Social capital and rural innovation process. The evaluation of the measure 124 "Cooperation for Development of New Products, Processes and Technologies in the Agriculture, Food and Forestry Sector" in the Umbria Region

The most recent theories on innovation point out the role of social networks, demonstrating how knowledge is intertwined with network communities and social capital represents an essential factor to comprehend innovation. The social network dimension of the innovation process is also acknowledged in the actual definition of an agricultural innovation system (AIS). This study attempts to assess the role played by social capital in agricultural innovation projects co-financed by the Measure 124 of the Rural Development Program (2007-2013) of the Umbria Region (Italy), based on the analysis of 5 evaluation criteria (relevance, innovation, effectiveness, sustainability, and social capital) in relation to 8 selected projects. The obtained results confirm the validity of the proposed methodology both for the purpose of internal monitoring of the project and for the assessment of the measure on the basis of tangible and intangible factors, such as social capital. Keywords Social capital, Agricultural innovation, Rural Development Program; Umbria