Why is Research in Social Innovation important for you?

Many researchers used to talk about Social Innovation as a soft and undefined topic which is actually not worth being called a field of research. I think the opposite is true: Endeavors to systematically conduct research on SI are difficult because of the inherent interdisciplinarity of the topic. Working on SI is especially challenging because, in my view, it is a “condition sine qua non” to tackle the topic in a network of researchers, each with his/her field of expertise. It is no coincidence that many colleagues in the field of social innovation are action researchers, impact-oriented scientists, or whatever they may call themselves. They have worked in multi-stakeholder networks to reduce poverty, mitigate climate change, fight youth unemployment or, like myself, improve regional education structures and promote digital inclusion. For these challenges, a sound theoretical and methodological understanding of Social Innovation which we have to develop in SI Drive, which is responsive to established social theory and innovation studies, will then create valuable impulses.

What is the biggest challenge for Social Innovation Research?

I would point out two distinct challenges I see, which I also consider key challenges of SI-Drive, whether they be the biggest ones in SI research or not. First, we have to distinguish more clearly between scientific research and theory building on the one hand and policy discourse, which is normative by nature, on the other hand. Maybe this challenge could be called “management of roles” which often alloy in the application-oriented way many of us are working. Secondly, we should keep in mind that interdisciplinary topics are always confronted with an abundance of theories, concepts and models to describe and understand some piece of society. The challenge will be to create a critical mass of connectivity and coherence in social innovation theory.

What result can we expect from SI-DRIVE?

Looking at what we promised to do in SI Drive, I would say the following: We can expect progress in social innovation theory. We can also expect an overview of what is considered social innovation in basically all world regions, underpinned by in-depth case analyses. These findings will be discussed with policy makers and other stakeholders, so our results will hopefully enrich social innovation policy and practice.

My own overall expectation is to better understand the social mechanisms under which social innovations spread in society, how they become institutionalized practices, which drivers are involved in which policy fields – so to say, I expect us to thoroughly test the “pentagon of key dimensions” we will use as a key figure in theoretical work and as a probe in case study analysis.

Which book or article about Social Innovation should everybody read? Why?

I do not know which book everybody should read. But it would certainly not harm anybody to read the article “Social innovation: Moving the field forward. A conceptual framework” by Giovany Cajaiba-Santana (2013), which is as insightful as it is short, and in which he draws a multi-level conceptual model of the social innovation process.