Social innovation

Social innovations are new strategies, concepts, ideas and organizations that meet the social needs of different elements which can be from working conditions and education to community development and health — they extend and strengthen civil society. Social innovation includes the social processes of innovation, such as open source methods and techniques and also the innovations which have a social purpose — like online volunteering, microcredit, or distance learning.

Prominent innovators associated with the term include Pakistani Akhter Hameed Khan, Bangladeshi Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank which pioneered the concept of microcredit for supporting innovators in multiple developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, and also inspired programs such as the Infolady Social Entrepreneurship Programme[1][2][3] of Dnet (A Social Enterprise) and Stephen Goldsmith, former Indianapolis mayor who engaged the private sector in providing many city services.[4][5]

Matters of Definition

Social Innovation has an inter-sectoral approach and is universally applicable. Social Innovations are launched by a variety of actors, including research institutions, companies or independent organizations, which each tend to use their own definition of Social Innovation. Therefore, it is worth discussing the most important aspects that distinguish it from other forms of social work or innovation. Social Innovation focuses on the process of innovation, how innovation and change take shape (as opposed to the more traditional definition of social innovation, giving priority to the internal organization of firms serving the productivity). Social Innovation focuses on new work and new forms of cooperation (business models).,[6] especially those that work towards a sustainable society.

The Young Foundation, in order to distinguish between social and business innovation, stressed that social innovation is developed and diffused via organisations, whose primary purposes are not centred on mere profit maximisation (Mulgan et al., 2007, p. 8). The Bureau of European Policy Advisers more precisely defined social innovation as socially oriented in both ends and means (Hubert, 2010). According to these influential definitions, social innovation is characterised by: the capacity to address social needs that traditional policy seems increasingly unable to tackle; the empowerment of groups and individuals; and the willingness to change social relations. Hence, social innovation is often presented as a way to increase the quality of social services and their cost-effectiveness, offering equivalent, if not superior, outcomes despite considerable budget constraints.

Social innovation can take place within government; the for-profit sector, the nonprofit sector (also known as the third sector), or in the spaces between them. Research has focused on the types of platforms needed to facilitate such cross-sector collaborative social innovation.

Social entrepreneurship, like social enterprise, is typically in the nonprofit sector excluding both for-profit and public organizations.[7] Both social entrepreneurship and social enterprise are important contributions to social innovation by creating social value and introducing new ways of achieving goals. Social entrepreneurship brings “new patterns and possibilities for innovation” and are willing to do things that existing organizations are not willing to do.[7]

Social Innovation is often an effort of mental creativity which involves fluency and flexibility from a wide range of disciplines. The act of social innovation in a sector is mostly connected with diverse disciplines within the society. The social innovation theory of 'connected difference' emphasizes three key dimensions to social innovation.[8] First, innovations are usually new combinations or hybrids of existing elements, rather than completely new. Second, their practice involves cutting across organizational or disciplinary boundaries. Lastly, they leave behind compelling new relationships between previously separate individuals and groups.[9] Social innovation is also gaining visibility within academia.[10]

History

Social innovation was discussed in the writings of figures such as Peter Drucker and Michael Young (founder of the Open University and dozens of other organizations) in the 1960s.[11] It also appeared in the work of French writers in the 1970s, such as Pierre Rosanvallon, Jacques Fournier, and Jacques Attali.[12] However, the themes and concepts in social innovation existed long before. Benjamin Franklin, for example, talked about small modifications within the social organization of communities[13] that could help to solve everyday problems. Many radical 19th century reformers like Robert Owen, founder of the cooperative movement, promoted innovation in the social field and all of the great sociologists including Karl Marx, Max Weber and Émile Durkheim focused attention on broader processes of social change. Other theories of innovation became prominent in the 20th century, many of which had social implications, without putting social progress at the center of the theory. Joseph Schumpeter, for example, addressed the process of innovation directly with his theory of creative destruction and his definition of entrepreneurs as people who combined existing elements in new ways to create a new product or service. Beginning in the 1980s, writers on technological change increasingly addressed how social factors affect technology diffusion.[14]

