Local social innovations - the source of welfare in rural areas

In Finland, like in several European countries, the challenges related to organisation of welfare services have been growing over the past few decades. Solutions to the existing problems have been sought including... [ view full abstract ]

In Finland, like in several European countries, the challenges related to organisation of welfare services have been growing over the past few decades. Solutions to the existing problems have been sought including administrative reforms, the renewal of service structures and the intensification of service provision. At the same time, in rural areas there have arisen innovative models which emphasise the local perspective and cross-border co-operation when both defining welfare needs and organising different ways to secure and to promote the welfare of local residents. I will review the development and the operation of these social innovations by way of the theory of “local welfare system” (LWS) by Andreotti, Mignione and Polizzi (2012). The aim is to find an answer to the following question: what are the factors related to the operational circumstances that contribute to the emergency of social innovations at the local level?                              

The presentation is based on a case study carried out in two rural localities - the municipality of Sievi and the village of Ullava – in western Finland. In both cases local residents have taken an active role in the organization and delivery of local welfare services. In the case of Ullava, this is done through a service co-operative owned by villagers while in Sievi there is an association that provides different services for families with children. The main sources of data are interviews with the local key actors, statistics describing demography and economic structure and information available on the websites of municipalities and other local actors. The data gathered are analysed using thematic analysis in order to identify the specific socio-economic and cultural conditions that give rise to local social innovations and to understand the crucial factors that make it possible to sustain them.

Based on the results of the study the emergence of local social innovations is a combination of external causes and the local resources. An incentive for both of the cases studied has been the ongoing changes in the context of the national welfare policy that have caused a fear that in time local services will diminish and eventually disappear. Characteristic of the local solutions is the comprehensive understanding of welfare where welfare needs and resources available are tightly interwoven. However, the creation of local solutions calls for a strong sense of community including diverse social networks, a shared vision of common goals and, though for the future, the tradition of cooperation, a diverse enough community structure that offers various resources and different skills and, most importantly, people who are willing to take charge in regard to common issues.       

To enable and promote the development of local social innovations presumes that the national welfare policy has the capability to recognise specific local circumstances and is open enough for different solutions to be implemented. In addition, it has to be accepted that not all local communities have preconditions to be innovative or take responsibility for their own welfare.