Varieties of innovation and transition pathways in rural areas: A theoretical perspective to technology-, community-, and nature-based development

Markus Grillitsch, Rhiannon Pugh, Michał Miedziński, Simone Sasso · 2026 · Progress in Human Geography

Summary. Rural regions face population decline and limited services, yet can drive transformative sustainability development. This paper presents a theoretical framework connecting rural conditions across industrial, social, and ecological dimensions to three types of innovation: technological, community-based, and nature-based. The authors identify four archetypes of transition pathways, emphasizing how change agency and rescaling mechanisms produce system-level effects in rural areas.

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@article{grillitsch-2026-varieties-innovation-transition-pathways-rural,
  title   = {Varieties of innovation and transition pathways in rural areas: A theoretical perspective to technology-, community-, and nature-based development},
  author  = {Markus Grillitsch and Rhiannon Pugh and Michał Miedziński and Simone Sasso},
  journal = {Progress in Human Geography},
  year    = {2026},
  doi     = {10.1177/03091325261450351},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1177/03091325261450351}
}

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Varieties of innovation and transition pathways in rural areas: A theoretical perspective to technology-, community-, and nature-based development
AU  - Markus Grillitsch
AU  - Rhiannon Pugh
AU  - Michał Miedziński
AU  - Simone Sasso
JO  - Progress in Human Geography
PY  - 2026
DO  - 10.1177/03091325261450351
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1177/03091325261450351
ER  - 

Details

DOI

10.1177/03091325261450351

Countries

Sweden, Belgium

Regions

Europe

Categories

innovation-theory, regional-innovation-systems, climate-and-environment, general-innovation

Added

2026-06-01