Social Innovation as a Driving Force in Local Development and Social Entrepreneurship

Abstract

<p>This paper addresses social innovation in local development and social entrepreneurship from a theoretical and practical perspective, using the new sources of employment (NYE, for its initials in Spanish) as reference. To that end, we start from the systematization of experiences in three municipalities from the province of Almeria, Spain, focused on improving people’s lives (home services, child care, and helping young men and women with integration difficulties). The implementation of these centers has had a positive impact on rural municipalities in their fight against aging and depopulation, and has managed to maintain and even increase production, income and employment.</p>