Local Particularities in Regional Social Innovation: A Case Study of Rural Stay Program in Mungyeong, South Korea
Abstract
Rural decline threatens sustainable development, leading to lower life quality and environmental degradation. To revitalize regional areas and address youth unemployment problems, the Korean government established a Youth Village program to attract young people to rural towns and set up new businesses. A rural town, Mungyeong, was chosen as a case study to investigate its rural stay program, motivations, and outcomes. Based on the report review and preliminary interview with the program organizer, we identify the program’s strengths, weaknesses, and critical success factors. The issues are then examined through a cultural lens to identify cultural and regional differences that may act as enablers or barriers to social innovation. The paper contributes an in-depth understanding of local challenges to develop an appropriate social innovation strategy. We anticipate that Mungyeong’s lessons will apply to other regional social innovation projects.
Keywords
Rural Stay; Regional Revitalization; Social Innovation; Cultural Dimensions
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3384/ecp203018
Citation
Thamjamrassri, P., Kang, H.,and Lee, Y.(2023) Local Particularities in Regional Social Innovation: A Case Study of Rural Stay Program in Mungyeong, South Korea, in Carla Cipolla, Claudia Mont’Alvão, Larissa Farias, Manuela Quaresma (eds.), ServDes 2023: Entanglements & Flows Conference, Service Encounters and Meanings, 11-14th July 2023, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. https://doi.org/10.3384/ecp203018
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Local Particularities in Regional Social Innovation: A Case Study of Rural Stay Program in Mungyeong, South Korea
Rural decline threatens sustainable development, leading to lower life quality and environmental degradation. To revitalize regional areas and address youth unemployment problems, the Korean government established a Youth Village program to attract young people to rural towns and set up new businesses. A rural town, Mungyeong, was chosen as a case study to investigate its rural stay program, motivations, and outcomes. Based on the report review and preliminary interview with the program organizer, we identify the program’s strengths, weaknesses, and critical success factors. The issues are then examined through a cultural lens to identify cultural and regional differences that may act as enablers or barriers to social innovation. The paper contributes an in-depth understanding of local challenges to develop an appropriate social innovation strategy. We anticipate that Mungyeong’s lessons will apply to other regional social innovation projects.