Three approaches to social innovation
Social innovations can be developed in:
- local,
- regional,
- national or
- global context.
No matter what level and approach we use, social innovation needs to demonstrate sustainability - not only institutionally, but also financially - in order for the benefits of social innovation to generate the desired social impact and stable change.
How to start socially innovating?
The process of social innovation is simple. We need to analyze a problem or need, map / identify existing solutions, re-analyze, find a possible new solution, test, analyze, improve, test, analyze, improve, repeat everything, validate.
Through the process of social innovation, we need to continuously verify whether the new solution meets the basic criteria of social innovation: whether it meets social needs and requirements, whether it contributes to efficient and effective use of resources, whether it improves the quality of life, changes existing paradigms and practices. In the Croatian context, perhaps the most important thing is whether it encourages individuals and communities to be co-creators of social change, whether we create new social capital through these processes.