ABSTRACT

This last chapter examines several case studies that stand as examples of eco-social transformation, community development and social innovation in Italy, Germany, and Switzerland. All of them demonstrate the creative power of local embeddedness, diversity, and cooperation and present a vision of possible futures. Some cases arose directly from the recent immigration dynamics in Europe, and most of them are a response to cumulative social and economic problems in the territories, thus supporting the popular belief that adversity can lead to creativity. The examples also demonstrate the innovative power that results from cultural diversity, new relationships, and new combinations of existing systems. All examples are of bottom-up approaches, driven by civil society actors, sometimes coherent with political and economic forces, committed to the common good and to a culture of legality, and all trying to find ways out of problematic constellations. Beyond being short-term solutions, they are models for an innovative politics of possibilities.