Social innovation refers to new ways of combining ideas, generating projects, or configuring interventions or services when responding to social needs that have been left unanswered. This new approach takes on a transformative social dimension in that its novelty is based on social components able to influence and transform institutions.
Social innovation plays an important role in philanthropy and is a useful tool available to grantmaking foundations in achieving their goals. Social innovation allows us to distance ourselves from material or technological innovations and refocus on the social aspect, keeping ‘economic’ and ‘political’ considerations on the sidelines.
This shift of focus toward the social aspect requires supporting social actors for whom the defence of social and environmental justice is a central and non-negotiable cause. It also rests on supporting a post-modernization of society, where philanthropy’s traditional areas of focus, education, health and the arts, are approached with an acknowledgement of the deeply-rooted inequalities and inequities between social groups and territories, of systemic racism and other forms of discrimination.
PhiLab’s special edition brings together a variety of content from our Canadian and International Hubs, including blog articles, interviews, videos and more, to cover the fascinating subject of social innovation and philanthropy.
Enjoy your reading!
- Editorial: Philanthropy and Social Innovation, by Jonathan Durand Folco, École d’innovation sociale, Université Saint-Paul
- Limits and challenges of access to agroecological food – social technology and solidarity marketing at the Bem da Terra Virtual Market, Pelotas, Brazil, by Miria Raquiel da Rocha, Tiago de Garcia Nunes and Aline Mendonça dos Santos, International Hub – Latin America
- Introduction to Design Thinking for Social Innovation: A Tale of Three Labs, by Garrett Ward Richards, Atlantic Hub
- Entrevue avec Denis Bussières, coordonateur du Réseau Québécois en Innovation Sociale, by Zeynep Torun, Quebec Hub
- Entrevue avec Neca Setubal, Présidente du Grupo de Institutos, Fundações e Empresas (GIFE), by Lidia Eugenia Cavalcante Lima, International research unit – Latin America
- Interview with Diane Roussin, Indigenous UWinnipeg by Andrea Kosovacs Sykes, Ontario Hub
- Ongoing Case Research on Philanthropic innovation for sustainability: A multiple case study on how foundations support Sustainable Development Goals, by Marta Rey-Garcia, International research unit (Spain) and Rosane Dal Magro, Quebec Hub
- Is Social Innovation a Useful Tool in a Crisis? Lessons From COVID-19, by Paul McArthur and Laurence Miall, published by The Philanthropist
- Social Innovation Series, a collaboration between The Philanthropist and the McConnell Foundation
- New book: Social Innovation in Canada: Reflections on Past, Present and Future Directions, by The Philanthropist and the McConnell Foundation
- Le rôle de l’économie sociale dans la transition vers l’après-croissance, by Éric Pineault, TIESS
- Video: Qu’est-ce que la mesure d’impact? with Gabriel Salathé-Beaulieu, projecvt manager at TIESS
- Featured content: Investment, innovation and respect, by Jennifer Astone and Steven Heim, published by Alliance Magazine
