What's it all about
What is Social Innovation?
Social innovation is an idea, scheme, organisation, invention or way of doing something that meets a public need, which isn’t being met in any other way. It emphasises trying new ways of doing things, learning while doing and putting ideas into action, guided by ideas of equity and fairness.
Social innovation uses the collective knowledge of societies to find new ways of meeting their communal needs in ways that work, are cost effective, sustainable and develop fair, prosperous and vital societies.
Socially innovative ideas and schemes are found across Government, non-government and community organisations, and can tackle problems around health, caring for the young and the elderly, education, city renewal and issues found in Indigenous communities right down to traffic control.
The Big Issue magazine, Common Ground, micro credit agencies such as women’s cow banks, and children’s mentorship schemes are all examples of social needs being met in inventive ways.
Social innovations are often made to fit local needs, but local or national, they work on the same principles of using communal knowledge, building networks across many groups and organisations for joined-up solutions, and creating individual solutions rather than one-size-fits-all approaches. This means that many of these ideas can be adapted to different countries and circumstances to meet the same needs, as happened when Adelaide took up Common Ground’s model for housing for the homeless as a result of Rosanne Haggerty’s residency.
South Australia has a rich history of social innovation that continues today in programs such as the Innovative Community Action Networks (ICAN) that supports vulnerable children and teenagers through school training or work equipping them with essential life skills.
Using a ‘whatever it takes’ approach, ICAN’s success rate demonstrates the benefits of bringing together the collective knowledge and interest of families, schools, community groups, business and Government in finding ingenious solutions.
Socially innovative approaches are crucial in maintaining industry competitiveness, increasing the efficiency of public services and the quality of life for citizens.