Biocultural Innovation Through Cultural Entrepreneurship in Peripheral Europe: A Case Study of Traditional Herzegovinian Crafts

This study examines the applicability of biocultural innovation theory on landscape embedded rural cultural enterprise in Herzegovina. The findings suggest that traditional crafts such as cheesemaking, stonemasonry and traditional textiles and fashion hold significant biocultural assets that have both entrepreneurial and environmental value. Rural cultural entrepreneurship by operationalizing these assets through the 3C's (conserve, construct, convert) pathways acts as a catalyst of biocultural innovation. Framing rural cultural entrepreneurship as not only able to sustain local cultural heritage but can also serves the role of biocutural stewardship having potential to revive lost culture-nature links and support biodiversity.