No more PDF's! The Role of Social Innovation Research and The Academy.

Social Innovation is NOT about creating NEW solutions

Prensentation by Fredrik Björk, Malmö University.
First of all, Social Innovation is NOT about creating NEW solutions. We need to experiment, Fredrik strained. Solutions are the Fairy tale TRAP of Social Innovation, we need INTERVENTIONS of Change, no more PDF’s.

Fredrik has done research on Civic Soultions Labs in Canada, Sweden and US, and he is convinced framing the ability to create an interventional, open and dialogue based Lab-Model is the way ahead. But we also need to bring researchers into the field of Social Labs, as they can provide mediation, critical perspectives, legitimacy, methodological knowledge and access to research within the labs.

Fredrik is a lecturer in Environmental Science at the Department of Urban Studies. Between 2010-2012 he was programme coordinator for the Leadership For Sustainability master’s programme at Malmö University, and between 2012-2013 responsible for research coordination at the Forum for Social Innovation Sweden. He is a board member of the Center for Public Entrepreneurship; the Swedish SROI Network and the social enterprise Yalla Trappan. Fredrik made some very interesting remarks on the role of the Academy in Social Innovation research

At the present there is a high focus – in Denmark as well – on the need for more “relevant” faculties, participatory action/research and production of knowledge within the field of Social Innovation. In Fredriks perspective, sustainability is about reaching the gap between users and experts. The “Dissemination of Knowledge”, as he put it.

We need to get away from the “project programming approach” to creating intervention based experimental and action-oriented research and Social Innovation frames. Think innovatively about which researchers you’d like to involve in a collaborative process. Researchers are also practitioners!

Fredriks presentation was highly inspiring and usefull. Thank You Fredrik!

Social Labs - Social+Conference: Marlieke Kieboom & Chris Sigaloff, Kennisland, (NL)

Workshop on Social Labs

How do we set up and run social experiments for societal challenges? Social innovation labs are the latest vehicles for systemic change – for transforming the way our welfare programs, social initiatives, and even our economic systems run. How do they run social experiments in practice? How do lab practitioners learn - from each other, from their failures and from the history of practice in our field? What kind of framework for theory, tools and methods are applied? And what kind of role does

research play?

Jesper Christiansen, Mindlab DK, Marlieke Kieboom & Chris Sigaloff, Kennisland NL (NGO) as well as Fredrik Björk from Malmô University, alle contributed in the workshop; “How do we set up and run social Experiments for societal challenges?”.

Marlieke Kieboom & Chris Sigaloff, Kennisland NL (NGO) opened the workshop on Social Labs.

Chris Sigaloff, CEO, Kennisland (NL)

Chris specialises in social innovation and works with organisational transformation, collaboration processes and internal (bottom-up) innovation. Chris leads Kennisland projects across education and the public sector. Chris‘ expertise is in the design and facilitation of programmes through which people jointly create new knowledge - knowledge about the ability to create more public value, to collaborate more effectively, and to strengthen your position as a professional. 

Chris Sigaloff, CEO Kennisland, (NGO) NL

Marlieke Kieboom, Kennisland discussed how we can make knowledge useful to support people’s innovative practices? In practice she designs new research methodologies and learning infrastructures with/for citizens, professionals and policy makers in the fields of education & well-being.  

Whats Goin On? - The Netherlands and Social Labs

The tendencies in Societal changes effects the citizents of Holland, as the government Is focusing on decentralization and establishing a new participatory society. All this has an effect as we change from a Well-fare to a DIY-fare society, which tries to develop and imply new methods of meeting and greeting the real needs of the citizents by participatory design approaches. In this regard, working in “social labs” – integrating and facilitating both official as well as NGO / non-formal need has proven to be of great value, Marlieke and Chris pointed.

The real task is having big ambitions, but reaching them by patiently taking one step at the time. Joining hands, that isJ

Social Labs prove to use new interacting methods, using Design Thinking and participatory design. As such Social Labs, can be:

Inclusive:

From closed expert based ideamakers to open multidisciplinary teams that collaborate on the issues and experiments together. Social Labs are thereby:

Inquisitive:

Social Labs are about People working together, relying on senses, feelings, actions and creates a different frame for understanding the real needs, not singularily based upon numbers.

Action Oriented:

The social Labs often creates direct, action-based interactions.

Outdoor:

From the offices to the real worldJ

Open

From welldefined focused group-teams to open for everyone.

Cheap

From high Cost Consultants to collaborative, knowing, caring and enthused local citizents.

How do I get along with a Social Lab?

Marlieke Kieboom & Chris Sigaloff, Kennisland, set up this list:

Challenge the System and Society, by asking questions.

Frame the good Question

Set up A Multidisciplinary Team

Find a suitable location

Set up Dynamic Moments.

Who said Design Thinking is no good for Social Innovation?

Great presentation, and very inspiring eperiences and talks. Thanks to Marlieke Kieboom & Chris Sigaloff, from Kennisland! Visit: https://www.kl.nl/en/

Social Experiments, Please! From SocialPLUS Conference Copenhagen, December 1, 2014.

Social+ Conference: (A collaboration with The Velux Foundation, SocialInnovationeXchangeNordic and Social+)website: http://socialeopfindelser.dk/english/

Yesterday at the Social+ conference in CPH.  The topics were  “Social Experiments”.

The challenge was–how to create a wider non-solution focused, but progressive open design-inspired approach to letting people experiment in creating social business and cultural interactions. Programme: http://socialeopfindelser.dk/wp-content/uploads/sociale-eksperimenter-konference-2014.pdf

The first speaker was Christian Bason, CEO Dansk Design Center. 

Christian has been director of MindLab, and Business Manager in Rambøll Management and has a renowned experience within Design Thinking and participatory process. His latest book ”Design for Policy” has just landed, and inspired from this, he focused on bringing Participatory Designs into an open experimental Social Design effort. 

The Conference was facilitated by Clement Kærsgaard, and opened by Andreas Hjorth Frederiksen, CEO, Social+. Andreas is the founder of Frivilligjob.dk – Mikrolån.dk Ungdommens Røde Kors, Red Barnet, Socialt Udviklingscenter SUS og senest været  direktør for KPH – a cooperative for innovative social and cultural start-ups.   

After the opening a Panel consisting of Vibeke Jensen, Head of Emplyment, Aarhus Municipality, Jesper Thyrring Møller, CEO, The Municipality of Hedensted, Dorthe Lysgaard, Projectmanager at the Tryg Foundation, Anders Folmer Buhelt, Manager of Affairs at The Youth Red Cross, Denmark, and Mads Roke Clausen, Director, The MotherHelp, Denmark. The Panel was under fire, by Clement as well as participants, asking how we can provide new frames for experimenting. All agreed to abandon the solution based approach for a more design, fail-forward experimental approach.