How rurality influences interactive innovationprocesses: lessons learnt from 15 case studies in12 countries

Rural regions are considered a key element to allow a shift towardssustainable development. However, to what extent they are able toinnovate and how they integrate into interactive innovationprocesses considering their distance from urban centres remainsunclear. By drawing on 15 case studies of interactive innovation inagriculture and rural developmentin a variety of rural regions acrossEurope, and combining a rural-urbantypologywithdataonthequality of AKIS (Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems),four classes of ruralities were defined. In them, the innovationprocess was analysed by paying special attention to the analyticalaspects of: (i) organizational structure; (ii) initial idea; (iii)finance; (iv)access to extraregional resources. The results show that innovation inmore rural regions is often inspired by external ideas, while drawingon already well-established networks. Rural entrepreneurs asindividual actors drive innovation, but struggle in‘thin’environmentswith little support and scarce private funding. The private sector canbuffer lack of AKIS support, but embedded NGOs and producers’organizations act as last resorts inmoreremoteregions.Thestudycontributes to a profounder understanding of how rurality impactsinnovation processes, offering an analytical framework for futurerurality studies and policy interventions