SOCIAL INNOVATION
The goal of Tomorrow´s Land is to develop the next generation of social innovators fully capable of influencing and contributing to the development of a better, more inclusive and innovative society.
[What is social innovation and why is it relevant?]
Social innovation has been defined as "New ideas that resolve existing challenges for the benefit of people and planet" (Centre for social innovation) or as "New ideas that work to meet pressing unmet needs and improve people´s lives (The Young Foundation).
Never as today, was the need for social innovators so demanding. The challenges posed to our societies, the profound inequalities within the societies, the climate changes, the unemployment rates among many other factors demand for a new socio-economic model and innovative solutions.
Never as today, was the need for social innovators so demanding. The challenges posed to our societies, the profound inequalities within the societies, the climate changes, the unemployment rates among many other factors demand for a new socio-economic model and innovative solutions.
[How is Collaborative Economy & Democratization of Innovation relevant?]
Awarded by the Thinkers 50 2015 Breakthrough Idea for ‘recognizing an idea which has the potential to change the way we think about business forever’, Rachel Botsman (Oxford University) defines collaborative economy as “an economic system of decentralized networks and marketplaces that unlocks the value of underused assets by matching needs and haves, in ways that bypass traditional middlemen”.
The collaborative (a.k.a. sharing) economy value in Europe is estimated at 10 billion€ and expected to increase to more than 250 billion€ in 2025 (Elżbieta BieńkowskaInternal, European Comissioner for Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs).
The collaborative economy is a clear example of social innovation as it´s built as a community-oriented process towards a more economically efficient and environmentally sustainable society (April Rinne, WEF Young Global Leader). The increase of social trades, entrepreneurs and enterprises is nurturing economic growth across Europe and engaging common citizens in the innovation process (Urama, K.C., Acheampong, E. N. 2013).
The collaborative (a.k.a. sharing) economy value in Europe is estimated at 10 billion€ and expected to increase to more than 250 billion€ in 2025 (Elżbieta BieńkowskaInternal, European Comissioner for Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs).
The collaborative economy is a clear example of social innovation as it´s built as a community-oriented process towards a more economically efficient and environmentally sustainable society (April Rinne, WEF Young Global Leader). The increase of social trades, entrepreneurs and enterprises is nurturing economic growth across Europe and engaging common citizens in the innovation process (Urama, K.C., Acheampong, E. N. 2013).
[How can Europe support these trends?]
The COM/2015/0550 (October 2015), Upgrading the Single Market: more opportunities for people and business, settled the EU ambition to develop a “European agenda for the collaborative economy, including guidance on how existing EU law applies to collaborative economy business models”. This follows also the launch of the European Sharing Economy Coalition (EURO-SHE) in the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) on 2013.
“To thrive in today’s innovation-driven economy, workers need a different mix of skills than in the past” (New Vision for Education, WEF). The 21st century skills at the core of the lifelong learning strategy of the EU will be critical to ensure a new generation of citizens equipped with competencies such as collaboration, creativity and problem-solving and personal skills such as initiative, curiosity and resilience.
“Innovation only flourishes when businesses, governments and citizens are prepared to take risks, to think big and to invest in the future. We now need leaders with the courage to take the long view – but we also need better ways to involve Europe’s people in the task of shaping the future” (Plan I(nnovation) for Europe, Nesta).
World-known “sharing cities” such as Amsterdam and Seoul have already strategically anticipated the need to nurture a new citizenship DNA, one that embodies sharing as a feature of everyday life. But the majority of the European countries are still at an early phase of this social-collaborative-innovation-driven economy and despite the efforts to deliver relevant projects (e.g. social innovation incubators; specific funding; etc.) there´s still a need to foster conditions for these movements to evolve and spread transversely across Europe.
“To thrive in today’s innovation-driven economy, workers need a different mix of skills than in the past” (New Vision for Education, WEF). The 21st century skills at the core of the lifelong learning strategy of the EU will be critical to ensure a new generation of citizens equipped with competencies such as collaboration, creativity and problem-solving and personal skills such as initiative, curiosity and resilience.
“Innovation only flourishes when businesses, governments and citizens are prepared to take risks, to think big and to invest in the future. We now need leaders with the courage to take the long view – but we also need better ways to involve Europe’s people in the task of shaping the future” (Plan I(nnovation) for Europe, Nesta).
World-known “sharing cities” such as Amsterdam and Seoul have already strategically anticipated the need to nurture a new citizenship DNA, one that embodies sharing as a feature of everyday life. But the majority of the European countries are still at an early phase of this social-collaborative-innovation-driven economy and despite the efforts to deliver relevant projects (e.g. social innovation incubators; specific funding; etc.) there´s still a need to foster conditions for these movements to evolve and spread transversely across Europe.
