Browsing by Author "Pelto, Isa"

This thesis investigates the factors and variables of social innovations around different Non-Wood Forest Products (NWFPs) in Spain. The general objective is to determine, if social innovations have improved the Spanish NWFP sector. It is not profitable to manage Spanish forestry as timber oriented. Due to this, many forest areas are left unmanaged, leading them to become shrublands, which is socially- ecologically and economically harmful. There seems to be a need for tools with the objective of making the forestry sector both socially and economically more appealing. Social innovations have the potential to facilitate the construction of forest management which considers the benefits of both complementary products and services, as well as the trade-offs between conflicting interests. The research methodology is qualitative, and it is a combination of inductive- and deductive approaches. Literature reviews were done on social innovations and Mediterranean NWFP sector. Six definitions were carefully selected and used as a base for determining if included case studies could be considered as social innovations. The eight case studies are collaborations within the Spanish NWFP sector, and the qualitative data was collected either through semi- structured interviews or tailor-made questionnaires,. The obtained data was analysed using the MAXQDA coding tool until the point of saturation. A social innovation in the field of NWFP in Spain was found to be social in both its means and ends, and to have long durability and internal acceptance within the society. All case studies were defined as social innovations. Initial contexts of the case studies were shown to affect the objectives, activities and outcomes of the case studies. The results showed, that net outcomes for all case studies were strongly positive. The case studies reported positive social- environmental and economic outcomes, and 66% of all reported positive results were economic. Based on the results, social innovations in the field of NWFP in Spain have positive economic effects, even if economic improvement is not the primary driver for the formation of the collaboration.