Social Innovation Ecosystems – theory, policy and practice

Social Innovation Ecosystems – theory, policy and practice

December 9, amphitheater 3.1, Faculty of Economics of the University of Coimbra

Although social innovation practices are as old as society's initiatives to improve the conditions of human existence, especially from the 20th century onwards, systematic policies and research on social innovation are more recent, from the 21st century.

Portugal has positioned itself as a pioneer in the implementation of policies to promote social innovation, most notably through the Portugal – Social Innovation initiative, created in 2014, under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement signed with the European Commission.

In practice, social innovation initiatives have multiplied in old and new social economy organizations, public bodies and even in profitable organizations, by the hand of social, institutional and political entrepreneurs.

Today, we are interested in taking stock of practices, policies and research on social innovation in Portugal in Europe, but also looking to the future and understanding trends.

In this seminar we intend to talk about the Portugal – Social Innovation initiative and its future in the new Agenda for Impact 2030.

We are interested in understanding the meaning and implications of looking at social innovation ecosystems, and not just at individual and organizational practices.

Through an exemplary case, we will pay attention to how practices have evolved and have interacted with social innovation policies and their own ecosystems.

biographies

Filipe Almeida is President of the Portugal Innovation Social Mission Structure, the coordinating entity of the public initiative Portugal Social Innovation, a pioneering program in Europe that mobilizes European Union funds to promote social innovation and boost impact investment in Portugal. He is a professor at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Coimbra (FEUC) and a researcher at the Center for Social Studies and the Center for Cooperative Studies and Social Economy. Doctor in Business Administration from the Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration of Fundação Getúlio Vargas (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and Doctor in Business Management from FEUC. Author and co-author of articles and books in the fields of ethics and human behavior.

Carla Nogueira, PhD student in Sociology at the University of Algarve, Faculty of Economics, holds a Master's in Social and Solidarity Economics at ISCTE-IUL and a degree in Sociology at the Faculty of Economics at the University of Algarve (UAlg). Since 2012 she has been working as a research fellow in national R&D units. She participated in expert groups on smart specialization at the European Commission. At the moment, she is a fellow at CES – Center for Social Studies within the scope of the Atlantic Social Lab (ASL) project – project on Social Innovation practices in the Atlantic Area. She is finishing her PhD thesis entitled “Intentional Sustainable Communities as Laboratories for Social Innovation – Analysis of European Experiences for a Sustainable Transition”, which received funding from the FCT (SFRH / BD / 117398/2016). In conjunction with these activities, she performs the functions of Invited Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Algarve. His areas of research interest include: Economic Sociology, Social Economy, Development, Sustainability, Innovation, Social Innovation, Smart Specialization, Regional Development, Global Studies.

José Carlos Mota is Assistant Professor at the Department of Social, Political and Territorial Sciences at the University of Aveiro. with a PhD in Participation in Spatial Planning. He is a member of the research group on Public Policy, Institutions and Innovation at the GOVCOPP research unit. He is Director of the Master in Urban and Regional Planning and coordinator of the Bicycle and Mobility Technological Platform. He is coordinator of the U-bike project at the University of Aveiro. He is involved in collaborative planning projects and promoting sustainable mobility. He is coordinator of the Study of the Social Innovation Ecosystem in Portugal, at the University of Aveiro.

Microninho – Incubadora Social, was tested in 2012, within the scope of a master's thesis prepared at MISIE, and was awarded in the EDP Solidarity contest, in 2013. Organizationally framed in ADSCCL – Associação de Desenvolvimento Social e Cultural dos Cinco Lugars, and implemented in Lousã, Microninho can carry out its dissemination process with the support of Portugal – Inovação Social and municipalities in other territories in the Center region such as Penela, Condeixa-a-Nova, Poiares and Figueira da Foz. In its evolution, it assumes itself as an incubator of micro-entrepreneurship for people in situations of vulnerability and an incubator of social innovation in the territories.