Social Innovation Processes Research Articles

Change agency in social innovation: an analysis of activities in social innovation processes

ABSTRACT We examine the role of change agency in social innovations. Agency in social innovations can create new resources and capacities for transformative change in a region. To date, there is a lack of empirical studies investigating how agency manifests itself in social innovations. In particular, research has not yet investigated the detailed activities of social innovation actors throughout the phases of social innovation processes. In this paper we apply the concept of trinity of change agency to investigate the activities of social innovation actors. Using innovation biographies and data from 61 interviews for 11 case studies of social innovation in a peripheral mountain region in Switzerland, we analyse the social innovation process from an actor-oriented perspective. Our findings show that the various types of change agency are highly present in social innovations. The significance of change agency alters throughout the innovation process. Our analysis shows that all kinds of actors performed change agency during the social innovation process. Interestingly, same actors performed different types of change agency during the social innovation process. The findings suggest that change agency is as a significant element in social innovations and that we need to consider it as a transformative element of social innovation processes. When policymakers take change agency into account in creating an environment in which social innovations can flourish, there is a great chance that social innovations can contribute to changing regional development paths and perhaps even to regional transformation.

Analyzing social innovation as a process in rural areas: Key dimensions and success factors for the revival of the traditional charcoal burning in Slovenia

In rural areas, the social innovation (SI) process emerges as a response to negative socioeconomic trends or gets triggered by open windows of opportunity, bringing solutions that revitalize the rural fabric through the voluntary involvement of the local community. As such, SI is increasingly recognized as a tool to support rural development and transformative change. Regardless of increased interest and research, there are still calls for empirical evidence on the SI process, its effects, and the success factors. Our study responds to this research gap by providing empirical evidence on the 20 years of the development of a remote rural area – Charcoal Land – that sparked the revival of traditional charcoal burning in Slovenia. To better understand how such processes roll out on the ground, we conducted the case study, using a combination of document reviews, key informant interviews, semi-structured interviews, and participatory observations. Using event sequence analysis, we mapped key events in the development of the Charcoal Land and distinguished five key dimensions (Context, Trigger, Agency, Phases, and Effects) based on a framework for analyzing SI as a process of SI. Then, we inductively recognized three key success factors that were crucial for the revival of traditional charcoal burning in Slovenia: the embeddedness of innovators in multiple networks, strategic use of narratives for obtaining resources, and legitimization by the local community and public actors. Our results indicate that the development of the Charcoal Land can be regarded as an SI process that sparked the reconfiguration of traditional charcoal burning and its revival in Slovenia. The voluntary engagement of various actors (e.g., charcoal burners, foresters, local authorities) led to the formation of evolving agencies with the capacity to repetitively rearrange around common projects and goals. Through diversification of activities, traditional charcoal burning started being performed small scale and for educational, touristic, culinary, cultural, and commercial purposes. Over the last 20 years, traditional charcoal burning scaled up and out of the local territory of the Charcoal Land to other geographical and policy levels. Due to three success factors, and through institutionalization, traditional charcoal burning became recognized as an intangible cultural practice, as well as monitored forestry and agricultural practices.

Creatively transforming periphery? Artists’ initiatives, social innovation, and responsibility for place

ABSTRACT Creativity and geography have received little attention in the literature on responsible innovation. To address these shortcomings, the article places responsible innovation explicitly in a territorial and non-technocentric context by exploring how artist-led social innovation takes ‘responsibility for place’. The article is guided by the following research question: How can artist initiatives shape sustainable regional development in peripheral areas? To address this research question, the author draws on a conceptualization of artist-led social innovation processes geared to ‘deperipheralization’ that is applied to study two initiatives – Ifö Center in Bromölla, Sweden, and Rjukan Solarpunk Academy, in Rjukan, Norway – situated in peripheral old industrial towns. The study reveals a variety of ways by which artists can be agents of change that transform places but at the same time take responsibility for inclusion and participation. The author concludes that through social innovation, artists' initiatives can empower local citizens and other actors to experiment collectively with unconventional ideas related to social and environmental sustainability and take responsibility for place. The social innovations studied have enacted responsibility for development objectives that are intrinsically significant due to an ethos of care in both a temporal sense (care for future) and a spatial sense (care for place).

