IFI researchers Matthias Fink and Daniela Maresch together with project initiator Ralph Richter (IRS – Leibniz Institute for Research on Socierty and Space, Erkner) visit several social enterprises and interview stakeholders on the local, regional and national level across the Ballyhoura region which spans between Cork and Limerick in the middle-west of Ireland.
This field trip is part of RurInno, a project funded by the European Union under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie RISE (Horizon 2020) action. RurInno focuses on the interplay between social innovation and local communities in the development of structurally weak rural areas in Europe. The research spans across the disciplines of sociology and business and takes a comparative approach drawing on cases from Greece, Poland, Ireland and Austria. Results will not only be disseminated in academic publications, but will also directly inform practice.
Picture: Liskennet social farm manager David Doyle together with Matthias Fink (IFI) and Ralph Richter (IRS)