study indicate that, in triggering bottom-linked governance, the initiative has taken on the bridging roles of knowledge broker, resource broker, shared vision champion, transparency and conflict resolution agent, and network enabler. Alongside taking on these bridging roles, the initiative under study, while promoting cooperation and knowledge exchange, has encountered some challenges further discussed in the paper. Finally, the paper makes some suggestions on how the proposed framework could be enriched.

Over recent decades, various approaches to social innovation (SI) have been developed. At the same time, the question on how SI can contribute to and can impact the development of rural regions still remains only partially answered. One of the research gaps that remains addressed only to a certain extent is associated with the ways in which impacts produced by SI can be assessed. Such research, focusing on SI impacts in rural contexts is even more scarce. In the current paper, an attempt is made to investigate the impacts of an SI initiative operating in the field of integrated rural development. The study takes on a case study design focusing on ADC Moura, a local development association from Baixo Alentejo, Portugal. The results show that the impacts of said SI initiative have a multi-sectoral and multi-durational nature and transcend sectors and address multiple domains (social, economic, institutional, and environmental), with the SI initiative having the most impacts on the local level of the municipality. In addition to this, the paper provides some ideas for further research.

Social innovation entered the academic discourse several decades ago and has since been seen as a way of tackling existing problems in various contexts. Although an extensive body of research has been conducted into the role of social innovation in urban context, there is still a gap when it comes to studying the role of social innovation in the development of rural areas. In this paper, an attempt is made to look at the role of Local Action Groups (LAGs) and Local Development Associations (LDAs) as promoters of social innovation in rural areas in Austria and Portugal, aiming to understand the role of such organisations and the challenges faced by the latter in promoting social innovation.

Dado o seu foco em aumentar a participação, fomenter processos de decisão, e ir ao encontro de desafios locais, a inovação social (IS) partilha algumas características com a idea de desenvolvimento neo-endógeneo, cuja matriz assenta na utilização de recursos e conhecimentos locais e a sua ligação com contextos mais gerais. Através da investigação do caso da região Austríaca de Muehlviertel, este artigo procura analisar as formas como a inovação social pode ser promovida em regiões que praticam formas de desenvolvimento rural neo-endógeneas. Partindo dos dados empíricos recolhidos na região, o artigo conclui que os processos de IS estão alicerçados numa abordagem neo-endógenea ao desenvolvimento da região, criando redes que abarcam todo o território com múltiplos stakeholders, e na qual actividades bottom-up são suportadas e estimuladas. No entanto, o artigo também aponta alguns perigos presentes na acção dos actores regionais na tentativa de promover IS, quer ao nível de limitações burocráticas quer na resistência à inovação.

Social innovation (SI) has been conceptualised in the literature as changing social relations, involving new ways of doing, organising, framing and knowing. Of particular interest is that SI initiatives also engage in the construction of reality through new ways of framing and knowing through the narratives they construct and spread. However, the research addressing narratives of change in particular in rural SI is limited. With this in mind, the current paper makes an attempt to analyse the narratives of change of SI initiatives in rural Portugal and Austria. Based on the data collected within and around the SI initiatives and actors engaged in local development, some of the narratives are presented and discussed. The findings suggest that the narratives of decision‐making divide, procedures and recognition, as well as of constraint and competition are strongly present in two case studies. However, the results point towards narratives of change that rural SI initiatives construct as a way of challenging the above narratives. In addition, the paper engages with three propositions as a way of changing the narrative, reflecting on the narratives of change of bringing rural back in, promoting and supporting experimentation and focusing on opportunity‐led rural SI.