Andrew Wolk

Social Innovation around the World

Posted on 16. Jul, 2009 in Role of Government, Social Capital Markets, Social Entrepreneurship, Social Innovation

It is early morning in Lisbon, Portugal, on day two of the Social Innovation eXchange (SIX) International Summer School on Social Innovation. The first day was quite inspiring and also eye opening for me. There are about 120 people here from 24 countries around the world, all of whom are advancing social innovation in their own countries. It is the first convening I have been to where I know almost nobody, and I am learning a great deal!

The theme of the event is “Recovery Through Innovation,” and not unlike my first post, there is a strong sense here that we are at an inflection point and that social innovation can play a vital role in moving the world forward on the social issues we struggle with. The critical role of government is quite prevalent here is as well.

Here are a few people I have met so far:

Won Soon Park, from South Korea, is the executive director of Hope Institute. He has been working on engagement of all three sectors for decades. At the Institute, they house the Social Invention Center, which “gathers citizens’ ideas in order to change everyday life and institutions,” and the Center for Alternatives, which “finds new, alternative policy models for our society and the worth in living life for the common good,” among other initiatives. The fascinating thing about their work is the use of technology to find citizen-based ideas, helping to move them forward, combined with very strong connections to both local and national politicians. Won Soon comes from a deep background in advocacy, and brings that experience to driving social innovation in South Korea now.

Louise Savell from the UK is associate director of Social Finance. Social Finance started just a couple of years ago, but they are doing dynamic work to develop financial instruments driven by and for social innovation, a great deal of which involves working directly with the UK’s government. One initiative that particularly intrigues me is the early development of a social impact bond that would be secured by the government based on the savings realized on a particular social issue (e.g., prison recidivism).

Justine Munro from New Zealand is the chief executive officer of the Centre for Social Innovation. The centre just opened this past year, but Justine, along with others from the academic community, are showing me that the momentum being built at universities around the world surrounding social innovation and entrepreneurship is much stronger and more consistent than it was when I first started teaching social entrepreneurship in 1999.

Stay tuned for more from SIX…and follow the conversation on Twitter at #sixlisbon

Tags: centre for social innovation, hope institute, inflection point, lisbon, social finance, Social Innovation, social innovation exchange