Territorial governance and social innovation in regional development processes in mining territories: a theoretic model under construction

Abstract There are serious contradictions between the proclaimed economic benefits obtained by localities where the mineral extraction industry historically operates, and the results recorded in research work. Studies have pointed out serious problems and negative consequences from the mineral extraction industry’s questionable form of management and relationship with the local environment. These practices have increased the socioeconomic and environmental vulnerability of the territories, both in local and regional dimensions. Studies about development indicate the existence of a positive relationship between governance and economic growth, and between innovation and economic growth. There are also studies that point out innovative processes as essential to local and regional development because they prioritize the territorial diversity and develop opportunities focused on the profile of each region. However, this discussion is still restricted to the economic and exclusive point of view of the industrial sector, which limits the analysis from the perspective of regional development. To unravel the nature of the still unclear relationship between territorial governance and social innovation and the effects of this relationship in regional development processes in mining territories, this article raises a set of six theoretical propositions, which forms a schematic model for further empirical investigation. The aim is to use this model to search for similarities and peculiarities, and to establish parallel or comparative analysis between diverse and different case studies. Resumen Hay una seria contradicción entre los pregonados beneficios económicos generados a las localidades donde se encuentra y donde históricamente subsiste la industria de la minería, y los resultados reportados en estudios, que indican problemas graves y las consecuencias negativas de su cuestionable forma de gestión y su relación con el ambiente local, lo que ha ampliado la vulnerabilidad socioeconómica y ambiental de los territorios en las dimensiones locales y regionales. En los estudios sobre el desarrollo, los análisis indican la existencia de una relación con resultados positivos entre la gobernanza y el crecimiento económico, y entre la innovación y el crecimiento económico. Los estudios también indican los procesos innovadores como esenciales para el desarrollo local y regional, al priorizar toda la diversidad territorial y desarrollar oportunidades orientadas al perfil de cad