Rural–urban features of social innovation: An exploratory study of work integration social enterprises in Ireland

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dc.contributor.authorOlmedo, Lucasen
dc.contributor.authorRuiz-Rivera, María Joséen
dc.contributor.authorO’Shaughnessy, Maryen
dc.contributor.authorChatzichristos, Georgiosen
dc.date.accessioned2025-01-31T11:34:59Z
dc.date.available2025-01-31T11:34:59Z
dc.date.issued2024en
dc.description.abstractGeography is a significant element of social innovation. This paper focuses on exploring differences and similarities in the characteristics and contributions towards impact of Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs), a form of social innovation which provides otherwise unmet services and opportunities to people at risk of social and economic exclusion and distant from the labour market, in rural and urban areas of Ireland. To do so, we use data from 336 surveys from urban (213) and rural (123) WISEs and conduct an exploratory and spatially sensitive analysis to compare the characteristics, in terms of organisational age, legal and governance form, multiplicity of activities, revenue diversification; and contributions towards impact, in terms of geographical focus/reach, employment, volunteers, and income generation. Our analysis shows that WISEs in urban and rural areas present rather similar organisational characteristics and ways of functioning (legal structure, multiactivity, multiple sources of funding), but their contributions to socioeconomic impact differ according to their spatial location, with urban WISEs generating significantly more employment and income than their rural counterparts. Our study illustrates that socially innovative organisations are spatially sensitive, and that context influences their capacity to create sustainable employment opportunities and contribute to the local economy. © 2024 by the authors.en
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden
dc.description.versionPublished Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.articleid82en
dc.identifier.citationOlmedo, L., Ruiz-Rivera, M.J., O’Shaughnessy, M. and Chatzichristos, G. (2024) 'Rural–Urban Features of Social Innovation: An Exploratory Study of Work Integration Social Enterprises in Ireland', Societies, 14(6), p.82. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc14060082en
dc.identifier.doihttps://doi.org/10.3390/soc14060082en
dc.identifier.issn20754698en
dc.identifier.issued6
dc.identifier.journaltitleSocietiesen
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/16941
dc.identifier.volume14
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherMultidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)en
dc.rights© 2024, the Authors. This work is made available under the CC BY license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)en
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subjectRuralen
dc.subjectSocial economyen
dc.subjectSocial innovationen
dc.subjectUrbanen
dc.subjectWork integration social enterprisesen
dc.titleRural–urban features of social innovation: An exploratory study of work integration social enterprises in Irelanden
dc.typeArticle (peer reviewed)en
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