CitiesBrief_03_en

February 2012

CREATIVE SUSTAINABLE INCLUSIVE

WHY SOCIAL INNOVATION NOW AND WHY IN CITIES?

Nº 03. FEV. 2012

EDITORIAL FOCUS WHY SOCIAL INNOVATION NOW AND WHY IN CITIES? [ LIESBET DE LETTER ]

SOCIALLY INNOVATIVE CITIES: “MIXING INSIDE AND OUTSIDE” [ GEOFF MULGAN ]

CASE STUDIES THE FIRST EUROPEAN SOCIAL INNOVATION PARK IN BILBAO LARGE SCALE SOCIAL INNOVATION [ GORKA ESPIAU ] HELSINKI 2.0 - REINVENTING THE CITY PORTUGAL, A COUNTRY WITH OPPORTUNITIES IN THE FIELD OF SOCIAL INNOVATION [ HELENA GATA ] THE SOCIAL INNOVATION PROJECTS ARE HAPPENING ALL OVER THE COUNTRY FINANCING SOCIAL INNOVATION

FACTS THE GROWING IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL INNOVATION AT THE INTERNATIONAL LEVEL

INTELI NEWS EVENTS SUGGESTIONS

Cities as response agents to emerging social challenges Over the last decade social innovation has assumed increasing importance in European and international political agendas, derived from the ability to handle the challenges that today’s society faces, such as population aging, climate change, unemployment, social exclusion and poverty, chronic diseases. In this context, it seems that the main growth sectors in the coming decades will be in the social and human field (health, education and training, environment, etc..) as referred by Antonio Tajani, Vice-President of the European Commission and European Commissioner for Industry and Entrepreneurship. Stating that social innovation can be a business opportunity, Tajani highlights the case of health as a sector that represents a large share of GDP in most European countries. He also emphasizes the weight of the social economy in Europe, since it employs around 11 million people, i.e.: 6% of the active population in the EU. The “Vienna Declaration” (2011), launched with the objective of identifying the most urgent social innovations as well as the most pressing research topics, also mentions that the most important and urgent innovations in the 21st century will take place in the social field. However, this social concern requires a profound change in the innovation system. The new paradigm of innovation, according to the OECD study “New Nature of Innovation” (2009), is based on the opening of the innovation process to society, where citizens and customers become relevant actors. Expressions such as open innovation, user-led innovation reflect this change. Based on this tendency, innovation becomes a social phenomenon. According to the study “Reinvent Europe through Innovation: from a knowledge society to an innovation society” (2009) the concept of innovation is now wider, passing not only through the objective of return on investment (in terms of business), but also the social return and transformation. For this social innovation to happen involvement and mobilization of various actors of society, from the public sector, the private and civil society is required. The role of cities as venues for generating innovative solutions to urban social problems must be highlighted. Cities are key agents of change due to the human and resource concentration, and the conditions they provide for the stimulus of social interaction and collective mobilization of citizens. Thus, social innovation should be part of the urban strategies focused on competitiveness and innovation, as exemplified by the paradigm of “creative cities”, “innovative cities”, “smart cities” or “eco-cities”. At a time of economic and financial crisis in Europe, with serious social consequences for citizens, this is a crucial opportunity to mobilize efforts aimed at building Socially Responsible and Innovative Cities!

http://ec.europa.eu/bepa/pdf/publications_pdf/social_innovation.pdf 2

An example can be found in the CLIQ project: www.cliqproject.eu. 3

www.socialinnovationeurope.eu

http://urbact.eu/en/header-main/news-and-events/view-one/news/?entryId=5100

http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/what/future/proposals_2014_2020_en.cfm#2 The draft ERDF Regulation offers Member States and Regions the possibility to integrate social innovation through the investment priority on innovation (Art. 5), or, also, develop concrete initiatives for social enterprises under the social inclusion priority (Art.9). 5

WHY SOCIAL INNOVATION NOW AND WHY IN CITIES? Liesbet De Letter* EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Social innovation is not new as such, it has been happening since long and in many places, but as a concept, it recently has been gaining attention from a growing interested and motivated crowd. This crowd includes practitioners, policy makers, researchers, social entrepreneurs, public service, NGOs, and citizens themselves. Why is that? Europe is going through a financial and economic crisis that also has severe social consequences for many of Europe’s citizens. On top of that, societal challenges like the ageing of its population, fierce global competition, unemployment and climate change show the need to have a close look a the sustainability of Europe’s current systems, and how to make sure that citizens can still live a good life, while stimulating growth and job creation.

Pressing social needs are present in all cities

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Quite a challenge! A great part of the current attractiveness of social innovation comes from the fact that it can serve as an umbrella concept for inventing and incubating solutions to these challenges in a creative and positive way. How so, and what does social innovation really cover? The report on social innovation of the Bureau of European Policy Advisors1 presents a definition that the European Commission now widely uses: ‘Social innovations are innovations that are social in both their ends and their means. Specifically, we define social innovations as new ideas (products, services and models) that simultaneously meet social needs (more effectively than alternatives) and create new social relationships or col-

Photo: Xavier Häpe

laborations. In other words they are innovations that are not only good for society but also enhance society’s capacity to act.’ So, the social is both in the how, the process, and in the why, the social goals you want to reach. Both are very relevant in an urban context. Cities have a great “lab” potential for social innovation, with a concentration of challenges, but also of creativity and interaction. Pressing social needs are present in all cities, often intensified by the global crisis and societal challenges like migration, ageing or climate change. The social media era has brought about fast changes in how people communicate with each other, but also in how they relate to the public

sphere. Relations of power change, citizens and groups can act more quickly and directly, in a participative way. Quadruple helix models that add civil society to the traditional triple helix of research institutions, public authorities and private companies2 show how new models of interaction and co-creation involving all these partners can find better and quicker solutions for difficult to solve issues. Also in business, social innovation is making its moves. Not only through social enterprises: more and more companies tap into open the possibilities of open and user-led innovation, use flatter hierarchies and new forms of work, etc. New niche markets, products and services are discovered.

