The role of social innovations in the development of the region of the Lubelskie Province – the examples of good practices

Abstract

The notion of innovation has been introduced by J.A. Schumpeter to economic literature. An innovation is commonly recognized as a product, service or organizational-productive improvement. It can be the proverbial lever of socio-economic development of economies of the world, if it meets proper criteria and is properly implemented into the real sphere. As a scientific discipline it dates back its origin to 1911 and it soon gained recognition and now features prominently on the list of sciences supporting the progress and economic growth, but also the development composed of these categories. It is hard to imagine the progress or the growth without the adjective innovative. In practice it is believed that all new products are innovative, which means they are technologically better, more useful, more durable, which is not always true. The precondition for widely-understood innovation is demand, consumption. A specific form of innovation are social innovations that satisfy the social needs connected with the implementation of priorities and business needs. They produce the results in the form of development of new areas of cooperation and better use of resources and they can represent grounds to create integrative relations. Social elements of these innovations are manifested both in aims (priorities) and in the use of measures. The objective of this article is to present the role of social innovations in the development of the region of the Lubelskie province with the examples of good practices. In the article the following hypothesis is formulated: social innovations can and should be vital for the improvement of the quality of life and economic growth in the tourist and nature-historical communes.In order to be effective such actions must meet proper qualitative criteria, defined with clear social benefits and an adequate economic balance [Caulier-Grice, Kahn, Mulgan, Pulford, Vasconcelos, 2010, s. 16–18]. At this stage the number of implemented projects of social innovation in Lubelszczyzna region is in the phase of development. However, the increase of interest in this area can result in expected changes in culture and in increasing the region’s socio-economic activity.