INSPIRING CHANGE: SCALING YOUR INNOVATION BY IMITATION

Insights from FLIARA’s case study comparative analysis show that women-led innovations in farming and rural areas have a substantial impact on the local level – providing products and services important for the local community, providing a livelihood for the innovators and their employees, and renegotiating attitudes towards sustainability and the role of women in society. Engaged in typically labour-intensive industries such as tourism, events, or artisan foods, women innovators are often happy with maintaining a manageable size and serving a local market. They may not have the growth ambitions common in technical fields, but they are eager to see their sustainable innovation expand to other contexts through various forms of imitation, even if this may not be financially rewarding.

Successful strategies for scaling by imitation:
Being a role model. By simply doing what they do, the innovators act as role models, and in doing so they show that women can play a significant role in rural businesses, associations, and communities. By being leaders, they challenge gender stereotypes and pave the way for other innovative women in their communities and beyond.

Spreading the word. They are innovative by actively encouraging imitation through study visits, internships, and by cooperating with other women. By joining or creating women’s networks and focusing on women suppliers and customers, they empower women and strengthen female cooperation.

Welcoming copy-cats. The women are positively inclined to copy-cats since they are eager for their innovation to spread. The innovation being copied extends beyond a specific product or service, including an innovative philosophy of the business, hiring practices, or any context-specific model developed.