How to frame the governance dimension of social innovation: theoretical considerations and empirical evidence

Abstract

Social innovation approach has been increasingly used by governments in delivery of public services, since the development of more and more complex societal challenges requires the establishment of new multi-actor implementation structures and arrangements. More recently, a call for a more robust analytical framework emerged in order to enable evaluation of the growing number and types of socially innovative practices implemented in different European contexts. This article takes up this challenge by assuming the governance perspective on social innovation, i.e. the establishment of new implementation arrangements in relations between the public and non-profit sectors. Drawing on the public governance literature, the article describes a three-step methodology with which to design and implement socially innovative oriented governance, and it illustrates an empirical application to the issue of refugee integration. The article argues that the proposed methodology is suitable both for assessing if and to what extent civil society organizations are actually involved in horizontal and cooperative relations with public actors when new implementation tasks are required, and for guiding scholars and practitioners in investigating what should be improved to achieve socially innovative governance within a public policy process.