Member States and regions are invited to develop concrete contributions on social innovation for their operational programmes.

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Some openings for practical next steps: • • •

Inspiring examples can be found and posted on the Social Innovation Europe Initiative website3 ; Cities that have concrete ideas in this field can send in an application for URBACT, deadline is 15 March4 ; For the next programming period of the Structural Funds 2014-2020, the proposed ERDF and ESF regulations mention social innovation explicitly for the first time. It means Member States and regions are invited to develop concrete contributions on social innovation for their operational programmes5.

We are very eager to discover these new ideas and initiatives!

* Liesbet De Letter works as a policy analyst in the Directorate-General (DG) for Regional Policy in the European Commission, in the Unit for Thematic Coordination and Innovation. Before joining this DG, she worked for the European Social Fund, the Erasmus programme, in a private foundation linked to a large media company and in the cultural sector. She has a background in languages, communication and culture. She has a particular interest in social innovation, with its power to bring together people, organisations and businesses from very different backgrounds and make creative change happen.

SOCIALLY INNOVATIVE CITIES: MIXING INSIDE AND OUTSIDE Geoff Mulgan* NESTA Cities are places of progress, civilisation, creativity and civic governance. But they are also facing big challenges in an era of economic crisis, from inequality, poverty, crime, violence, corruption, exploitation to environmental degradation. This twin character is visible not just in the great world cities but also in the smaller ones. The challenge for cities is to retain their ability to innovate new sources of wealth while being as effective in innovating better solutions to their social and environmental needs. A lot is known about how to support entrepreneurship, start-ups and growth. The many attempts to replicate Silicon valley, for example, have largely failed. But many places have managed to combine the best elements (such as plenty of support for start-ups, mobilising angels and easing venturing out of universities), with the strengths of local institutions and cultures – and have used these to generate new jobs in manufacturing, services and business services.

The prolonged economic crisis is bringing forth a wave of bottom-up innovations with a strong civic engagement.

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But having a dynamic economy on its own is not enough. California is a good case in point – economically dynamic but with a disastrous education system and deep poverty and high crime. Instead cities need to develop on several fronts simultaneously. Fortunately many places are learning how to do this partly by matching innovation in technology with innovation in society. The prolonged economic crisis is bringing forth a wave of bottom-up innovations with a strong civic engagement, such as the spread of urban agriculture turning unused plots, roofs or even boats into urban farms, time banks and exchange systems, projects for unemployment graduates, and collaborative consumption platforms provid-

© SIX Social Innovation Exchange ing useful services at low cost. Across the US cities are now working to raise their capacity to innovate in everything from policing to waste. The newly elected Mayor of Seoul is another great example – one of the world’s leading champions of social innovation now using his powerful position to transform a major city. Social innovations are new ideas, institutions, or ways of working that meet social needs more effectively. A socially innovative city has to have a way both to generate new ideas in response to changing social needs and to turn these ideas into action. Yet few cities are very good at doing this. They tend not to generate enough new ideas; they are often slow to adopt from the rest of the world, or even from neighbouring cities; and then they are slow to implement, often because that threatens vested interests, for example in public services such as hospitals or schools. That’s one reason why innovation in cities often needs support from the top – from Mayors and Chief Executives. But it also needs institutional support: funding flows to back high risk but potentially high impact ideas; spaces in which creative conversations can take place; and incubators to turn promising ideas into actionable plans.

Throughout history cities have been most creative when they’ve managed to mobilise networks – not just business and civic leaders and pioneers but also migrants who bring new ideas and capital. Today they are better placed to use explicit methods to accelerate innovation. Some of these can be found in one of the reports of the Creative Cities’ programme of the British Council (http://creativecities.britishcouncil.org/urban_co-design_tools/urban_ideas_bakery). It provides a method for young professionals to work together to develop and put in practice solutions to urban problems across Europe.

Engaging Social Innovation - Lessons from UK • Engaging with multiple and diverse stakeholders is critical to social innovation. People are at the centre of social innovation. • Resistance from stakeholders should be expected. • Acknowledge and manage risk. • Get people outside the silos. • Build mutually rewarding relationships among all who are involved. • Demonstrate the potential for mutual reward. • Offer the prospect of clear solutions. • Encourage multiple perspectives on any challenge. • Build networks, relationships and mutual respect across sectors. • Engage the media.

* Geoff Mulgan is Chief Executive of NESTA (National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts). From 2004-2011 he was the first Chief Executive of the Young Foundation, which became a leading centre for social innovation, combining research, creation of new ventures and practical projects. Between 1997 and 2004 Geoff had various roles in the UK government including director of the Government’s Strategy Unit and head of policy in the Prime Minister’s office. Before that he was the founder and director of the think-tank Demos. His recent books include The Art of Public Strategy - Mobilising Power and Knowledge for the Public Good (2008) , Good and Bad Power: the ideals and betrayals of government (2006) and Connexity (1998).