The article “Rediscovering Social Innovation” mentions how social innovations are dependent on history and the change in institutions. The article discusses the ten recent social innovations reflecting current change to include:

Criticism

Over the last two decades social innovation has gained significant popularity as a strategy to tackle new social risks including population ageing and its health correlates (Hubert, 2010; Mulgan et al., 2007, 2010; Murray, Caulier-Grice and Mulgan, 2010). However, as other concepts recently developed within the academic debate – among them, social capital (Ferragina, 2012) – social innovation might soon turn out to be simply another way to juxtapose the qualifier “social” to the private sector jargon, in order to avoid heated discussions on structural inequalities (Grisolia and Ferragina, 2015).[16]

In the context of ‘neoliberal austerity’, a strong call in favour of social innovation might hide the attempt to shift public attention from structural deficiencies and disparities to individual and group responsibility, following the vision: “doing more with less” . In order to guarantee universal coverage and universal social rights, however, the welfare state system cannot be managed with the logic of mere cost-effectiveness alone (Grisolia and Ferragina, 2015).[16] A Universal coverage is the precondition for any well-functioning economy, not the other way around. As such, the enhancement of “politically motivated policies under the pretence of budget cuts” can be particularly dangerous in its consequences for population health (Kleinert and Horton, 2013, p. 1074). Social innovation per se might not be able to substantially tackle pressing social needs. Rather, the all-innovating and self-empowering jargon currently in vogue might disguise a dangerous inattention to structural inequalities, adversely affecting health outcomes across the board, but especially of the poorest. Among the therapies prescribed by the neoliberal orthodoxy – liberalisation, deregulation, devolution, individual or group empowerment – social innovation might soon reveal itself as a convenient buzzword, an eclectic concept to dissimulate political choices, legitimated by the doctrine of budgetary constraints.[16] The redistribution of resources “from past to present generations” – keeping constant the overall public spending – and the shift from a “transfer-based” to a “service-based” welfare state would represent a truly innovative approach to social policy, offering a credible and responsible alternative to the magic wand of social innovation.

Developments Since 2000

Academic research, blogs and websites feature social innovation, along with organizations working on the boundaries of research and practical action. Topics include:

Institutional support

The US created an Office for Social Innovation in the White House, which is funding projects that combine public and private resources.[4] with foundations that support social innovation.[29] In 2010, the US government listed 11 investments made by its 'Social Innovation Fund', with public funding more than matched by philanthropic organizations. This fund focuses on partnerships with charities, social enterprises, and business.[4] Moreover, educational institutions are now increasingly supporting teaching and research in the area of social innovation. In addition to pioneered efforts by institutions such as the Harvard Business School's Initiative on Social Enterprise (launched 1993) [30] and Said Business School's Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship (launched 2003),[31] INSEAD [32] and other universities now offer short-term programs in Social Innovation, and a few such as Goldsmiths, University of London [33] offer Masters courses dedicated entirely to the study of theory and practice in relation to social entrepreneurship and innovation.

Public policy makers support social innovation in the UK, Australia, China and Denmark, as well.[34] The European Union’s innovation strategy[35] was the first well-funded research and development strategy to emphasize social innovation.[36]

In 2002, the South Australian government, led by Premier and Social Inclusion Minister Mike Rann, embraced a ten-year social innovation strategy with big investments and a focus on reform in areas such as homelessness, school retention, mental health and disability services.

The Common Ground[37] and Street to Home homelessness initiatives and the Australian Centre for Social Innovation[38] were established in Adelaide and many reforms trialed in South Australia have been adopted nationally throughout Australia. This initiative, headed by Monsignor David Cappo, South Australia's Social Inclusion Commissioner, was advised by 'Thinkers in Residence' Geoff Mulgan and New York social entrepreneur Rosanne Haggerty.

