Relying on an interview-based research carried out in the Szeklerland region (Romania), the present study investigates the social embeddedness patterns of innovative agricultural initiatives existing in rural areas. The analysis covers three areas: structural embeddedness patterns of local scale, practical initiatives strengthening social embeddedness, and ideas of innovative actors on their future role within the local community. The innovative agricultural actors included in the analysis are local agents who attempt to position themselves and their activities on a local scale amidst diffuse and constantly changing conditions. The specific forms of embeddedness under scrutiny here indicate that innovative actors and practices form part of the local community mostly on the structural level, functionally making their presence felt to a lesser extent.

Relying on an interview-based research carried out in Szeklerland (Eastern Transylvania) between 2011 and 2020, the present study investigates the impact of the new rural development paradigm on the first level indicated by Van der Ploeg et al. (2000): changes in the relationship between agriculture and local society. The analysed region does not form an administrative unit, it is the eastern region of the former Austro-Hungarian monarchy. It consists of rural settlements and small towns, the population of which is mostly of Hungarian ethnicity. More than half of the households have a small amount of land and are engaged in farming as their main or supplementary activity. Following a brief overview of the regional context, our paper analyzes the essential changes that have been taking place in the relationship between agriculture and the regional society over the last one or two decades. The focus of the analysis is how changes in the relationship between agriculture and the regional society appear in the innovative agricultural entrepreneurs’ practice and interpretations.

" In a rural context, on the example of the Szeklerland region of Eastern Transylvania (Romania), based on the relevant literature and an exploratory research, our study analyses the question of how and to what extent the components related to the new economy phenomenon in new, small-scale enterprises can be detected. In this regard, we analyzed 30 interviews – 17 women and 13 men, aged 25-35 years – conducted with founders and managers of innovative enterprises, and case studies. The research was conducted in 2019-2020. We applied the methodology of the “contextual turn” approach (Welter, 2011) and the social constructive perspective (Jack–Anderson, 2002; Korsgaard–Anderson, 2011). The main focus of the study is the analysis of the regional context and the three components of new economy characteristics referring to the starting, running and representing enterprises (1. incorporating elements of individual habitus, 2. the role of personal beliefs and values, 3. the role of the social environment in the development and operation of the enterprise), which bring changes to regional entrepreneurial practices by prioritizing the personal characteristics of entrepreneurs."