Smart Villagers as Actors of Digital Social Innovation in Rural Areas
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22018179 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Nicole Zerrer (0000-0002-5394-4289, Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space), Ariane Sept (0000-0002-8691-1950, Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue | 4 |
| Pages | 78-88 |
| Publication date | 2020-10-14 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Urban Planning (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2183-7635 • E-ISSN: 2183-7635 |
| Publisher | Cogitatio (PUBLISHER • PT) |
| DOI | 10.17645/up.v5i4.3183 |
| OpenAlex | W3093201780 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 21 |
| References cited | 27 |
Digital social innovation (DSI) is commonly associated with cities. However, DSI is not limited to urban space. In rural areas, it is the inhabitants themselves who start and push digitalization projects, and collaborate with professional actors from the outside. These innovators see digitalization as a chance to solve rural problems such as scarce mobility, declining community interactions, demographic change, or urban-rural digital divide. In consequence, DSI such as smart community centers, digitally managed car-sharing, or community apps also emerge in rural areas. The article seeks to better understand the different actors responsible for the rural digitalization processes. Based on interviews, document analyses, and field notes, the article focuses on two cases in rural Germany: Wesedun is part of a regional digitalization project empowering villagers to evolve own ideas, and Wokisrab shows off a bottom-up driven digitalization strategy. Both villages are aiming to improve the quality of life. Indicated by these cases and inspired by literature on social innovation, the actor groups are identified as drivers, supporters, and users. Based on the interactions and collaborations of these groups, we introduce Smart Villagers, the bottom-up actors of rural DSI. In order to design governance processes, the results indicate that even though Smart Villagers are motivated, skilled and engaged, they want and need the support of professional actors from the outside
Business · Corporate governance · Economic growth · Economics · Political science · Public relations · Rural area · Computer Science · Innovation, Technology, and Society · Innovative Approaches in Technology and Social Development · Rural development and sustainability
Smart rurality and regional inequalities
“What is a smart solution supposed to mean anyway?” Quiet smartness and the recognition of rural smart development as a question of knowledge production
Zukunft gestalten mit Sozialen Innovationen
Towards Digital Social Infrastructure? Digital Neighborly Connectedness as a Social Resource
The City of Digital Social Innovators
Smart villages concept — A bibliometric analysis and state-of-the-art literature review
Digitalization of social infrastructure in left-behind-places – Empirical example of schools in Thuringia, Germany
Socially Innovative Initiatives in Deprived Rural Areas of Germany, Ireland and Portugal
Leadership styles in rural social innovation
Challenges of smart solutions for rural ageing
Digital transformation through the lens of peripheralisation
Everyday technology's interplay in the lives of people with dementia
Introduction. Dynamics of social innovations in rural communities
Smart villages in practice
Bridging generations
Digital social innovations in rural areas – process tracing and mapping critical junctures
Challenges for smart mobility
Contextualizing the rural in digital studies
The intersection of digital and social infrastructures in (a)spatial policymaking
Mind the gap
Digitalization and Social Innovation in Rural Areas
The Platform Society
Social innovation research
Innovation in the Periphery
Social Innovation
‘Stuck Out Here’
Identifying social innovations in European local rural development initiatives
Rural development in the digital age
Rural social enterprises as embedded intermediaries
Being a ‘citizen’ in the smart city
Crowdsourcing urban sustainability. Data, people and technologies in participatory governance
Social innovation in rural development
Rural Marginalisation and the Role of Social Innovation; A Turn Towards Nexogenous Development and Rural Reconnection
Social Innovation in Rural Regions
Why do Social Innovations in Rural Development Matter and Should They be Considered More Seriously in Rural Development Research? - Proposal for a Stronger Focus on Social Innovations in Rural Development Research
Why Poor People Stay Poor. Urban Bias in World Development
Analysing Changes in Discursive Constructions of Rural Areas in the Context of Demographic Change. Towards Counterpoints in the Dominant Discourse on 'Dying Villages
| Unique citing works | 21 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3,5 |
| Citation span | 2020 - 2026 (7) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 19 |