• Expect and manage tensions. • Win the support of political and business leaders. • Make sure stakeholder engagement is committed. http://www.youngfoundation.org/publications/reports/breakthrough-cities-june-2009

THE FIRST EUROPEAN SOCIAL INNOVATION PARK IN BILBAO The Social Innovation Park, also known as â&#x20AC;&#x153;the new social Silicon Valleyâ&#x20AC;?, is a pioneering initiative promoted by Denokinn - Basque Center for Innovation, Entrepreneurship and New Business Development. This park, which is supported by the European Social Fund, the Spanish government and local authorities, began its activity in 2010, and represents a unique experience in Europe - a business park entirely dedicated to innovation with social returns. Located in the Basque country, more specifically in Santurtzi (in the greater Bilbao) and with an implantation area of about 72 000 square meters, the Social Innovation Park emerges as a cluster for social innovation. This space provides infrastructures to support the generation of ideas and solutions, to create new projects in an open and collaborative manner and consequently to the generation of new jobs. In this park, third sector and charity organizations, NGOs and social enterprises have the opportunity to work and learn together, to develop new projects and businesses in partnership in an innovative and humanizing ecosystem.

LARGE SCALE SOCIAL INNOVATION Gorka Espiau* The first Innovation Union Conference promoted by the European Commission last December established a clear goal for “turning ideas into jobs”. This is exactly the purpose of The Bilbao Social Innovation Park : identify new large scale innovative approaches to inadequately solved and emerging social problems, incubate them and finally test them into the global market. The main difference with other technology and business incubators is the social approach and the methodology. © SIX Social Innovation Exchange We can´t afford to wait for smart individuals to “turn ideas into jobs”. New infrastructures like the Park need to be built to look for those ideas systematically and to be designed for large scale. confronted to this European model of sustainable social and economic development. Europe can offer to the rest of the world a different economic development model and new solutions to existing and emerging societal neeEurope needs a road map ds. That is the challenge for social innovation.

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for social innovation that will support a network of large scale infrastructures like the Bilbao Social Innovation Park in many other regions

Social innovation needs to prove its capacity to compete with the big players and generate real impact. The Social Innovation Park as an incubator and Hiriko, the self folding vehicle, as the most tangible outcome show the potential of this new way of doing things. Members states of the European Union have designed, nurtured and implemented since the inception of the welfare system, the most advanced services and products to address societal change. Thanks to this vision and despite of the current difficulties, Europe still enjoys the most sustainable and balanced quality of life. The current global crisis represents the greatest threat ever

It is fair to be said that we are not ready to compete with Asia, Africa or even America in certain segments of the value chain. Yet we can definitely beat them on one of the most valuable dimensions: the design and implementation of products, services and policies that can offer a better and more efficient response to existing and emerging social needs. Ageing, climate change and poverty are just a few examples of the implementation fields. However, if we want to maintain that position and reap its full potential benefit we need a smart and strong European infrastructure for social innovation. For this purpose, Europe needs a road map for social innovation that will support a network of large scale infrastructures like the Bilbao Social Innovation Park in many other regions. Why not in Portugal?

* Head of International Programs Bilbao Social Innovation Park

HELSINKI 2.0 REINVENTING THE CITY provide resources - funding, services, spaces, communication channels, tools and platforms - to encourage and facilitate the generation and implementation of ideas and processes of urban innovation. Democracy will materialize itself in a set of principles that structure the interaction between the various participants, combining autonomy, diversity and interdependence of people and organizations and provide platforms for social innovation.

After the chef Jamie Oliver in 2010 and the Photographer JR in 2011, this year’s TED Prize was awarded to an idea and not to a person: the city 2.0. The city concentrates many of the challenges that the planet is currently faced with, from climate change and energy, to poverty and social exclusion. But it is also the stage where solutions can be collectively built for a better future, combining competitiveness and innovation, environmental sustainability, cultural diversity and social inclusion. Helsinki anticipated this vision in the Manifesto “Social Silicon Valley - Towards a City 2.0”, developed by the Demos think tank in 2008. By 2050, the Helsinki Metropolitan Area is intended to be globally recognized as “The Social Silicon Valley” and “The Living Lab of 4th Generation Welfare State.” To this end, it becomes essential to create new ways of thinking and making the city, based on a model of open government and an active involvement of the citizens. The proposal is based on the co-creation of cities as the new paradigm of urban development. In the future, all citizens must have an active voice in the reinvention of the cities where they live and work. This is an open innovation ecosystem where communities are involved in the definition of local public policies and in the creation of urban innovations in the fields of economics, planning, culture, environment, lifestyles and services. In the center of the social innovation system of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area are citizens and communities, being incumbent on the local government to, on the one hand, enable public discussion on the urban challenges thus co-creating a vision of future and, and on the other,

As stated by Roope Mokka in an article published in Monocle Magazine in July 2008 (No. 15), the cities of the future will be “wikicities” in the sense that they are created in the same way as wikipedia. In the same way as everyone can contribute to the development of an online encyclopedia, citizens can also contribute to creating solutions for their cities. According to the Mayor of Helsinki, “we are witnessing the emergence of a new era of public policy which I will refer to as open leadership (....) if Wikipedia and Linux can be built in an open manner, public policies can also be defined in this way (...) I believe that governments and successful businesses in the near future will be those who yield to the people the power to shape the future of their lives and the ability to cooperate.” Any citizen can create an infrastructure or implement an idea in his/her community in the same way he/she edits a new text on Wikipedia. Here is an example. A father of two was not satisfied with the public school system, arguing that this created a barrier between the activity of learning, leisure and community life. For him, education should be considered a personal development project entered into the daily lives of children, and not a mere form of certification of skills concentrated in specific locations at limited times of the day and with the support of accredited teachers. PA R A D I G M S OF CI T I Z E NS HI P 60s – 70s: “I need” 80s – 90s: “I want” XXI Century: “We can”

