Social Innovation – First Insights from the Global Mapping

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programmefor research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 612870.

Social innovation ecosystems in Latin America

Dmitri DomanskiTU Dortmund University – sfs

German-Brazilian workshop“Social Innovation and its Research“

Rio de Janeiro4 October, 2016

Social Innovation – First Insights from the Global Mapping

Some empirical findings from the global mapping

• although mainly all initiatives are scaling there is almost no or limited (local, regional) transfer of the solution

• two of three initiatives are embedded in networks, social movements, umbrella organisations or policy programmes guaranteeing impact

• in almost half of the initiatives there is a direct user / beneficiary involvement

• all societal sectors can be actively involved in social innovation (multi-sectoral approach instead of focusing on single sectors, such as social economy)

• even more: to overcome social demands and societal challenges cross-sector collaboration is crucial, actively involving public, economic and civil society partners (including active user/beneficiary involvement)

Social innovations take place in ecosystems, which need to be further developed

Social Innovation – First Insights from the Global Mapping

Towards social innovation ecosystems

• “Actors who drive the supply of social innovations”, “Actors who drive the demand for social innovations” and “The intermediaries who act as brokers (Hansson et al. 2014, 10)

• “… resources (financial, human, social/political, and intellectual capital) […] and the environmental conditions” (CASE 2008, iv)

• “An ecosystems framework, in contrast [to Porter’s cluster approach], incorporates the broader environment within which organizations operate. It captures the elements of Porter’s economic analysis, adds other potentially important actors, and incorporates the nonmarket forces…” (Bloom and Dees 2008, 48)

Social Innovation – First Insights from the Global Mapping

Towards social innovation ecosystems

• “… a set of complex, interdependent relationships that function best through effective networks and communities” (Pulford 2011, 113).

• “… a paradigm shift where grass-root, bottom-up, spontaneous movements and communities of change are shaping new ecosystems…” (Sgaragli 2014, 9)

• “… replacement of existing governance models with ones that are more open, inclusive and participatory…” (Sgaragli 2014, 9)

Social Innovation – First Insights from the Global Mapping

Towards social innovation ecosystems

• developing a scientific concept of social innovation ecosystems is much more demanding than just trying to adapt existing concepts, such as innovation systems, triple-helix or quadruple-helix

• it implies a better understanding of what social innovation ecosystems are about

• social innovation ecosystems are environments where innovations emerge which are different from technological innovations and which are not necessarily profit-oriented

• such environments always exist, even if they may be poorly developed or apparently invisible

Social Innovation – First Insights from the Global Mapping

What are SI ecosystems?

They include

• Financial support: grants for early stage development, crowdfunding, loans, venture philanthropy, prizes for social innovation,

• Non-financial support: Professional services, mentors and coaching, labs for SI, accelerator programmes, incubators,

• Skills for innovation: tailored courses for innovators and entrepreneurs• Demand enhancement through campaigning and advocacy, personalised

budgets, commissioning and procurement• Intermediaries: SI networks, centres, labs transferring knowledge, about

social innovation• and probably more …

Social Innovation – First Insights from the Global Mapping

Promote the change

“Old school” In the future

Trickle-down model: pushing innovations into

society

Co-creation model: Making societies the source of innovation

(Open Innovation, user involvement,citizen participation, …)

Social Innovation – First Insights from the Global Mapping

Two characteristics of an active social innovation culture

Absorptive capacity

A region / community is able to recognize the value of such new

solutions, is able to implement and test them, and is open to change

Social serendipity

A region / community is systematically encouraging and supporting inventions to

overcome societal challenges

Social Innovation – First Insights from the Global Mapping

• Universities and research institutes together present in 21% of the initiatives

• Different from technological innovation – science and research are usually not having a relevant role as a trigger or driver

• By acting as an anchor in the social innovation ecosystem, universities have the capacities to fill existing gaps and therewith help social innovators to thrive by, for example, complementing users’ knowledge with scientific approaches, methods and tools or consulting to overcome social innovators lack of capacities in certain fields

• This also includes the question of new modes of knowledge production and scientific co-creation of knowledge aiming at an integration of practitioners and social innovators in the innovation processes

The role of universities

Social Innovation – First Insights from the Global Mapping

From top-down towards bottom-up approaches:

• Involving in social innovation processes with communities beyond typical top-down patterns where the former create solutions and the latter just play the passive role of a target group that receives support

• Creating solutions out of the communities

• Facilitating role not less important than a knowledge-based expert role

• Universities as coordinators and networkers

Paradigm change

Social Innovation – First Insights from the Global Mapping

• Students for Change: Social Entrepreneurship in Academia• Erasmus + • 2017-2019• Main objectives:• to develop a pedagogical method for universities and higher education institutions to

teach and train university entrepreneurs to be active players implementing social innovations

• to integrate social innovation in curricula and learning environments at the universities of Latin America, improving the quality and relevance of its academic programs in relation to the skills that ought to be developed by students in order to solve the social problems affecting the region

Upcoming project

Social Innovation – First Insights from the Global Mapping

Social Innovation in Latin America:The Chilean Case

http://www.cieplan.org/media/publicaciones/archivos/373/Social_Innova_tion_in_Latin_America_

The_Chilean_Case.pdf

Social Innovation – First Insights from the Global Mapping

Key characteristics of the social innovation ecosystem in Chile

Strengths: increasing participation of NGOs and universities, altogether great potential for social innovation

Weaknesses: public policy still needs to better include incentives for SI governmental programmes and institutions lack a clear concept of social

innovation different institutions support social innovations, but their efforts are not

coordinated among each other; resources are scarce SI often understood as social entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurs as the

only agents of change public policy lacks a systemic, integral concept which would include all societal

actors and promote different approaches there is no research nor impact studies

Social Innovation – First Insights from the Global Mapping

Social innovation in Latin America

Social Innovation – First Insights from the Global Mapping

Thank you very much.Dmitri Domanski – domanski@sfs-dortmund.de@DmitriDomanski

www.si-drive.euwww.sfs.tu-dortmund.de