A Conceptual Framework for the Evaluation of Social Agriculture: An Application to a Project Aimed at the Employability of Young People NEET

Antonio Baselice,Antonio Lopolito,Maurizio Prosperi

doi:10.3390/su13158608

Abstract

Agriculture can be a possible provider of social services of relevant importance for the whole society. In order to generate a valuable social service, a multi-actor approach is often applied, based on an active collaboration among public institutions, non-profit organizations, and private firms, and capable of generating multiple positive impacts. This new approach may both favorite agricultural diversification and enhance the quality of life of rural communities. However, in order to enable policymakers in motivating the public support to these types of initiatives, an evaluation method capable of disentangling the multiple benefits generated by social agricultural projects is required. In this paper, we adapted the evaluation method previously developed by the SIMRA consortium for Social Innovation initiatives, to a project aimed at the employability of NEETs in the south of Italy. A selection grid, framed by cross-referencing the national policy objectives of social agriculture and the criteria of eligibility adopted in public calls is proposed, to choose the suitable indicators for the evaluation. The evaluation experience allowed the measurement of 34 indicators of performance. The results prove that 12 indicators are positive, while 12 are moderate, and 10 are low and are mainly related to the enhancement of social inclusion. The evaluation exercise may be useful to disentangling the multiple outcomes generated by initiatives based on social innovation, which are highly based on intangible assets, and exert a positive effect on the internal cohesion and the engagement of the civil society.

Highlights

IntroductionSeveral EU member states have enacted specific laws and regulations, to provide a clear definition of social agriculture and to activate some policy intervention to its promotion and deployment
The main feature of social innovation (SI) is that the most relevant outcomes are represented by intangible assets, such as the strengthening of social capital, the reinforcement of the sense of belonging to the local community, and a more pro-active attitude towards new opportunities offered by the market, and the social services provided by the agricultural sector
Initiatives are highly dependent on intangible assets, typically included in the concept of social capital, as shared values, perceptions, expectations, trust, reciprocity [24,25,26,27], which deserves some form of representation, in order to exert a positive effect on the internal cohesion and external engagement

Summary

Introduction

Several EU member states have enacted specific laws and regulations, to provide a clear definition of social agriculture and to activate some policy intervention to its promotion and deployment. In this context, Italy enacted the 141/2015 law, which defines social agriculture as an aspect of the multifunctionality of agricultural enterprises, aimed at the development of social and socio-sanitary services, educational, and sociooccupational placement. In order to generate a valuable social service, a multi-actor approach is required, where local authorities may establish a clear and flexible regulatory framework promoting an active collaboration among public institutions, Sustainability 2021, 13, 8608.

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