Varieties of innovation and transition pathways in rural areas: A theoretical perspective to technology-, community-, and nature-based development

Rural regions encompass a wide variety of contexts, often facing challenges such as population decline and ageing, or limited infrastructure and services. Yet, rural territories can also be unique places for experimentation and serve as sites of transformative, sustainability-oriented development. We contribute with the development of a theoretical perspective on rural transition pathways that connects rural pre-conditions across industrial, social, and ecological dimensions with distinct varieties of innovation—technological, community-based, and nature-based—and with system effects achieved through two key elements: change agency and rescaling. We identify four archetypes of transition pathways in rural areas: rescaling a rural niche, transforming an existing industry, a community-based pathway, and a nature-based pathway, and provide an empirical illustration for each. The archetypes capture variations of possible transition pathways grounded in theoretical differences in the processes leading to system change. As such, the archetypes are propositions regarding why and how sustainable and inclusive system change can occur in rural regions.