The strive to social innovation that thrives on the mobile application. A Case Study of Too Good To Go

The process of developing social innovation is the core of social entrepreneurship and requires the involvement of many actors. The ultimate outcome of social innovation is the generation of systemic or institutional change and social impact. This paper outlines how the Too Good To Go (TGTG) mobile application brings together agents of change who in a joint effort are influencing the reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by saving meals. A social innovation model extracted from the literature and adapted for publication was used to illustrate the contribution of the mobile application to the social innovation process. The study is explanatory in nature and used secondary data released by TGTG on its website and from its Impact Report 2021. Interviews with the company's founders conducted by several online magazines were also explored and some crucial details were extracted. Statistical analysis of the found data made it possible to identify and illustrate with graphical methods the involvement of actors in saving food and reducing CO2 production. The TGTG mobile application supports the reduction of the food waste problem. Its scale still remains a question.

Understanding experimental governance of urban regeneration from the perspective of social learning – the case of Kingway Brewery in Shenzhen

ABSTRACT This study aims to examine the experimental governance of urban regeneration in China from the perspective of social learning, through an empirical study of a pilot project called Kingway Brewery in Shenzhen. Single-loop and double-loop learning have contributed to policy innovation, through converting tacit knowledge from experimental pilot projects into explicit and codified knowledge in policy-making. Problem and strategy framing incrementally became more mature and structured, during the deliberative interaction of continuous experimental practice and social learning. In the micro processes of social learning and policy innovation, planners play a crucial role as intermediators and knowledge brokers.

Social innovations in tourism: Analysing processes, actors, and tipping points

Social innovations consist of new forms of cooperation of individuals or organisations and they provide new solutions to societal problems. They typically evolve along three phases and have the potential to solve region-specific challenges. In the operating phase, social innovations can overcome the so-called tipping point. The tipping point is an elusive moment at which the social innovation can begin to spread or at which it could also fail. To examine the social innovation characteristics that contribute to overcome tipping points and to identify the role and motivations of actors to participate in the process of developing social innovations in tourism, we applied innovation biographies to seven social innovations in a Swiss mountain region. Data were drawn from 29 interviews with the involved actors. Our results show that social innovations in tourism that overcame the tipping point fulfil three conditions: First, new actors join the social innovations in the operating phase. Second, all the actors involved benefit from the social innovation for their own business strategy. Third, the social innovation is accepted in the region and among the actors involved and therefore does not face strong headwinds. Furthermore, developers, supporters, and promoters are important throughout the entire social innovation process. The findings suggest the need for a more comprehensive understanding of innovations in tourism that incorporates the complexity of different actors involved.

Drivers of social innovation in disability services for inclusion: a focus on social farming in nonprofit organizations

PurposeThis study investigates the drivers of social innovation in disability services with specific reference to the context of nonprofit organizations of social farming. In addition, it highlights the role of stakeholder networks in enhancing the social innovation process and the characteristics of stakeholders and networks driving and supporting social innovation.Design/methodology/approachFollowing a qualitative methodology, research was conducted through a case study survey with interviews to 13 nonprofit organizations of social farming for people with disability located in the northeast of Italy.FindingsInsights gained from the interviews revealed that individual, organizational and contextual factors drive social innovation in disability nonprofits. In addition, networks play a key role in enhancing the three drivers of social innovation through the social innovation journey, from opportunity recognition to implementation of the innovation, to its consolidation phases. Characteristics of the networks and the stakeholders involved are also outlined.Practical implicationsPractical implications for social entrepreneurs include the need to establish cross-sectoral partnerships with diverse stakeholders, including private companies.Social implicationsImplications for policy makers stress the need for ongoing support for nonprofit disability organizations. Social implications are not limited to the inclusion of socially weaker groups; rather, the entire community benefits from the social innovation process.Originality/valueSocial farming represents a valuable solution to meet the needs of disadvantaged people. While much research has investigated the topic of social innovation in social entrepreneurship, only a few studies have addressed social innovation in the context of disability nonprofits involved in social farming.

