ABSTRACT
Objective:
To explore and understand the Family Agro-Industry Clusters from the social innovation perspective.
Originality/gap/relevance/implications:
Social innovation allows us to understand how global issues can be resolved based on local elements. The originality of this study is in the analysis of the cluster as a social innovation, highlighting its formation impacts decisively in the economic and social development of the region in which they operate.
Main methodological aspects:
This study had emphasis on semi-structured interviews with governance members from the investigated cluster, as well as on the analysis of the governance meeting minutes since the emergence of the clusters. The analysis of the collected content was performed with NVivo 11 software.
Summary of key findings:
Social innovation was analyzed based on the viewpoint of the process, network formation, planning, governance, and results. These categories from the theoretical framework enabled the Family Agro-Industry cluster from social innovation to be explained.
Key considerations/conclusions:
Results indicate that the clusters of Family Agro-Industry analyzed can be considered a social innovation because they have the necessary elements for its characterization, emphasizing the governance as a central construct and culture of coalition with actors from the public, private and third sectors in finding solutions for social needs.
KEYWORDS
Innovation; Social; Local clusters; Agro-industry; Family
