SI Drive Newsletter

Issue #8 / December 22nd, 2015


 

Welcome to the SI-Drive Newsletter

eighth edition

 
 
Welcome to the eighth eNewsletter of SI-DRIVE, a large-scale research project funded in the European Union’s 7th Framework Programme (FP 7). In our eighth edition we focus amongst others on the conference 'Social innovation 2015 - Pathways to Social Change'.
 

About SI-DRIVE

 

 

World summit of social innovation in Vienna

International conference: Pathways to Social Change (18-19th November 2015)

 
 
According to the work-plan SI-DRIVE was obliged to hold an SI-DRIVE mid-term conference by the end of 2015. SI-DRIVE organised this event in collaboration with other major SI projects of FP7. Therefore, the Conference became a meeting place for many more experts (including policy makers and practitioners) with a variety of approaches to, and activities in the field of social innovation. [Read more]
 



 

 

 

SI-DRIVE policy field reports

Documents for Download

 
 

SI-DRIVE recently published seven summaries of the SI-DRIVE policy field reports. Please find the links for download below. The summaries are based on the state-of-the-art reports in every policy field of SI-DRIVE, which provide policy field specific insights on social innovation and the related governance system. The state-of-the-art reports will be further elaborated during the project period. The final reports will be published in 2017. Please also see the Compilation of state-of-the-art reports on policy fields.

Each report addresses governance background, recent challenges and corresponding practice fields of social innovation and illustrates social innovation projects in the related policy field – on a national, European, and global level. With its emphasis on the (governance) context of social innovation in the policy field, the reports are complementary to the SI-DRIVE mapping, which asks for details of concrete social innovation practices and projects, as well as to the SI-DRIVE report on social innovation in the different world regions, which elaborates main strategies and distinctions of social innovations according to a global context.

 

Scientific reports on social innovation available

 

 

Co-production of a ‘Social Innovation Research Agenda’ (Co-SIRA)

Survey for the co-created SI research agenda

 
 

As part of the Social Innovation Europe initiative the EMES Network leads the process of co-creation of the 'Social Innovation Research Agenda' (co-SIRA). Drawing up an agenda should be an open and continuous process, with the aim to identify new approaches, issues and questions related to SI research. Therefore researchers and other stakeholders working on SI are invited to share their contributions due to build a research agenda to inform research policies on the topic. SI-DRIVE supports this initiative and is pleased to spread the invitation to participate in a survey which has been created to gather specific feedback on the contents of the research agenda and to collect input on the ongoing projects and future trends from the community. More information on the initiative can be found here.

 

Social innovation research agenda

 

 

GEN AFRICA Strategy Meeting…

…in Cairo, from 15-20th December 2015

 
 

The Global Ecovillage Network (GEN), was set up in 1995, is an umbrella organisation working to support the experimental creation and preservation of low impact lifestyles across the globe. During the conference in December 2015 25 African active social leaders and advisers of GEN AFRICA network (from 15 African countries) came together to Heliopolis University in order to consolidate the work they have done since its establishment, and to update and develop a clear strategy and concrete targets for the time period of 2015-2020. More information can be found here.

 

 

 

2015 ‘European Commission Social Innovation Competition’

Winners selected!

 
 
The winners of the 2015 ‘European Social Innovation Competition’ were announced. The three winners were selected out of over 1.400 applications from more than 40 countries and have each received a prize of €50.000. The winning projects highlight social and environmental issues that concern many Europeans, addressing our ageing population, inclusion and accessibility in creative ways. [Read more]
 

 

 

The INTEGRIM-Scribani Final Conference…

…in Bilbao, from 6-8th July 2016

 
 

The conference will focus on ‘International Migration, Integration and Social Justice in Europe’. Further information will be available here.

 

Save the date!

 

 

New publications on social innovation…

…dealing with social innovation research, workplace innovation and social investment

 
 

The book 'New Frontiers in Social Innovation Research', edited by Alex Nicholls, Julie Simon and Madeleine Gabriel, was published in September 2015. This important new collection explores the practice and process of researching social innovation, its nature and effects. Combining theoretical chapters and empirical studies, it shows how social innovation is blurring traditional boundaries between the market, the state and civil society, thereby developing new forms of services, relationships and collaborations. [Read more]

In December 2015 the special issue of the series World Review of Entrepreneurship, Management and Sustainable Development on 'Workplace innovation and Social Innovation' was published. Guest editors are Jürgen Howaldt (Sozialforschungsstelle (sfs), TU-Dortmund) and Peter R.A. Oeij (TNO, Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research). The contents deal amongst others with the European policy and the theoretical foundation on workplace innovation, with an alternative typology for teamwork and the effect of workplace innovation on organisational performance and sickness absence. For further information please contact: Drs. P.R.A. (Peter) Oeij / peter.oeij@tno.nl

The article 'O Investimento Social na União Europeia como Resposta aos Desafios Financeiros e Sociais da Crise' (Gómez Urquijo, Laura, Revista Contexto Internacional, Vol. 37, N° 2, 2015) deals with the idea of social investment given by the European Union in the peculiar current context of cuts of social expenses and reinforcement of the economic governance. With this aim, the work focuses specially in the initiatives provided by the EU, mainly by the Commission from the breakout of the crisis. More information can be found here.

 

New publications on social innovation

 

 

Events focusing on social innovation…

…in Europe and overseas

 
 

Workshop on open science, open access, open data: In the framework of the workshop held on 26th November 2015 in Bucharest Romanian participants in FP7 projects discussed issues related to open access in the context of the European H2020 strategy. [Read more]

Expert Workshop on emerging research topics at TU Dortmund University - sfs from 1st to 3rd December 2015: Over thirty funding agencies and researchers from South and North America and Europe took part in the expert workshop on 'Resilient and Innovative Societies of the Trans-Atlantic Platform for Social Sciences and Humanities (T-AP)'. [Read more]

Changemaking at Ryerson University - project showcase: The event on 24th November 2015 in Toronto highlighted some of the innovative work being done by the University's faculty and students. [Read more]

Conference on social innovation in Santiago de Chile: On 2nd October 2015 the University of Talca, Chile and the Chilean think tank CIEPLAN (Corporación de Estudios para Latinoamérica) invited to an international conference on social innovation in Chile – according to the motto 'from practice to public policy'. [Read more]

TU Dortmund University – sfs participates in two social innovation events in New York: On 6th October 2015 numerous guests came upon the invitation of the 'German Center for Research and Innovation' in New York and the University Alliance Ruhr, to learn more about recent developments in the field of social innovation in the European and North-American perspective. On 7th October 2015 social innovation was again on the agenda, this time in the context of a workshop with approximately 20 renowned international experts. [Read more]

 

Event review



 

 

Season's Greatings

 
 

The SI-DRIVE team at ZSI wishes you all the best for the Holiday Season. Have a relaxing break and a prosperous New Year!

 

Season's Greatings

 

 

CominG Soon...

Ninth SI-DRIVE Newsletter

 
 
The ninth SI-DRIVE newsletter will be issued in March 2016. Please register at our si-drive website if you are willing to receive regular information.
 

9th SI-DRIVE Newsletter

 
  Are you a member? Register | Login XING Facebook LinkedIn Vimeo Twitter RSS E-Mail
Copyright © 2015 ZSI-Centre for Social Innovation, All rights reserved.


Our mailing address is:
ZSI-Centre for Social Innovation
Linke Wienzeile 246
Vienna
Austria
EU This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 612870.
!DSPAM:567d0d1a17192668020027!