Local Economy: Creating Community Innovation from Green-Blue Local Enterprise Management

Abstract

The objectives of the research were to study local wisdom and the creation of social innovation for the development of the local economy strength: a case study of the management of green-blue local enterprise in Chanthaburi. The mixed method was quantitative research using questionnaire concerning local wisdom for the local economic development, operation process through local wisdom, and the results of the operation, with 400 respondents, and qualitative research using interviews with local scholars and the government representatives to explain the creation and implementation of social innovations for the local economic development.

            The finding shows that local wisdom identified at the highest level was in the areas of agriculture and fisheries, with a focus on sustainable practices. This wisdom was widely practiced and passed down through storytelling and has been developed and expanded over a period of 10-20 years and the benefits of local wisdom included increased income. The operational processes through local wisdom involved accessing production factors, management, marketing, and communication. The outcomes of these operations included increased family income, better income distribution, improved community relations, internal community management for enterprise support, community welfare system organization, and public benefit activities. The creation of community innovations based on local economic development in both communities involved collaboratively developing routes, activities, and tourism products that were interconnected through the promotion of experience exchange.

Policy Recommendations included low-cost farming increasing the value of products such as organic fruits, processing, market development, and promoting agricultural tourism using orchard communities as demonstration plots, establishing local wisdom conservation centers, and creating new generations of farmers.