Local and Regional development

Literature on social innovation in relation to territorial/regional development covers innovation in the social economy, i.e. strategies for satisfaction of human needs; and innovation in the sense of transforming and/or sustaining social relations, especially governance relations at the regional and local level. Beginning in the late 1980s, Jean-Louis Laville and Frank Moulaert researched social innovation.[39][40] In Canada CRISES[41] initiated this type of research. Another, larger project was SINGOCOM[42] a European Commission Framework 5 project, which pioneered so-called "Alternative Models for Local Innovation" (ALMOLIN). These models were further elaborated through community actions covered by KATARSIS[43] and SOCIAL POLIS.[44] More recent works focus on the societal role of the economic life in terms of innovations in social practices and social relations at the local and regional levels. Social Innovation, therefore, is increasingly seen as a process and a strategy to foster human development through solidarity, cooperation, and cultural diversity.[45][46]

The EU funded URBACT programme is designed to help cities to exchange and learn around urban policies. The URBACT methodology can be seen as a social innovation action planning approach. A typical URBACT network would have ten cities working on a specific theme such as active inclusion or regenerating disadvantaged neighbourhoods. They examine good practice and then working through a local support group use the results to inform their local action plan.

The Social Innovation Europe[47] initiative, funded by the European Commission's Directorate General for Enterprise and Industry, was set up to map social innovation at a European level, by creating a directory of grass-roots examples of social innovation from across the 27 member states.

The European Commission funded the SELUSI study between 2008 - 2013 that looked at over 550 social ventures and examined how these insights can spark change and innovation at a much larger scale. It looked at business models of social ventures in five countries - UK being one of them – identifying which specific practices evolved by social ventures are particularly successful, and how and by whom – be it social enterprise, public sector body or mainstream business– they can be most effectively scaled-up.

The European Commission has launched a new initiative (project) in 2013 under FP7 funding – BENISI Project – with the aim to build a network of incubators for social innovation across regions and countries. This network facilitates identification of 300 social innovation examples and facilitates its scaling. The network is organised in a way to identify new models for scaling of social innovations across various geographical clusters in collaboration with each other, communicating the ideas, finding the tools and funds, developing business plans and models in order to promote the new promising ideas throughout Europe.