Schools as levers of change in urban transformation: Practical strategies to promote the sustainability of climate action educational programs

Schools and their environment have the potential to be an enabler for urban transformation. These spaces constitute delimited social and physical contexts where different stakeholders and levers of change interact to face local and global challenges such as climate change. In this way, climate action educational programs (CAEPs) are presented as a tool for multi-stakeholder work, which enables the promotion of collective efficacy to catalyze transformations and behavioral changes. Through the case study of Ecology at your Doorstep project (EayD), this research seeks to analyze practical strategies to counteract the challenges of the sustainability of CAEPs. This analysis is based on the Quintuple Helix Innovation Model (QHIM), the principles of collective efficacy for behavioral change, and the social innovation process. The methodology includes interviews with key stakeholders representing the five helices, as well as surveys to students and teachers involved. The main contributions are: a new analytical framework to identify critical points with the potential to be replicated in other CAEPs and social innovation initiatives; the extension of the principles of collective efficacy to the whole social innovation process and the ecosystem of actors; and practical considerations when scaling CAEPs in urban contexts.

Social innovations in healthcare provision: an analysis of knowledge types and their spatial context

ABSTRACT Peripheral regions face the challenge of ensuring adequate healthcare provision. As a solution to such challenges, social innovations are introduced. Knowledge exchange among diverse actors is a crucial component of successful social innovations in peripheral areas. However, little is known about the characteristics and the spatial context of knowledge in social innovations. We analyze micro-level knowledge dynamics in four social innovations in the healthcare sector of a Swiss mountain region. We distinguish three knowledge types according to the knowledge base approach: synthetic (practical and tacit), analytical (scientific and codified) and symbolic (semiotic and tacit). From innovation biographies and semi-structured interviews, we find that synthetic knowledge is the type used most throughout the social innovation process and that it is often combined with the other two knowledge types. Local actors and extra-local actors who are locally embedded contribute the most knowledge. The actors require a considerable number of craft and practical skills to apply their own analytical or symbolic knowledge, as well as to link these three knowledge types from different actors and spatial contexts. Social innovations combine locally and extra locally acquired synthetic knowledge with analytical and symbolic knowledge to solve peripheral healthcare challenges and to contribute to regional wellbeing.

An international qualitative feasibility study to explore the process of using social innovation (co-production) strategies with older people: the SAIL project

PurposeThis paper aims to present the feasibility study findings from a four-year project funded by the European Union Commission (the SAIL project, Staying Active and Independent for Longer). The funding stream was Interreg 2Seas which offers opportunities for coastal areas on both sides of the English Channel to work together on complex practical issues. The project focused on enabling older people to stay active and independent for longer using social innovation (co-production) approaches.Design/methodology/approachTen pilot projects were developed, and each of the pilots worked with an academic partner to undertake a feasibility study that included 10 pilots across the four countries involved, France, Belgium, Holland and England.FindingsThis paper presents barriers and facilitators (using logic models) to the social innovation process with older people, which has wider relevance in terms of social innovation and its application.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings which inform this paper are extensive, and this is a longitudinal qualitative study with much of the data collection being done using an online wiki (complemented by interviews and documentary analysis) which is a relatively new method for data collection. However, the consistency of the findings when analysed by three researchers was clear and pragmatically this complex method was required to examine complexity in the process of implementing social innovation in practice.Practical implicationsThis project has enabled greater understanding of how social innovation can be applied and has highlighted contextual issues that can undermine or enable attempts to adopt the approach.Social implicationsFor the 10 pilot projects generated, there were obviously important cultural and geographical differences in terms of engagement and practical implementation of social innovation. Some of which, as mentioned in this paper, are very important for the successful implementation of social innovation in a particular setting and indeed may be a strength or a barrier in terms of engaging with local people and agencies.Originality/valueThe development of logic models is a useful approach when the topic under study is complex and likely to produce a diverse set of process outcomes. The logic model focuses upon the relationships between the resources that are used to create the intervention and what is produced in terms of outcomes. Ultimately, this enables the identification of the factors that contribute to a successful intervention. Thus, in relation to this study, logic models have helped to provide an evidence-based framework that can support decision-making regarding the most effective use of limited resources to support successful social innovation processes in the future. The logic model for each area of the findings presented here can in the future be used to help implement social innovation; also, to consider how it can be improved in future research.