GLOBAL CITY 2.0 – MAP CITIZENSHIP Global City 2.0 is an informal network of civic movements of cities, asserting itself as a space for reflection on the role of these emerging forms of grassroots democracy in the transformation of cities. It is a platform for dialogue, sharing experiences and collective learning about urban practices, crossing citizens and organizations from different countries and cultures. ‪In an era of economic, social and political crisis, citizens could play an important role in public policymaking, in the resolution of urban problems and the building of local community life. It is often enough to generate micro-ideas at a low cost but with a high impact on the cities. ‪It is an initiative promoted by the movement “Cities by Return” in partnership with a range of organizations from Portugal, Brazil, Spain, Argentina, Italy, UK, Estonia, Israel, Australia and the U.S. involving a network of researchers, professionals and other citizens. ‪The new networking site was launched in January 2012, calling on citizens and organizations to insert their initiatives in the world map of the city civic movements. Join in! ‪http://www.globalcitynetwork.org/ ‪https://www.facebook.com/groups/CityCivicMovements/

He then had an idea: to create a “Kids Town”. Along with other parents of the community he developed a manifesto for learning that he placed on the “citizen-wiki”. The manifesto aroused great interest and was joined by over 40 people, which led the City Council to support the process of social innovation with the launch of the pilot project: “Kids Town Mellunmäki.” To facilitate the participation of parents in the education of children, the municipality provided space, compensated the employed parents for the hours spent teaching the children and appointed a person to facilitate the relation of the community with the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, the urban environment and its key players. But the father proved to be a true social entrepreneur and is now promoting the involvement of the senior community in the “Kids Town”, encouraging intergenerational learning. The concept was even exported to China, where there are now

approximately 300 “Kids Towns”, showing that a local urban solution may have a high impact considering its potential for replication in other cities and communities. The success of a system of social innovation, as that intended to be implemented in Helsinki is based on the emergence of social entrepreneurs in communities, who know the social needs of the places where they live. And the council supports with: the creation of mapping systems for social needs, the availability of funds of social venture capital, the allocation of interaction spaces (so-called “mixing hubs”) and launching programmes of social entrepreneurship.

PORTUGAL, A COUNTRY WITH OPPORTUNITIES IN THE FIELD OF SOCIAL INNOVATION

Helena Gata*

Paul Romer, economist and professor at the Universities of Stanford and New York, encourages us to look beyond the immediate challenges caused by and inherent in crises, stressing the importance of opening the new windows of opportunity that can be foreseen from them. The crises entail opportunities and new facilitating factors for a constructive systemic change (Linden, 2007). With the crises, new resources become available, we define new priorities, rules and laws hitherto regarded as rigid, that become more flexible, leaders become more accessible and finally change is viewed as something possible and tangible. Crises arise in the context of dysfunctional systems and the blocking of societies in which “what was effective a generation ago, (...) is somehow dysfunctional today” (Giddens, 2007), the emergence of new solutions becoming a national priority. In Portugal, this is precisely the scenario, we need new solutions. The CGD and TESE created in 2011, the Co-Lab for Social Innovation ( colabsocial.com ) in order to generate new solutions on an intersectional base and accelerate the process of social innovation in Portugal, but we must do much more. It is not enough to create a Social Emergency Plan, we must create a National Strategy for Social Innovation, a National Fund for Social Innovation, we must innovate the public sector - its procedures, services, leadership and culture, etc.., we must demand a greater accountability and participationof the private sector in building the common good and improving the quality of life.

sedative responses in a context where emergency situations permanently prevail. Currently, the country needs a foresight change capable of anticipating trends, creating space for the new sustainable business models that have been mentioned (eg, Projecto Marias, Cozinhar o Futuro, Efeito D, etc.) and that can contribute to the design of a new economic order, creating a parallel plan for risk management associated with the various processes of change that may be triggered by the government and institutions.

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It is not enough to create a Social Emergency Plan, we must create a National Strategy for Social Innovation, a National Fund for Social Innovation.

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In November 2011, Harvard Bussiness Review highlighted the emergence of new more sustainable business models developed by entrepreneurs highly motivated by social concerns, thus announcing a new economic era. With the emergence of the crisis, it became common to hear about change, but where will these changes actually occur?

To create new solutions that work, the country must be able to channel all its discontentment and “design real solutions for real needs” (David Bornstein, 2006). Transforming the pessimism and the current problems into opportunities to create new solutions for the country, is the biggest current challenge. Often, these solutions are simple and very affordable, we no longer need superheroes. There already are online interactive tools, such as the urgentevoke.com site - an interactive game that teaches us to develop strategies for social innovation - which allows us to simulate the resolution of social problems, and where we can all train our skills and learn with other players. It is worth trying, because in this Social Innovation game we are all winners. *President of TESE (ONGD)

Contrary to what was expected, the social policies of recent years have tended to be not very dynamic, not being able to anticipate new social trends, clearly keeping a reactive posture, temporarily triggering healing and / or

S. Vicente Retalhos de Esperança

Viana do Ca Ainda Dar

Porto Escola do Bairro

Sintra Pólo Manto Social

The social innovation projects are happening all over the country Although social innovation is still not very publicized in Portugal, locally there are several projects happening in a discreet yet central manner for the quality of life of certain communities. Their disclosure is important to stimulate the social economy of the country and to extend the good practices in the field. Note: The selection of projects had no selection criteria, only the statement (indicative and not exhaustive) that social innovation projects are being developed around the country.

