“We define social innovations as new ideas (products, services and models) that simultaneously meet social needs and create new social relationships or collaborations. In other words, they are innovations that are both good for society and enhance society’s capacity to act”

Robin Murray, Julie Caulier-Grice, Geoff Mulgan – The Open Book of Social Innovation

of new ideas (products, services and models) to meet social needs and create new social relationships or collaborations. It represents new responses to pressing social demands, which affect the process of social interactions. It is aimed at improving human well-being.

Social innovations are innovations that are social in both their ends and their means. They are innovations that are not only good for society but also enhance individuals’ capacity to act. They rely on the inventiveness of citizens, civil society organisations, local communities, businesses and public servants and services. They are an opportunity both for the public sector and for the markets, so that the products and services better satisfy individual but also collective aspirations. Stimulating innovation, entrepreneurship and the knowledge-based society is at the core of the Europe 2020 Strategy.

Social innovation describes the entire process by which new responses to social needs are developed in order to deliver better social outcomes”.

The European Commission’s Guide to Social Innovation 2013

“Even more simply, a social innovation is an idea that works for the public good”

Centre for Social Innovation

 “Social innovations are new solutions (ideas, products, services, models, markets, processes etc.) that simultaneously meet a social need (more effectively than existing solutions) and lead to new or improved capabilities and relationships and better use of assets and resources. In other words, social innovations are both good for society and enhance society’s capacity to act.”  (The Young Foundation 2012)

As this definition implies, social innovation overlaps with, but is not the same as, social entrepreneurship.

This definition has been adopted by the TRANSITION project, which aims to support social innovations coming from a range of sources, including new ventures led by social entrepreneurs as well as innovations based within existing organisations, or delivered through strategic partnerships, voluntary initiatives or campaigns. To learn more, click here.

 meet social needs. It may be a new product, service, initiative, organisational model or approach to the delivery of public services”

Nesta

 need to address a social (and environmental) problem being addressed in an innovative and entrepreneurial way, with an objective to create and sustain social and economic value. Such value creating activity can occur in and across organisations with a wide range of stakeholders. Social innovation is based on strategic collaboration of stakeholders in order to meet social challenges… Social innovation lies at the heart of social entrepreneurship, which aims to address unmet social needs of a community in an innovative and entrepreneurial way”

Social innovation from a social incubation perspective: What is it and why it matters?

Katerina Nicolopoulou, Muhammad Nouman, and Mine Karatas-Ozkan – School of Management, University of Southampton

effective, efficient, sustainable, or just than current solutions. The value created accrues primarily to society rather than to private individuals”

Stanford Business