Title: Urban civic networks as the relational space for social innovation

Authors: Alessandra Ricciardelli; Francesco Manfredi

Addresses: Department of Economics, University LUM Jean Monnet, S.S. 100, Km 18, 70010, Casamassima (BA), Italy ' Department of Economics, University LUM Jean Monnet, S.S. 100, Km 18, 70010, Casamassima (BA), Italy

Abstract: The study aims to present the case on urban civic networks as a practice of innovation within the realm of collaborative governance. We investigate the case of the City of Bari as instrumental in initiating the affirmation of social ecosystems of innovation with their own organisational and social models. Our findings highlight the key role of community engagement in an alternative action model of impacting on their urban spaces and concerning all the aspects of the social organisation. The study's theoretical background is made of three complimentary theories: community governance, social movements and social innovation. This study uses a research methodology based upon a single case analysis given the uniqueness of this case and lack of comparative situations. We conclude with a discussion of how urban civic networks and the use of networking and engagement open new doors for generating development and innovation at the local level.

Keywords: civic networks; innovation; ecosystems of innovation; social innovation; social movement theory; collaborative governance; organisational models; community governance; stakeholder engagement; local development.

DOI: 10.1504/IJKBD.2020.108366

International Journal of Knowledge-Based Development, 2020 Vol.11 No.2, pp.200 - 216

Received: 04 Oct 2019
Accepted: 28 Feb 2020
Published online: 10 Jul 2020 *

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