The role of European fisheries funds for innovation and regional development in Galicia (Spain)

ABSTRACT

Social innovations are recognized as a pillar of sustainable rural development processes and are strongly conditioned by territorial capabilities. The objective of this study is to analyze the social innovations that have arisen in the coastal community of Lira (Galicia, Spain) since the early 2000s to provide a better understanding of the role of European fisheries policy on regional and local development. This study shows that the social innovations related to shared fishery resources management in protected areas, new tourism products linked to maritime heritage, or empowerment of women’s work in shellfish farming, were strongly conditioned by the volume of public funds invested in the community. They have provided progress that needs to be consolidated through reinforcing the capabilities of fisheries local action group (FLAG) structures, which have become examples of social innovation that strengthen the RRI paradigm. Nevertheless, the FLAGs must overcome limiting factors, such as the resistance to change from the local community, the difficulty in integrating the weakest actors or regional and local governments’ attempts to control the decision-making bodies of the FLAG.

KEYWORDS:

• Social innovations
• RRI
• local sustainable development
• FLAGs
• coastal communities

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

M. Ángeles Piñeiro-Antelo http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8837-989X

Rubén C. Lois-González http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4717-1061

Notes

1 The cofradías are non-profit public sector corporations, representative of the economic interests of fishing vessel owners and fishing sector workers, which act as consultation and collaboration bodies of the competent administrations in matters of maritime fishing and management of the fishing sector. (DECREE 8/2014 of January 16, which regulates the fishermen cofradías of Galicia and their federations).

Additional information

Funding

This paper is based on research supported by the Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria, Xunta de Galicia.