Some noted scholars

See also

References

  1. Foreign, Mail (2012-11-02). "Info Ladies bringing the internet by bike to the remote villages of Bangladesh | Mail Online". Dailymail.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-05-22.
  2. "Internet rolls into Bangladesh villages on a bike". Asafeworldforwomen.org. Retrieved 2014-05-22.
  3. "Info Ladies – Riding Internet into Rural Bangladesh!". Amader Kotha. 2012-11-08. Retrieved 2014-05-22.
  4. 1 2 3 "Let's hear those ideas". The Economist. August 12, 2010. Retrieved December 2010.
  5. Goldsmith, Stephen (March 2010). The Power of Social Innovation: How Civic Entrepreneurs Ignite Community Networks for Good. Jossey-Bass. ISBN 978-0-470-57684-7.
  6. 1 2 Klievink, B., & Janssen, M. (2014). "Developing multi-layer information infrastructures: advancing social innovation through public-private governance" "Information Systems Management" 31:240–249
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 James A. Phills Jr., Kriss Deiglmeier, & Dale T. Miller "Rediscovering Social Innovation", Stanford Social Innovation Review Fall 2008.
  8. Mulgan. Geoff. "Social Innovation: What it is, why it matters and how it can be accelerated: Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, University of Oxford"
  9. Nambisan, S. "Platforms for Collaboration", Stanford Social Innovation Review, Summer 2009.
  10. Howaldt, J./ Schwarz, M. "Social Innovation: Concepts, research fields and international trends", IMO international monitoring, 2010.
  11. see for example Gavron, Dench e ds Young at 80, Carcanet Press, London, 1995 for a comprehensive overview of one of the world's most successful social innovators
  12. Chambon, J.-L, David, A. and Devevey, J.-M (1982), Les Innovations Sociales, Presses Universitaires de France, Paris
  13. "Mumford, M.D. (2002) Social Innovation: Ten Cases from Benjamin Franklin, ''Creativity Research Journal'', 14(2), 253-266". Leaonline.com. 1970-01-01. Retrieved 2014-05-22.
  14. notably in the writings of Christopher Freeman, Carlotta Perez, Ian Miles and others
  15. "Charter School." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. Feb. 2015.
  16. 1 2 3 Grisolia, Francesco and Ferragina, Emanuele. (2015), "Social Innovation on the Rise: yet another buzzword in a time of austerity?" (Salute e societa', Vol. 1(2015), pp. 169-179).
  17. Innovation in the Public Sector an overview of thinking about innovation in the public sector, published by the UK government's Strategy Unit in 2003
  18. Ready or Not? published by The Young Foundation in 2007 about the need for public sector organizations to innovate
  19. Nichols; Social Entrepreneurship, Oxford University Press 2007
  20. Online Volunteering service
  21. Innovation in open source article by harvard business school about innovation in open source
  22. Westley,Zimmerman and Patton; Getting to Maybe;Toronto, Random House 2006
  23. Nambisan, S. "Transforming Government through Collaborative Innovation", IBM Center for the Business of Government, April 2008
  24. James A. Phills Jr., Kriss Deiglmeier, & Dale T. Miller "Rediscovering Social Innovation", Stanford Social Innovation Review Fall 2008.
  25. various studies by Greg Dees and others and the study published by NESTA In and out of sync: growing social innovations, London 2007
  26. Transfomers published by NESTA, London, 2008
  27. Westley et al.2013 A Theory of Transformational agency in Linked Social Ecological Systems, Ecology and Society
  28. design companies article by Forbes magazine about how companies are innovating in the way they offer services
  29. Kohli, J. and Geoff Mulgan (2007) Capital Ideas. How to Generate Innovation in the Public Sector. The Young Foundation and Center for American Progress
  30. "The Social Enterprise Initiative at Harvard Business School". Hbs.edu. Retrieved 2014-05-22.
  31. "The Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, Said Business School, University of Oxford". Sbs.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 2014-05-22.
  32. "INSEAD Social Entrepreneurship Programme". Insead.edu. Retrieved 2014-05-22.
  33. "The Goldsmiths MA Programme in Social Entrepreneurship, University of London". Gold.ac.uk. 2014-04-16. Retrieved 2014-05-22.
  34. Mulgan, Ali, Tucker; Social innovation: what it is, why it matters, how it can be accelerated, published by Said Business School, Oxford, 2007
  35. "Home page - Innovation Union - European Commission". Ec.europa.eu. 2014-05-13. Retrieved 2014-05-22.
  36. Murray, R., Caulier- Grice and Geoff Mulgan (2010) The Open Book of Social Innovation. The Young Foundation and NESTA
  37. http://www.commonground.org.au
  38. http://www.tacsi.org,au
  39. Laville, J.-L. (Ed.) (1994) L’économie solidaire, une perspective internationale, Desclée de Brouwer, Paris
  40. "Moulaert, F. and Sekia, F. (2003) Territorial Innovation Models: a Critical Survey, ''Regional Studies'', 37(3), 289-302". Taylorandfrancis.metapress.com. 1970-01-01. Retrieved 2014-05-22.
  41. CRISES Archived December 14, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
  42. Social Innovation, Governance, and Community Building (2002–2004)
  43. "KATARSIS Homepage". Katarsis.ncl.ac.uk. 2009-10-07. Retrieved 2014-05-22.
  44. "Social Polis". Socialpolis.eu. Retrieved 2014-05-22.
  45. MacCallum, D., Moulaert, F., Hillier, J. and S. Vicari (Eds) (2009) Social Innovation and Territorial Development. Ashgate, Aldershot. ISBN 978-0-7546-7233-3
  46. Masselin, Matthieu. "''Is Social Innovation the Future of Economy?'', ParisTech Review, Dec. 2011". Paristechreview.com. Retrieved 2014-05-22.
  47. "Home | Social Innovation Europe". Socialinnovationeurope.eu. 2014-05-15. Retrieved 2014-05-22.
  48. The Guide to Social Innovation. Belgium: European Commission, 2013 http://s3platform.jrc.ec.europa.eu/documents/10157/47822/Guide%20to%20Social%20Innovation.pdf
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