Lisboa Faz-te Forward Lisboa Projeto Marias

A Músic Bairros Gera-

Cascais Escolinha de Rugby da Galiza Lisboa Cozinhar o Futuro

Lisboa Efeito-D

Lisboa K’CIDA

Angra do Heroísmo In Forma-te

Lisboa Lavagem de Automóveis CAIS

Odem A Vida V

Lagos a Proxima'Arte

Vila Real Guimarães

domiciliária

astelo r-que falar

Mirandela Banco Solidário Alfândega da Fé Novos Povoadores

Porto Aconchego

Seia Eco-talentos Coimbra Cozinha Solidária

Covilhã Arca de Talentos

Aveiro ca nos -Sons

Caldas da Rainha Loja Social

Tomar (Tomar) o Rumo Certo

Constância

Amadora Orquestra Geração

Avis Vamos à Horta

Seixal Orquestra Tocá Rufar

Moura Capital Aldeia

ADE Serpa Em Casa Não Estou Só

mira Vale

Lagoa Banco de Trocas

Lagoa Cartão LagoaSocial

Loulé Asas para Amanhã

Ferreira do Alentejo EC3 - Eco-Centro

FINANCING SOCIAL INNOVATION

Banking Ethics Ethical banks are those whose mission is to promote social, environmental and cultural welfare . These are banks whose goals go beyond profit maximization for the shareholder, common in traditional banking. These aim to maximize social welfare, with a set of credit and funding policies consistent with their mission, thus promoting the funding of business and organizational activities in the field of social innovation. As examples we can identify the ethical banks Triodos ( www.triodos. com ) and the Charity Bank ( www.charitybank.org), which, being very different in their approach to grant funding, are two good examples of this ethical approach to money.

Foto:www.freeimages.co.uk

Social innovation can be understood as a new way to promote activities that generate employment and economic profitability, with the aim of contributing to social welfare and environmental impact of society. In Portugal there already are some examples of companies with a social cause, though there still is not a proper legal framework for such organizations. Since they intend to develop an activity in favor of society or the environment, in addition to generate self-employment and / or more jobs, these organizations have funding needs, such as traditional businesses. However, they usually have greater difficulty in obtaining traditional funding from conventional banking products. This difficulty arises from the fact that traditional banking does not hold knowledge on this area, nor does it possess its own tools for analyzing in a concrete and real manner the risk and potential of the activity. Over the past 30 years, new forms of funding to help these companies and organizations to grow have emerged. In most cases, they arose from the initiative of the civil society and then grow and expand in separate ways. These forms of funding are still a niche market in relation to traditional funding, though fast-growing, thus underlining the growing need that certain population groups have to associate part of their savings to positive impacts on society.

The Global Alliance for Banking on Values was recently created, an independent network of banks that use its power of funding for the promotion of sustainable development with deprived people, communities and in favor of environmental welfare. This network has around 14 ethical banks as members, and partners such as FMO (Dutch Development Bank), the American Rockefeller Foundation and ShoreBank International (http://www. gabv.org).

Microcredit Microcredit consists of the allocation of small loans, by paying an interest rate, to people and entrepreneurs who are usually excluded from traditional banking. These individuals, by not having a bank account, not having collateral or not having a stable job, can not get funding to start their activity. This practice originated in Bangladesh with the Grameen Bank, founded by Muhammad Yunus, which is a benchmark for microcredit with the poor populations. This approach to credit is based on the idea that the poor have skills that are not being used, who can create their own jobs and are able to generate enough revenue to improve their quality of life and pay the interest associated with this loan. For example, in Portugal there is the AssociaĂ§ĂŁo Nacional de Direito ao CrĂŠdito (ANDC) which, together with some Portuguese banks, can help a group of individuals and small organizations to create and expand their business, which would otherwise not be possible. The ANDC, not being a financial institution,

Financing Social Innovation - An Example from the United Kingdom The United Kingdom took the initiative to use dormant or stagnant accounts in various banks in the country and to use these amounts on social projects and thus contribute to the growth of the so-called third sector. It created legislation in order to transfer the stagnant and inactive accounts (so-called dormant accounts) in the banks to a bank set up and designated by it as the “Big Society Bank” which has since then changed its name to “The Big Society Capital Group.” This group is a financial institution that intends to develop an investment market based on social and financial return. In this manner money that was deposited in traditional bank accounts was channeled to a bank with social purposes. For more information: http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/content/big-society-capital

may not grant loans nor charge interest, and therefore its activity consists in collecting information, analyzing it and advising the CGD, BES and Millenniumbcp to finance projects identified by them. In 2011, the ANDC provided about one million euros to 164 loans with an average value of 7,400 euros, which enabled about 230 jobs. For more information: www.microcredito.com.pt/.