A structural equations approach applied to social innovation

Social innovation is a topic that has rapidly gained visibility during the last decades, where public organizations, private companies, and community groups are interested in developing more efficient and effective solutions to important societal challenges, such as poverty, demographic change, climate change, and unemployment. The University has been recognized for a long-time as a place of learning and academic research as well as a driver of economic growth, social mobility, and reducer of social inequality within and beyond its locality and region. Several researchers have advocated that the engagement of universities would foster the social innovation process, drawing on their existing resources and capabilities to benefit society at large. However, less is known about to relationship between creativity, entrepreneurial intention, and social innovation. Based on these arguments, the main aim of this study to investigate the effect of creativity and entrepreneurial intention on social innovation tendency within the academic community. The approach to empirical research adopted was a structural equation model. The sample used is comprised of students and professors or researchers from Portuguese universities. Confirmatory factor analysis supports the differentiation among the theoretical constructs, namely: self-creativity, creativity stimulated in the family, creativity stimulated in the university, entrepreneurial intention, and social innovation tendency. Results from the structural analysis support the suggestion that engagement in social innovation is positively related to self-creativity, family context, and entrepreneurial intention. Additionally, family role models seem to exert an effect on entrepreneurial intention. This study contributes to the body of social innovation literature at two levels of development: the core theoretical contributions are the research on social innovation tendency models and, at a broader level, on social innovation education. Particularly, this finding contributes to the line of research of social innovation tendency indicating that personality traits may have an essential role to play in developing theories of the entrepreneurial process.

Innovation Salons – Events for dialogical knowledge transfer between civil society and higher education institutions

Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) are recognised as generators for innovative solution relevant for shaping socio-economic transformation processes, for which knowledge transfer plays a crucial role. However, innovation studies demonstrate that innovative solutions, for example, in form of social innovation are generated by a wide variety of creative, social, or cultural actors with little or no integration of HEIs. Several regions and countries, therefore, recently set up innovation strategies that foster new forms of collaboration among societal actors and HEIs. The German Ministry for Education and Research developed the ‘Innovative Hochschule’ programme for initiating and testing new knowledge transfer instruments of HEIs to reach out to and interact with a broader society. Within this scope we developed ‘Innovation Salons’ as an instrument for dialogical knowledge transfer that helps regional HEIs to tie in with and unfold agency in ongoing regional (social) innovation processes. This paper introduces a pilot Innovation Salon as a potential approach for how HEIs may reach out to a-typical innovation actors for shaping social and problem-centred regional innovation processes. Key conclusions underline the importance of scouting for ongoing processes of generating novel regional solutions and of curating the interaction between social society actors and HEIs.

