“Regenerative” social innovation for European rural regions? Lessons from regenerative farming

The paper aims at positioning regenerative agriculture within the theoretical discussions on rural social innovations. By analysing the concept and practices of regeneration it argues that there is an emerging shift towards grassroots rural initiatives which re-imagine farming and food production as socio-ecologically embedded processes which encourage shared societal responsibility for resources use and food production. Moreover, the paper argues that these processes can suggest a path to rural social innovation that rethinks the mainstream concepts of development and growth, offering epistemological transitions to non-extractivist economies and production systems.