Crowdfunding The so-called crowdfunding is a new way to obtain funding and is closely associated with the global and digital society. It is the result of a collective cooperation by a group of people, working in a network, that decide to allocate money towards a person or organization they trust. Typically these networks operate via the Internet, which is the platform where the funder and funded meet, where some place some of their savings, and the receptors place information on what they do with these amounts. This type of funding can be seen as a natural response to the gap that exists between the need for capital and the funding models in a modern society, where civil society has an ever more evident and active weight. For this reason, NESTA - “National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts” (UK) designated 2012 as the “Year of crowdfunder.” In Portugal, the Bolsa de Valores Sociais (BVS), which also exists in Brazil, consists in replicating the idea behind a stock exchange, where there is a group of investors who invest their money with the expectation of a return. What distinguishes the BVS of a traditional stock

exchange is that firstly the investor only expects a social return and not a direct financial return from the application of his/her savings. The BVS team identifies and selects social projects that meet a set of prerequisites, and announces them online publicly identifying the amount that needs to be obtained, how it will be used and what the purpose of the project is. It is then up to each individual and / or company to use some of their savings in these social investments. Many companies, under their sponsorship programs, use BVS to identify the projects they decide to support. The return that investors receive is expressed by the increase in social welfare and the sustainability of the economy. For more information: http:// www.bvs.org.pt/v.

Casos de Crowdfunding social KIVA – www.kiva.org Global Giving - www.globalgiving.org/ Impulso - www.impulso.org.br/ Vamos agir! - www.vamosagir.com/pt LET’s - www.lets.bt

The growing importance of social innovation at the international level Milestones in the Social Innovation field*

Center for Social Innovation Social enterprise

2006

Toronto (Canada)

2004

2005 Social Innovation Japan NGO

2002

2000 Center for Social Innovation Graduate School of Business Stanford University (EUA)

for Social Innovation PPP (Public–private partnership), (sponsors: ministries, industry) Rotterdam (Netherland)

Tokyo (Japan) New Zealand Social Innovation Young Foundation

TESE – Association for the Development NGDO Lisbon (Portugal)

Netherlands Center

formed from the amalgamation of different organizations, founds SIX - Social Innovation Exchange London (United Kingdom)

Investment Group (key group of philanthropists, grant givers, and community leaders), and “New Zealand Centre for Social Innovation” Auckland (New Zealand )

2009

Social Innovation Generation” (SiG), A national collaboration addressing Canada’s social and ecological

Social innovation is approaching the

challenges by creating a culture of continuous social innovation. Kitchener, Ontario (Canada)

mainstream and is pushed by leading

2008 DG Enterprise and Industry of the EC

2007

sets up a “Business Panel on future EU innovation policy,” which formulates the salient recommendation in its report (Vasconcelos et al. 2009, 1): ”We propose to base EU action around compelling social challenges, to finance venture and social innovation funds, to incentivize large scale community level innovations, to transform the public sector and to unlock the potential of new infrastructure and new types of partnerships.”

international politicians. In the first week of his term in office, President Obama announces the establishment up of an “Office of Social Innovation” in the White House (and endows a corresponding fund with US$ 50m). In Brussels, EC President Barroso declares “The financial and economic crisis makes creativity and innovation in general and social innovation in particular even more important to foster sustainable growth, secure jobs and boost competitiveness.” (Press release IP/09/81, Jan. 20, 2009).

IES - Social Entrepreneurship Institute Cascais (Portugal) Australian Centre for Social Innovation Adelaide (Australia)

2010

Empowering people, driving change: Social innovation in the European Union A report written by Agnès Hubert et al. Waterloo Institute for Social Innovation and Resilience (WISIR) Institute of Waterloo University, Ontario (Canada)

from the Bureau of European Policy Advisers (“BEPA Report”), recommends policy options for social innovations at the EUlevel addressing social demands, societal challenges, and the need to reform society at large.

Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship Research Centre at the Massey University – Palmerston North, Auckland, and Wellington (New Zealand)

Social Innovation is taken up as a field of research in the 2011, Work Program in the Thematic Program Social Sciences and

2012

Humanities of the 7th Framework Program for RTD; following a public call for tenders, DG Enterprise places an order “Social innovation

European Commission

pilot initiative.” In the ”Europe 2020 Flagship Initiative: Innovation Union,” published October 6, 2010, very great importance is attached to social innovations: ”Social innovation is an important field which should be nurtured. It is about tapping into the ingenuity of charities, associations and social entrepreneurs to find new ways of meeting social needs which are not adequately met by the market or the public sector.” (European Commission 2010, 21) Page 22 specifies the objectives and

announced the launch of an

2011

annual prize under social

“The Commission will support a sub-

the former director of Cisco

stantial research program on public

Systems Internacional,

sector and social innovation … it

Diogo Vasconcelos.

innovation in memory of

will pilot a European Public Sector Innovation Scoreboard.” European Commission launches the Social Innovation Europe Initiative

measures: “The Commission will launch a European Social Innovation Pilot … It will provide social innovation through the European Social Fund (ESF) … Social Innovation should become a mainstream focus in … European Social Fund programs”

Source: adapted from Josef Hochgerner’s article “The Analysis of Social Innovations as Social Practice”, 2011 * Indicative and not exhaustive list, from 2000.

WINTER SCHOOL ON SOCIAL INNOVATION INTELI took part in the first Winter School organized by the Social Innovation Exchange (SIX) Network in Gdynia, Poland, during two days, entitled Social Innovation in 2015: What will it look like and how can we achieve it? This initiative aimed to set the agenda for Social Innovation for the next four years and plan how to achieve it, that is, to strive to understand what has been done to date in the field of social innovation and how the community can contribute to the future development of this area. In this context, workshops and spaces for collaborative learning and idea exchange were organized on various topics, including: Visions on Social Innovation in different parts of the world (Europe, Australia, Brazil and USA among others); practical cases of social innovation, the challenges the Social Innovation is currently facing, and what could be the future trends in terms of opportunities and challenges for social innovation. This event was attended by benchmark international organizations in the field of social innovation, such as: NESTA (United Kingdom), the Young Foundation (United Kingdom), Denokinn (Spain), the Australian Centre for Social Innovation (Australia), the Center for Social Innovation (Canada), as well as Portuguese: TESE, the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, CISCO, among others.

