Estensoro, M.
Systemic Practice and Action Research, DOI 10.1007/s11213-015-9347-2
English // Keywords: Social innovation, action research, facilitation, local network, territorial development
Description
This paper explores how social innovation can be facilitated, a subject that has not been addressed adequately by literature. The results identify five key factors based on a local network developed in Goierri County (Basque Country, Spain). The network was created to foster local economic development through an action research process. The engagement of the author in this action research process permitted her to adopt an “inside-out” position that enabled her to explore similarities in the assumptions that support social innovation and action research. Through an analysis of this process, the nature of the facilitator’s knowing how is made explicit in understanding how social innovation is facilitated. The main argument is that action research can facilitate social innovation. The process approach that is applied for this analysis increases the reflexive capacity of the author, leading to a contribution of both new theoretical insight and new practical knowledge.
