Understanding the Initiators of Social Innovation in Rural Areas

As in the social innovation literature, the role of initiators / agentic engines is highlighted, the purpose of the paper is to deepen the understanding of initiators in the social innovation process and to further develop its evaluation. Accepting that the role of individuals is one of the most important aspects of the social innovation process, the main question posed in this study is how to develop the evaluation of this aspect further, and how to make it more objective. To get a deeper understanding of agentic engines, beyond literature review a group profile of selected social innovators is analyzed. The results are based on their Profile XT personal competence assessments (provided by Profiles International Hungary) as well as in-depth interviews with them. The research reveals four elements for rating initiators: having a vision (purpose driven), being interested in serving people (Relationship System Intelligence), being proactive (positive attitude) and having a diverse network (outsider and insider)