CONFERENCE ON SOCIAL INNOVATION AND SOCIAL POLICY EXPERIMENTATION
European Commission DG EMPLOYMENT
Brussels, Crown Plaza Hotel 26 November, 2012
Elements of a Social Innovation Strategy for the EU
Josef Hochgerner Zentrum für Soziale Innovation
Social change, development, crisis and ‚Grand Challenges‘:
Resources and solutions Evolution
of Brains
Innovative Technologies
Why SOCIAL Innovation ?
Social Innovations
>> Cultural Evolution
Collaborative intelligence& intelligent collaboration
WHY SOCIAL INNOVATION NOW ?
Themostfamoussteamengine- OptimisedbyJames watt, 1776„HumansbyDesign“: Optimisationin the21stc.? „Brave New World“: Optimisationof human bevaiourin socialsystems–20th century
Innovations embedded in social change
Acceleration ‚speed kills‘
Pressures
„Work-Life Balance“
Work-load
Weak ties in social relations: ‚Flexibility‘
Standardisation
‚Social innovations are new practices for resolving societal challenges,
which are adopted and utilized by the individuals, social groups and
organizations concerned. ‘
An analytical definition of „Social Innovation“ *)
*)Zentrum für Soziale Innovation, 2012:
„All innovations are socially relevant“
ZSI-Discussion Paper 13, p. 2,
... with referenceto Schumpeter: They are
»New comb inatio ns of socia l prac tices«
Distinction between idea and implementation: an idea becomes an innovation in the process of social implementation– it changes and improvessocial practices
Theoretical considerations
The „4-i process“:
– Ideation >> What‘s the issue, what could be the solution?
– Intervention >> Conceptualisation, find methods and allies – Implementation >> Overcoming resistance, stakeholders, life cycle!
– Impact >> Not necessarily ‚good‘, nor for the whole of society
Ideation Intervention Implementation Impact
The making of social innovation
Three perspectives to analyse objectives and impact:
the „social demand“ perspective,
the „societal challenges“ perspective, and the „systemic change“ perspective.
Agnès Hubert et al. (BEPA – Bureau of European Policy Advisors)
„Empowering people – driving change. Social Innovation in the European Union.“
http://ec.europa.eu/bepa/pdf/publications_pdf/social_innovation.pdf
Elements of a European Union Strategy 1: Topical areas
Social demand perspective:
• Employment – EU2020: „75% of the workforce“ – -Immediate issue: YOUTH unemployment!
→support programmes country by country►EU Budget, structural funds ?
• Education – EU2020: „Reducing school drop-out rates below 10% and enabling 40% of age cohorts to complete third level education“ –
- Inter-generational learning, flexible schooling, training and re-training
• Social Services – EU2020: „Reducing the number of people in or at risk of Poverty and Social Exclusion by 20 million“–
- MDG (Millennium Development Goals)
- Social innovation programmes for social service providers, national and European levels: Analysis, objectives, measures, implementation, assessment
Objectives in critical sectors of social development (1)
Societal challenges perspective:
• Ageing –
- Co-ordination of policies (social, economic and education policies) for all generations
- Reform of pension systems: consider birth rights, prevention and participation instead of insurances
• Migration – integration – diversity:
- Balancing within the European Union, inclusion policies combined with focused re-structuring of 3rd-country support measures
• Climate change –
- Focal points in ERDF, ESF, Cohesion Fund, DG ENV, DG REGIO ...
- Key issues are awareness, analysis, adaptation
Objectives in critical sectors of social development (2)
Elements of a European Union Strategy 2: Topical areas
Systemic change perspective – new priorities, innovation culture, and changing frames of reference:
• Financialisation – (‚the problem behind the problems‘, F.-J. Radermacher):
- „Financialization“ is a „pattern of accumulation in which profit making occurs increasingly through financial channels rather than through trade and commodity production“(Krippner, Greta, 2004: ‘What is Financialization?’; mimeo, UCLA Dpmt. of Sociology, p. 14.) - It leads to depletion of productive economic resources due to financialisation
►Perhaps the most needed social innovation of the 21st century:
‚Management of abundance‘ Stop & reverse financialisation for SMART GROWTH
► Consider forms of money circulation without interest and compound interest (as applied in cases of ‚regional currencies‘ and historic examples)
• Energy and resources – „20% less greenhouse gas emissions, 20% increase in energy efficiency, 20% of energy from renewable resources“ –
- Energy for all, distributed/shared innovations, prevention of lock-in situations: cf.
„The Hartwell Paper“, 2010: www2.lse.ac.uk/researchAndExpertise/units/mackinder/theHartwellPaper/Home.aspx
• Democracy / solidarity –what future to the EU: Federal state, trans-national entity, relapse into rising nationalism and dissolution? Institutions and inclusion of citizens
Elements of a European Union Strategy 3: Topical areas (3)
Innovating innovation by research – 100 years after Schumpeter * Vienna, Sept. 19-21, 2011 www.socialinnovation2011.eu
What is required from social science to meet the high expectations in social innovation?
• Elaboration on the particular features of the concept and definition
• Embedding the concept of social innovation in a comprehensive theoryof innovation
• Development of coherent methodologies to identify and measuresocial innovations Prioritised research topics(14 selected out of 56 by conference participants) →next slide
Elements of a European Union Strategy 4: Research (1)
The potential of SI Competencies
of SSH
Measuring, indicators
Value creation
ec/env/soc Processes of co-operation
Workplace innovation
Innovation in services
Social media &
communication Inclusion &
integration
Partic. combat of poverty LLL & socially
active ageing Educ. impact on
quality of life
Civil Society
Business, firms, soc. entr.
Key issues in science and research on social innovation
Topical research areas according to the Vienna Declaration
Public sector
Elements of a European Union Strategy 5: Research (2)
Elements of a European Union Strategy 6: Support
• Research and education: EU2020 on RTDI: 3% of GDP, Horizon2020, Structural Funds ... plus:
• Establish the „European School of Social Innovation“ to boost research, education and training
• Initial elements in place:
• European School of Social Innovation (ESSI) – AT, DE, ES
• Course of study „M.A. in Social Innovation“
Danube University Krems (AT), in collaboration with ZSI www.donau-uni.ac.at/masi
• Promotion and awareness raising:
• Continuation of www.socialinnovationeurope.eu
• Roadshow through Member States
• Network of „European Social Innovation Cities“ (initial core: Tilburg, Bilbao, Dortmund, Vienna)
• Awards and Prize competitions for social innovations(examples www.sozialmarie.org [rewarding] and European Social Innovation Competition [initiating],http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/innovation/policy/social- innovation/competition/index_en.htm)
• Direct funding and earmarked financial support to social innovation projects:
• Incubators for social innovation and start-up social enterprises
• Development of programmes to initiate and manage socially innovative regions
• Support learning from each other across Europe (evaluation and assessment of cases ...)
Instruments with potentially major impact:
NEW – starting 2012 -2013
»The firstof social inacademicnovators« education
Prof. Dr. Josef Hochgerner Centre for Social Innovation Linke Wienzeile 246 A - 1150 Vienna
Tel. ++43.1.4950442 Fax. ++43.1.4950442-40 email: hochgerner@zsi.at http://www.zsi.at
