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Social innovation is a process in which local communities build social and cultural capital to address challenges and social needs. The diffusion of social innovation requires compelling narratives that encourage people to join them. Using qualitative techniques and a multiple case study methodology, this article examines the content of narratives of social innovation in rural areas and how actors construct, spread and change them. We propose a narrative analytical framework comprising four key components: problematisation; solutions and goals; actors; and plot, which we apply to three initiatives in Scotland and Spain. Our findings suggest that marginalisation, the natural environment and community activation are central themes in the content of narratives. In addition, we explain how policies and public actors can support social innovation as well as how collective leadership of social innovations can reduce imbalances in power relations, and contribute to a consistent evolution of narratives over time, enhancing the sustainability of social innovation projects overall.

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I n many ways, leader has been a very significant intervention. Before leader, rural development policy was almost completely unknown in Spain and, for this reason alone, leader represented a new force in rural affairs. The invitation to form territorial collaborations was also novel and local actors were quick to perceive it as an important political tool with which to tackle both the problems of rural areas and the challenges presented by the new roles being assigned to the rural world. Furthermore, leader has subsequently produced material, local impacts through its ability to generate investment in development projects.The progress of leader has, of course, been refracted through (some might say 'hindered' by) the institutional conditions of the politico-administrative system. Leader has been used as a political power tool by the various levels, leading to confrontations in order to gain control over the programme. Nevertheless, awareness and acceptance of the deeper philosophy behind leader has been gaining ground so that it is increasingly acknowledged as a powerful tool for the promotion of rural development in general and for the animation of local, collective action. It would be inaccurate to describe leader as a 'great success'. Rather, it has started an incipient process in which a new democratic and co-operative culture in rural areas is being created and in which rural entrepreneurs are acquiring an enhanced capacity for decision making. The arrival of LEADER in SpainAs measured by statistics, Spain has participated enthusiastically in leader. During leader i, a total of 52 lags were established in Spain, with an average area of 1,575 km 2 and a density of 22.6 inhabitants per km 2 . Altogether, leader i accounted for 16 per cent of the territory and 5 per cent of the population of Spain. During leader ii, the number of lags rose to 132 groups, the average surface area to 1,700 km 2 , and the average density to 23 inhabitants per km 2 . Leader ii areas now account for 45 per cent of the Spanish territory and some 13 per cent of its population.The appearance of leader at the beginning of the 1990s was a shock to the Spanish system (Esparcia and Noguera 1997a). It was the very first public policy designed to tackle social and economic deprivation in lagging rural areas directly.

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