“Why can’t this work here?”: Social innovation and collective impact in a micropolitan community

Authors

Sarah J. Zuckerman, University of Nebraska - LincolnFollow

ORCID IDs

Sarah J. Zuckerman http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3330-6431

Date of this Version

7-2-2020

Citation

Published as:

Zuckerman, S.J. (2020) “Why can’t this work here?”: Social Innovation and Collective Impact in a Micropolitan Community. Community Development. https://doi.org/10.1080/15575330.2020.1789183

Comments

Copyright © 2020 Community Development Society. Published by Routledge/Taylor & Francis. Used by permission.

Abstract

Cross-sector partnerships, and collective impact, in particular, have gained increased attention as community-level strategies for tackling wicked, complex, social challenges such as child maltreatment. To date, there has been limited independent research on collective impact, especially in non-metropolitan areas with limited capacity. This case study examines the conditions that supported the development of a collective impact effort in a non-metropolitan community to address child wellbeing. It finds that small communities offer strengths that support collective impact as a social innovation as well as challenges that create vulnerabilities to outside influence that may stymie the development of locally developed social innovations.