The European Commission cites it as "another way to produce value, with less focus on financial profit and more on real demands or needs.
[15] Historical studies suggest that transforming any system may take many years, and requires not only the capacity for multiple partnerships, but also for engaging policy, legal and economic institutions.
Cacciolatti et al. (2020) developed a framework based on international business theory to explain the mechanisms regulating strategic alliances and firm performance in the context of startups with a social mission.
[19] Social innovation is often an effort of mental creativity which involves fluency and flexibility from a wide range of disciplines.
[1] In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, far-reaching investments in scientific research and community infrastructure laid the groundwork for many social and economic improvements in society.
Despite the challenges of industrialisation, optimism about the power of technology to promote positive change created momentum for social innovation projects in healthcare, housing, sanitation, public infrastructure, communication, and transportation.
[22] Social innovation was discussed in the writings of figures such as Peter Drucker and Michael Young (founder of the Open University and dozens of other organizations) in the 1960s.
Benjamin Franklin, for example, talked about small modifications within the social organization of communities[25] that could help to solve everyday problems.
Joseph Schumpeter, for example, addressed the process of innovation directly with his theory of creative destruction and his definition of entrepreneurs as people who combined existing elements in new ways to create a new product or service.
Topics include: The United States created an Office for Social Innovation in the White House, which is funding projects that combine public and private resources.
The Cambridge Centre for Social Innovation's aim is to build best practices across business, civil society, policy and academia for a more equitable, inclusive and sustainable world.
[53] In governance, its main role is to enhance and maximize the trust of citizens through active involvement in society, whether in the public or private sphere.
Social Innovation, therefore, is increasingly seen as a process and a strategy to foster human development through solidarity, cooperation, and cultural diversity.
A typical URBACT network would have ten cities working on a specific theme such as active inclusion or regenerating disadvantaged neighbourhoods.
The European Commission funded the SELUSI study between 2008 - 2013 that looked at over 550 social ventures and examined how these insights can spark change and innovation at a much larger scale.
The European Commission has launched a new initiative (project) in 2013 under FP7 funding, with the aim to build a network of incubators for social innovation across regions and countries.