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How can Austria move ahead in social innovation ?

Systematic enquiry on how to establish adjuvant infrastructures for social innovation

Section: Institut

Date: 17. October 2014

Stakeholders and experts from research and innovation funding organisations, innovation research organisations, politics, public administration, practitioners and various supporters of social innovation will convene to elaborate strategic programmes and instruments to advance social innovation creation and implementation. The key objective is to include specific levers for social innovation in existing innovation support measures of public agencies and private investors (cf. programme attached - in German language). Until now there are neither concrete targets set out for social innovation development, nor dedicated funding programmes for social innovation to substantiate the declaration of relevance attributed to social innovation in the Austrian Government's Strategy for RTI, adopted in 2011.

To complement emerging elements of a "Social Innovation System" (e.g. funding on EU level, increasing numbers of research and praxis establishments for social innovation, national and international strategy papers, the European School of Social Innovation, respective study programmes, education and training facilities) funding and sponsorship as well as non-monetary advancement of social innovation must be set in operation finally. Such measures, programmes and instruments will be the final cornerstone of what was envisaged in ZSI's 2008 Action Programme "Social Innovation 2015" (p.30):

“Social Innovation 2015” aims to achieve by 2015 equal footing of social innovation in the economy and in society, as compared to the significance of innovations in technologies and their economic value in markets. We assert that technical innovations in the 21st century will continue to have the highest importance in the economy, but that their influence on social and every day life, on culture and individual attitudes towards life will rise as well. The faster and more radical technology progresses, the more social innovations will become indispensable, in order to cope with the changes in peaceful social prosperity. (...)
Between now and 2015 the topic ”social innovation” should be anchored prominently in public debate, and a large number of effective social innovations shall become realised in economic, social and community politics.

Much of this has been realised since then, but still without particular support on national level. This is why by the effort of this "Enquete" we aim to assist in the development of concrete programmes and tool to strengthen capacities and competencies of social innovation in Austria.

The event takes place in the framework of the Open Innovation Forum 2014, is organised together with Ö1 (the editorial department for science of Radio 'Österreich 1', Austrian Broadcasting Corporation, ORF), in cooperation with Ashoka, Respekt.net, SozialMarie.

Type: Collaborative event (ZSI as co-organiser)

Organizer: Radio Ö1

Location: Radiokulturhaus Wien

Website: http://oe1.ORF.at/openinnovation

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Tags: open innovation, research and innovation, social entrepreneurship, social innovation