Relational Capital, Proximity Configurations and Territorial Innovation in Social Economy

We study how social economy organisations mobilise relational capital to enable territorial innovation under proximity configurations. Using a comparative multiple-case design of six Portuguese organisations (interviews, documents, observation), we propose an operational lens that distinguishes social, organisational, and relational innovation and clarifies the boundary between relational capital (stock) and relational innovation (process). Governance levers - participatory routines, distributed leadership, and boundary-spanning - translate relational assets into outcomes. Proximity acts through configurations of organisational and cognitive closeness, moderated by institutional settings and selective extra-regional ties. These configurations lower coordination/search frictions and, via matching efficiency and knowledge spillovers, convert trust into implemented innovations. Digital coordination complements, rather than substitutes, these mechanisms once governance baselines are in place. The contribution is twofold: (i) an actionable stock–process distinction tied to governance mechanisms; and (ii) a configuration-based account of proximity that integrates digital and face-to-face coordination. Practical implications concern proportionate, learning-oriented evaluation and the design of boundary-spanning routines; policy implications support place-based regional development instruments that fund network orchestration and capability building.