RENERGY promotes interregional cooperation INTELI is one of the partners of the RENERGY project - â&#x20AC;&#x153;Regional Strategies for Energy Conscious Communitiesâ&#x20AC;?, an initiative approved in late December under the INTERREG IV C Programme of the European Commission. The project aims to improve, through interregional cooperation, the effectiveness of regional and local sustainable energy in response to the commitments and strategies of the European Union with a focus on the European Energy Strategy and on the Europe 2020 strategy. Having begun in January 2012, the initiative will run for three years. The project is coordinated by the City of Poenza (Italy), and the partnership consists of more than 11 cities, regions and organizations in Portugal, Austria, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and the United Kingdom.

INTELI LEADER OF THE EUROPEAN RE-GREEN PROJECT INTELI is the leader of the RE-GREEN project - “ Regional policies towards GREEN buildings”, approved on December 16, 2011, by the INTERREG IVC Programme of the European Commission. The initiative aims to improve the regional development policies directed at promoting “green areas”, with a focus on the rehabilitation of buildings by promoting energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy. In addition, it aims to promote economic development, job creation and social inclusion, within the paradigm of “green economy”. The partnership includes the University of Potsdam (Germany), the Municipality of Dabrowa Gornicza (Poland), the Tartu Regional Energy Agency(Estonia), Nordregio - “Nordic Centre for Spatial Development” (Sweden), the Regional Government of Extremadura (Spain), the Municipality of Mizil (Romania), the Municipality of Dublin (Ireland), “Building for the Future Limited” (UK) and the Local Energy Agency Spodnje Podravje (Slovenia). Under the official start of the project, INTELI is organizing the launch seminar under the theme Regional Policies for Greening the Building Sector, which will be held on February 28 at the Museu do Fado, and that will be attended by a wide range of international speakers. Contact: info@re-green.eu REGISTER HERE

CREATIVE ECONOMY UNITES LUSO-BRAZILIAN EXPERIENCES INTELI is responsible for the Creative Economy module of the Post-Graduate Course in Management of Creativity and Innovation, organized by the Fundação Brasil Criativo in collaboration with Faculdade de S. Luís de França, in Aracaju (Brazil). The purpose of this course is to prepare and qualify professionals to support and conduct change processes that assume the need to apply knowledge on creativity and innovation. The graduate has a duration of 18 months, the module on Creative Economy being held in March 2012. This participation results from the collaborative process that INTELI established with the Fundação Brasil Criativo in the field of creativity and innovation.

INTELI VISITS THE SOCIAL INNOVATION PARK IN BILBAO The next day March 12, 2012, INTELI together with CEIIA – Center for Excellence and Innovation in Automobile Industry, will visit the Social Innovation Park in Bilbao, with the aim of meet not only the park as infrastructure, but also the Hiriko electric mobility project and other social innovation projects that are growing in an unique ecosystem of innovation. Hiriko is a new concept for urban mobility. A new model that relates the city, the citizens and the vehicles. It is a very technologically advanced vehicle, 100% electric, produced locally and in a collaborative manner. On last February 24, 2012, the European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, announced Hiriko as a benchmark social innovation project. This initiative was still regarded as part of the response to the crisis that is being experienced in Europe and still “the right kind of project for the right priority, fully contributing to the triple objective at the center of the European 2020 Strategy, which is a smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, thus stimulating job creation” in the words of Barroso. Via Professor Bill Mitchell from MIT (USA), Hiriko was born in the Basque Country within the creation of the Social Innovation Park - Hiriko’s test bed. This project is now being implemented in various parts of the world, beyond the Basque Country, such as Malmo, Berlin, Vitoria, Barcelona and San Francisco in the U.S..

Foto: JOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

The SROI Network International Conference â&#x20AC;&#x153;A time for social valueâ&#x20AC;? Berlin, Germany - 16 and 17 February, 2012 The level of interest in relation to social and environmental impact has been increasing. Social and impact investors such as foundations and public sector commissioners increasingly want to know the value that their investments generate, and social entrepreneurs have recognized the importance of maximizing the value they can create for those who serve. This international conference aims to explore how to quantify the impact in terms of social return on investment.

2012 UK-Ireland Planning Research Conference - Building communities United Kingdom - 11 to 13 April, 2012 The planning system is vital for a strong economy, for a sustainable and attractive environment and for a good democracy. A planning system open to local citizens, sensitive to the history and character of a particular location, is necessary. This conference will feature plenary sessions, parallel sessions and workshops on numerous topics, including: neighborhood and community planning; planning for adaptations to climate change; mobility and infrastructures; urban and rural regeneration; urban and rural development and environmental impacts.

EURAM 2012 - 12th Social Innovation for Competitiveness, Organisational Performance and Human Excellence Rotterdam, Netherlands - 6 to 8 June 2012 The aim of the EURAM 2012 Conference is to discuss the various ways of strengthening the social and technological innovation within a company, between companies through networks of open innovation, during the interaction with the institutional stakeholders, as well as through a better general measurement and monitoring thereof.

