What is Social Innovation Initiatives

To discuss the role of the organizational actor in the process of social transformation in territories as a promoter of social gains and responses is what this chapter is all about. The discussion was carried out through theoretical landmarks on social innovation, and an empirical study in the articulation of the semi-arid (SAA) organization, which is aimed at creating conditions for coexistence with the most arid region of Brazil. Results show that the organizational actor plays the roles of enhancing the society capacity to act, to create new roles and relationships with the other actors, and to promote access to resources, thus enabling family farmers to better meet their own needs. It is concluded that the social innovation initiative studied is characterized by its dissemination in sync with specific actions articulated in a network and adapted to the contexts, with the organizational actor as the pivot and representative of the paradigmatic transition.