Social Regeneration and Local Development: Cooperation, Social Economy and Public Participation

Social regeneration is about the transformative processes that, through institutional choices that embody cooperation and inclusion, develop opportunities and capabilities for weak categories, and transversally for society. The challenge of social regeneration can be addressed, in part, through organisational solutions increasingly identified with social economy organisations, since they are characterised by a social objective, cooperation and inclusive democratic governance.

Besides the organisational element, Social Regeneration and Local Development provides a new perspective on interacting socio-economic factors, which can work in synergy with the social economy organisations model to promote and sustain social regeneration and well-being. Such elements include civic engagement and social capital, the nature of the welfare system, the use of physical assets in urban and rural areas, leadership, technology, and finance.

By analysing organisational and contextual elements, this book offers an institutional perspective on how socio-economic systems can reply to challenges such as social and environmental degradation, financial crises, immigration, inequality, and marginalisation.

• Dr Silvia Sacchetti is an Associate Professor of Economic Policy at the University of Trento, Department of Sociology and Social Research, Italy.
• Dr Asimina Christoforou is at the Department of International and European Economic Studies, Athens University of Economics and Business, Greece
• Michele Mosca is an associate professor of Economic Policy at the Department of Political Science, University of Naples, Federico II, Italy