The XXIII ISPIM Conference â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Action for Innovation: Innovating from Experience Barcelona, Spain - June 17, 2012 Organized by ISPIM (International Society for Professional Innovation Management) and hosted by La Salle University in partnership with Orbita97, this conference will bring together industry innovation management professionals, research organizations and intermediaries. The format of the conference will include lectures, thematic sessions, with workshops and discussion circles. Sessions include the following topics: Action for Innovation; Collaboration for Innovation; Creativity and Generation of Ideas; Entrepreneurship, Business Models and Funding for Innovation; Methods, Tools and Measurement of Innovation; Networks and Clusters of Innovation; Sustainability in Innovation.

World Conference on Social Work and Social Development 2012 Stockholm, Sweden - July 9, 2012 This conference will be the meeting point between policy makers, social workers, academics and students for the exchange of experiences and the development of social work practice, research and social education and social policies with the aim of developing a sustainable system of social welfare. The three central themes to be addressed at the conference are: human rights and social equality; environmental change and sustainable social development; the global social transformation and social action.

SITES & LINKS Social Innovation Europe

TESE

Young Foundation

Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian

Euclid Network

Social Silicon Valley Manifesto

NESTA

TEDprize

SIX – Social Innovation Exchange

LIVROS & ARTIGOS

Solidarity Economy: Theoretical and Epistemological Issues

Pedro Hespanha, Aline Mendonça dos Santos, Almedina, 2011 This work initiated under the International Colloquium on Solidarity Economy: A Seed of the Future in November 2011 aims to provide new epistemological and methodological approaches to a better understanding of what Solidarity Economy is. Currently there is a great difficulty in seizing the specific richness and difference of Solidarity Economy and other non-capitalist economic forms. By extending the field of analysis, these new approaches are more likely to recognize the aspects invisibilized or overlooked by conventional wisdom such as, for instance, the subjectivity of the actors, the modes of social and political participation, the alternative rationality of projects, or the ways of mobilizing and using scarce resources. All these issues are fundamental to a better understanding of Solidarity Economy.

Design for Social Sustainability: A framework for creating thriving news communities

Saffron Woodcraft, Tricia Hackett & Lucia Caistor-Arendar, The Young Foundation & Future Communities, 2011 This document, prepared by a United Kingdom partnership composed of the Future Communities, Young Foundation and the Homes and Communities Agency, establishes how to plan, design and develop new communities in an efficient and socially sustainable manner. The ideas and examples are drawn from a review carried out on large-scale evidence about on makes communities thrive, with practical examples and approaches of new cases of communities around the world.

Unmet Social Needs in Singapore

Braema Mathi and Sharifah Mohamed, Lien Centre for Social Innovation, Social Insight Research Series, October 2011 This report seeks to highlight the areas where social policies and a culture of inclusion need to be revised or improved in Singapore. The paper benefited from constructive feedback from various sectors of social services in Singapore. It was developed with the aim of building on existing structures in order to bring about a positive social change in identified communities.

Breakthrough cities – How cities can mobilise creativity and knowledge to tackle compelling social challenges Lauren Kahn, Geoff Mulgan e Charles Leadbeater (et al.), The Young Foundation, British Council, London, 2009

Social Watch Report 2012 – Sustainable Development: The Right to a Future The Social Watch Report 2012, based on contributions from organizations in 66 countries around the world that produced their national reports, concludes that the growing inequalities and non-regulated finances are expropriating people pretty much everywhere of the benefits they are entitled to. The report includes thematic chapters written by members of social and academic institutions, such as the Civil Society Reflection Group on Global Development, the Third World Network, the Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND), the Social Development Network (SODNET, Kenya), the Eurostep, the Feminist Alliance for International Action (FAFIA, Canada) and the Global Policy Forum. This report also contains data from the latest measurement of the Basic Capabilities Index (BCI), an indicator which combines infant mortality rates, the number of births attended by qualified personnel and enrollment rates in primary schools.

This is a groundbreaking report on how cities can mobilize creativity and knowledge to tackle compelling social challenges. The Breakthrough Cities report is a unique resource for anyone working in the field of city policy – policy makers, consultants, public employees, workers in the arts or education sectors, NGOs, or simply private individuals committed to improving city lives. It provides inspiring ideas, understanding and guidance that can help make cities better places to live in. The report was written following research carried out by the Young Foundation to develop the Urban Ideas Bakery concept as part of the British Council’s Creative Cities project. Charles Leadbeater and Geoff Mulgan, international experts in social innovation and creativity, have made a strong contribution to this document.

All Cities.brief issues are devoted to a relevant personality or institution on the subject in debate. We would like to dedicate Cities.brief 03 to

Diogo

Vasconcelos

for

his

outstanding

contribution on developing the knowledge and information society in Portugal and his crucial influence on the integration of social innovation in the European policies. He was an example of the contribution that Portugal could offer to Europe and the world. He distinguished himself as Cisco International Senior Director and Advisor of the Presidency of the Republic for the Knowledge Society affairs and founder and president of the Mission Unit on Innovation and Knowledge. Above all, he was a friend. A INTELI

INTELI is a think-and-do-thank that operates in the area of integrated development of territories at an economic, social, cultural and environmental level, by supporting public policies and the strategies of local agents. It operates in the areas of culture and creativity, energy and mobility and social innovation, seeking to contribute towards the affirmation of more creative, sustainable and inclusive cities and regions.

TECHNICAL DATASHEET Edition: INTELI – Inteligência em Inovação, Centro de Inovação Av. Conselheiro Fernando de Sousa, 11, 4º 1070-072 Lisboa – Portugal Tel: (351) 21 711 22 10 Fax: (351) 21 711 22 20 Website: www.inteli.pt E-mail: citiesbrief@inteli.pt