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Paper short abstract

This paper explores smart rurality and rural innovation through a case study on the Orkney Islands. The study examines tidal energy and rural innovation, utilizing semi-structured interviews, document analysis and field observations.

Paper long abstract

The paper will elaborate the Orkney case from regional innovation system perspective centered on the tidal energy. This will contribute to notions of smart rurality as it relates to peripheral innovation and opportunities for renewable energy production.

This study employs a qualitative case study on the Orkney Islands, utilizing semi-structured interviews, document analysis and field observations to gather insights. Tidal energy technologies are highly dependent on specific ocean conditions, highlight the importance of other regional advantages as well as other forms proximity for the project’s success. The notion of rural innovation has been given more interest by researchers in recent years, particularly for building up literature that is not limited by solely from a compensation strategy-oriented analysis. Instead, recent developments have suggested peripheral locations and regions can provide other advantages that their urban counterparts lack, particularly qualities that often are overlooked in innovation studies like proximity to specific natural resources. Tidal energy’s innovation system has remained resilient despite lacking core/urban centrality and failure of key projects and actors. Through insights from the Orkney case, the paper will uncover the innovation system’s dynamics that underline its resilience, according to dimensions of proximity i.e. cognitive, institutional, organizational, social, and geographical.