Here at DRIFT we consider social innovations to have an important role in accelerating and shaping (sustainability) transitions. Social innovations are new ways of doing, thinking or organising that have the potential to shape new systems. So what does that look like exactly in practice, and when are they transformative? In this new publication we provide six case studies to better understand the transformative potential of social innovation in systems of agri-food, housing, finance, mobility, circular economy and democracy.
What is ‘social innovation’, and how can it help tackling deep-rooted, complex issues like the climate crisis? When is social innovation actually transformative and does it help to achieve just and sustainable systems ? These are some of the critical questions that are addressed in this technical report, which is part of the European Topic Centre on Sustainability Transitions (ETC-ST). The ETC-ST is a consortium of thirteen European organisations, including DRIFT, working in partnership with the European Environment Agency (EEA) from 2022 to 2026. The consortium aims to enhance understandings of sustainability transitions (and challenges), and develop a knowledge base to support the EEA and the development of European Union policies.
What is social innovation?
In this report, ‘social innovation’ is defined as ideas, objects, and/or activities that fundamentally alter social relations by introducing new ways of thinking, doing, and organising. A social innovation initiative can be a project, an organisation, an individual, or a network of actors. Such initiatives aim to meet societal and environmental needs in new or alternative ways, and are transformative to the extent that they challenge, alter, or replace dominant institutions. For example relating to how markets function, how power is distributed, or discourses around what is considered ‘normal’.
Why is it important?
This transformative potential means that social innovations can play a key role in sustainability transitions. At the same time, they should not be treated as a cure-all for societal issues that are currently faced on a planetary scale, and it should be acknowledged that they can have unexpected consequences and other possible ‘dark sides’. With this critical perspective in mind, this report discusses six cases of transformative social innovation (TSI), to better understand its potential and role in sustainability transitions, as well as implications for governance, finance, and impact measurement.
The report links local manifestations of social innovations to larger socioeconomic shifts relating to agri-food, housing, finance, mobility, circular economy and democracy, as well as to the broader translocal movements that these initiatives are embedded in. For example, the Dutch car sharing service MyWheels is understood as part of the larger transition from ‘owning’ to ‘accessing’ in mobility, and the Repair Café is seen as part of a shift from a ‘linear’ towards a circular economy. Another example comes from the Slow Food movement, which is discussed in relation to a shift from global to local value chains. In the report, we critically assess how six social innovations emerged and developed, and to what extent they can be considered to be transformative.
