Innovations in rural space: from modernisation to network innovations

The process of globalization has fundamentally changed the significance of innovations in the development of rural areas. The modernisation paradigm in agriculture has been replaced by the post-productivist regime, which means a change of the innovation order. The linear diffusion of the innovation model is being replaced by a network, endogenous model. The former concentrated on adaptation of innovations and operated at the macro-social level; the latter focuses on processes of social learning of innovation and on the creation of hybrid social networks at the micro-social level. In the modernisation paradigm, innovations were created outside of the agricultural sector. In the endogenous model, the significance of social innovation and participation of different social actors are crucial. The main purpose of the paper is to analyse how the new network model of innovation is being creating and what groups of social actors participate in the process of change