Social innovation refers to new strategies, concepts, ideas and organizations that meet social needs of all kinds - from working conditions and education to community development and health - and that extend and strengthen civil society.
The term has overlapping meanings. It can be used to refer to social processes of innovation, such as open source methods and techniques. Alternatively it refers to innovations which have a social purpose - like microcredit or distance learning. The concept can also be related to social entrepreneurship (entrepreneurship is not necessarily innovative, but it can be a means of innovation) and it also overlaps with innovation in public policy and governance. Social innovation can take place within government, within the for-profit sector, or within the nonprofit sector (also known as the third sector), or in the space between them. Research has focused on the types of platforms needed to facilitate such cross-sector collaborative social innovation.[1] Social innovation is gaining visibility within academia.[2]
Prominent innovators associated with the term include Bangladeshi Mohammed 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 Stephen Goldsmith, former Indianapolis mayor who engaged the private sector in providing many city services.[3][4]
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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.[5] It also appeared in the work of French writers in the 1970s, such as Pierre Rosanvallon, Jacques Fournier, and Jacques Attali.[6] However, the themes and also concepts in social innovation existed long before. Benjamin Franklin, for example, talked about small modifications within the social organisation of communities[7] 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. More detailed theories of social innovation became prominent in the 20th century. 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.[8]
Academic research, blogs and websites feature social innovation, along with organizations working on the boundaries of research and practical action. Topics include:
The US created an Office for Social Innovation in the White House, which is funding projects that combine public and private resources.[3] Foundations support social innovation.[19] The European Union’s innovation strategy[20] was the first well-funded research and development strategy to emphasise social innovation.[21] Public policy makers support social innovation in these different sectors, notably in the UK, Australia, China and Denmark.[22] In 2010, the US government listed 11 investments made by its 'Social Innovation Fund', with public funding more than matched by philanthropic organizations. The fund focuses on partnerships with charities, social enterprises, and business.[3]
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.[23][24] In Canada CRISES[25] initiated this type of research. Another, larger project was SINGOCOM[26] 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[27] and SOCIAL POLIS.[28] 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.[29] [30]