SOCIAL INNOVATION AND HIGH-QUALITY COCOA PRODUCTION: A CASE STUDY OF THE "˜CACAU SUL BAHIA' NETWORK

This study aimed to analyze whether the formation of the "˜Cacau Sul Bahia' Network promoted social innovation in southern Bahia, Brazil. Data were collected through participant observation, document analysis, and semi-structured interviews with 8 institutions and 10 cocoa producers who are members of the Cacau Sul Bahia Association (CSBA). Social network data were analyzed using UCINET. The approaches of social innovation, territorial development and social networks were the basis for the analyzes. The results showed that "˜Cacau Sul Bahia' Network promotes some aspects of social innovation, such as cooperation, social governance, collective efforts and trust building. Although the main goal of Network is to improve the quality of cocoa beans and add value to local chocolate, its effects reach much farther. The "˜Cacau Sul Bahia' Network formation, with the creation of the Cacau Sul Bahia Association leveraged the cultural value and historical importance of cocoa in the region, which has recently been granted geographical indication protection. Actors participating in the "˜Cacau Sul Bahia' Network contribute to territorial development in southern Bahia. Personal and professional ties between actors are strong and play an essential role in the success of the association. However, strengthening the social capital is needed to reinforce the process of social innovation more broadly. This empirical research provides scientific and technical contributions about social innovation, high-quality production systems and geographical indication protection in a developing country, showing that social dialogue, community governance, and collective efforts can stimulate sustainable development and quality improvement in disadvantaged rural areas.

Bridging Social Innovation in Education and Organisational Learning

This article combines two research approaches so far not connected but mutually reinforcing each other: social innovation and organisational education. On the one hand, theoretical and practical development of social innovation in education is a growing research area. On the other hand, organisational education, through its outlined Research Memorandum Organizational Education, is strengthening research of organisations and learning processes, especially on learning in, by and between organisations. To unfold the potential of social innovation in education, new cooperation and governance structures are needed to integrate all the relevant stakeholders to solve educational demands and mismatches. This is a prerequisite for making the formal education system more receptive to social innovations. The organisational education approach is focusing on a yet neglected part of the social innovation process: the change of organisations by mutual learning processes within an innovation ecosystem bringing together stakeholders from education and research, economy, policy, and civil society. The article shows the connections between both approaches by drawing on examples in practice from different applied research projects.

Institutional change in the social innovation process: Evidence from an emerging context

Institutional change has been identified as inherent to social innovation proposals, especially in developing contexts. However, it is still unclear how these changes occur in the social innovation process. Therefore, our study seeks to answer the following research question: How do attempts at institutional change occur in the social innovation process in an emerging context? We use the qualitative approach to investigate two Brazilian social innovation cases striving to change the institutional environment in which they operate. Our data reveals that institutional change may be necessary before the scalability stage of the social innovation process. We suggest that this finding is related to the developing context, which requires social entrepreneurs and their teams to break institutional barriers to expand their social innovation initiatives. We have also identified some mechanisms used for the attempts to institutional changes: competition with government organisations, influence in formulating laws, and support for the market growth and the entry of new participants.

Towards a Sustainable Metamorphosis of a Small Island Tourism: Dynamizing Capacity Building, Alternating Governance Arrangements, and Emerging Political Bargaining Power

This study examines how local agents (non-profit-seeking actors and residents of Pahawang Island) developed empowering methods to address ecological problems during the island’s transformation from a small, secluded island to a tourist destination. Building capacity through grassroots initiatives, bottom-linked collaboration, and improved political bargaining power were critical components, constituting the conceptual framework to analyse the data. The socio-spatial shift in Pahawang Island reflects the nature, degree of involvement, and participation of multiple stakeholders. Slowly and gradually, bottom-up and later bottom-linked institutional efforts were implemented to lay the groundwork for a more sustainable ecology, social economy, and political transformation. Capacity building was dynamized by including it in a social innovation process, bottom-linked governance, and stimulated empowerment, which altered the governance, political bargaining power and policymaking power balance. Under these conditions, collaborative grassroots learning and action efforts can be a virtuous panacea for improving the sustainable governance of small islands, which is frequently disregarded in a neoliberal society.

