10th International Social Innovation Research Conference: Bridging Social and Business Innovation

The 10th annual International Social Innovation Research Conference (ISIRC 2018) strives to bridge the research fields of social and business innovation and invites theoretical, methodological and empirical contributions drawing on different disciplines. 

Social innovation has clearly gained momentum over the past decade, spurred notably by the growing interest in theory, practice and policy. Manifested in new ways of doing things, distinct social relations, changes in perceptions or novel solutions, social innovations are often presented as an alternative to business (profit-oriented) innovation to cope with societal challenges at hand. While major progress has been made in understanding social innovation trajectories, drivers and barriers, business models and institutions, significant work is still required to position the distinct (disciplinary) analytical, conceptual and theoretical contributions in the ‘classical’ innovation research. On the other hand, social innovation has largely been overlooked by the majority of innovation literature, with the mainstream of research traditionally focusing on technological innovation, or more generally, business innovation.

The tenth annual International Social Innovation Research Conference (ISIRC 2018) strives to bridge the as yet largely unrelated research fields of social and business innovation and invites theoretical, methodological and empirical contributions drawing on different disciplines.

DRIFT-researcher Julia Wittmayer will contribute to the program with a stream on diffusion and institutionalization of social transformation. This stream focuses on the ways through which social innovations spread or gain impact in relation to their ‘context’.  This and other streams cover a diversity of topics that connect social innovation to new disciplines  and yet unrelated research fields and are accompanied with tailored calls for papers. Read more about the different streams and calls for papers in the brochure.

The ISIRC-conference will take place in Heidelberg, Germany on September 3-5, 2018.

Participation

Read more about the conference, the call for papers and the key dates at the conference website or download the brochure.