What is Social Innovation?
Social innovation definition
There are lots of academic definitions of social innovation, but they contain a fair amount of jargon. We’ve found this can confuse people, exclude communities, or make the concept unrelatable.
So, our working definition is:
Social innovation means finding new and creative ways to solve problems in society and make life better for people.
We recently teamed up with Manish Joshi – Professor of Practice, Innovation & Industry Engagement, University of Strathclyde – to unpack the concept further. Below he outlines types of social innovation, common features of social innovation and barriers to social innovation.
Types of social innovation
- New products: physical and digital innovations that address social need
- New services: novel solutions and support systems for communities
- New processes: improved methods and workflows for social impact
- New markets: emerging opportunities for social value creation
- New platforms: digital and physical spaces for collaboration
- New organisational forms: alternative structures for social enterprises
- New business models: sustainable approaches to creating social value
Common features of social innovation
Barriers to social innovation
- Financing & scaling up: limited access to capital and resources needed for growth
- Governance & co-ordination: complex stakeholder management and decision-making processes
- Legal & cultural recognition: regulatory challenges and resistance to new approaches
- Skills & training: gap in specialised knowledge and expertise
- Lack of data & measurement: insufficient metrics to demonstrate impact and success
- Resistance to change: moving beyond the status quo
- Inequities in access: limited information and access to information.
How does The Melting Pot stimulate and support social innovation?
As Scotland’s Centre for Social Innovation, we aim to increase social impact and thus make the world a better place. We do this by nurturing changemakers, supporting ethical start-ups, and accelerating initiatives that prioritise people and planet.
Community and collaboration have always been at the heart of The Melting Pot. We have built a culture of inclusion, offer accessible learning opportunities, provide the mental and physical space to facilitate creativity, and break down sector silos.
Below is our Theory of Change, outlining the qualities, change mechanisms, activities, intermediate outcomes and long-term goal of our work.
How can you get involved?
- Become a member to access our workspace and inspiring community
- Hire our venue for your next event. All profits are reinvested in social impact projects
- Come along to one of our brilliant events
- Book onto a Good Ideas short course to get your social business off the ground
- Enlist our Consultancy services to help you tackle a people, place or productivity challenge