Territorial Social Innovation and Alternative Food Networks: The Case of a New Farmers’ Cooperative on the Island of Ibiza (Spain)

Social innovation is gaining attention as a perspective that stresses the relevance of transforming social relations to promote sustainable territorial development. This paper adopts the social innovation approach to examine Alternative Food Networks. The main aim of the study is to identify key factors in the emergence and development of social innovation processes that give rise to new organisational formulas among farmers, which contribute to the coordination and efficiency of food supply in Alternative Food Networks. The article provides an original conceptual framework on territorial social innovation (TerriSI), which is empirically tested in a case study in Ibiza (Spain). Through a mixed methods approach, the study analyses the emergence and development of a new agricultural cooperative that involves producers participating in Alternative Food Networks in Ibiza. This is considered a socially innovative initiative since it comprises novel social reconfigurations within the local context. The findings underline key factors of territorial social innovation linked to the particular conditions of territories, triggers, leadership, coordination mechanisms, and the capacity to disseminate innovation through the territory.

Smart city as a social transition towards inclusive development through technology: a tale of four smart cities

ABSTRACT Smart city initiatives have the potential to address many contemporary urban challenges, utilizing information and technology. Increasingly, smart cities are considered as social innovation processes to achieve sustainable and inclusive urban development, being influenced by broader socio-economic and institutional contexts of cities. This paper explores ‘smart city transitions’ across varied urban contexts, in particular, how smart city transitions are enacted and how they contribute to inclusive urban transformation and public value. Using a multiple case studies approach, the research investigated infrastructure planning practices in Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Seoul in Korea, Portland in the U.S. and Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) in Vietnam, cities that were known for strong efforts to establish integrated platforms to enhance societal benefits. Our analysis showed that each city has addressed its goals around sustainability, equity and affordability by reinforcing the engagement of multiple actors with the support of integrated platforms that facilitate open and multi-directional information flow in a transparent manner. In Amsterdam, innovative solutions for sustainable use of resources have been invented and distributed through multi-level social networks, contributing to the transformation into a circular economy. In Seoul and HCMC, the city's persistent efforts to utilize an open and integrated platform resulted in proactive engagement and collaboration of public and private actors in improving quality, equity and efficiency of transit services. Portland has tackled inequitable access and mistrust issues by setting principles for data governance and facilitating equity in the adoption of innovative technologies. Our research revealed that four cities established different forms of integrated platforms such as a centrally-controlled platform and a community-centred platform in order to address specific socio-economic issues within an institutional setting of each city. We concluded that building an integrated platform is not easy, but it is a critical prerequisite for the process of sustainable transformation to truly achieve smart cities across the globe.

The Role of Actors in Social Innovation in Rural Areas

Social innovation is gaining momentum in academia, policy and practice, as a process by which local communities generate new social relations and become more capable of addressing social needs and opportunities. However, there is significant ambiguity about the role of the different types of actors involved in social innovation, particularly in rural areas. This article aims to examine which actors make social innovation in rural areas possible, and the roles they play in these processes. Drawing on 33 interviews carried out with key informants of three socially innovative initiatives developed in rural areas of Spain and Scotland, this paper illustrates the scale, role and logic of the actors involved. The findings of the study clarify the central role of local processes and local actors, the impact of facilitators and perceived neutrality. They also show the contribution of social economy organizations as an arena for coordinating plural networks and civil society initiatives. The way the public sector and LEADER participate in social innovation processes in rural areas are also reflected in the results.

A rural laboratory in the Austrian alm—Tracing the contingent processes fostering social innovation at the local level

AbstractWith social innovation being promoted to address the challenge of rural areas, there is a need to understand how processes of social innovation emerge and evolve at the local level. Rather than focusing on singular socially innovative projects, this article argues for an increased focus on how social innovation ecosystems and infrastructures are crucial for fostering and supporting the emergence of new perceptions, aims and practices. Using the metaphor of ‘laboratory’ as a conceptual frame to view rural development, the article outlines the emergence and long‐term evolution of social innovation at the local level with a case study from the Austrian region of Mühlviertel and demonstrates how changes in perceptions and new ideas for local development are institutionalised and linked with intra‐regional governance networks in a temporally contingent process linking incremental and radical social innovations.