Strategies and Best Practices in Social Innovation

This book examines the different ways companies can develop and design social innovation. In particular, the enclosed contributions provide incremental innovations from technological and social perspectives as well as combinations of the two. They also provide emerging research on social innovation from different sectors such as entrepreneurship, education and energy. Collectively, the contributions presented in this book show the ways in which social innovation can drive sustainability and development in regions around the world. All societies are characterized by their political, economic and social institutions and also how the use of technology is implemented. The social innovations with the highest importance are the ones which modify existing institutions or create new one, and based on their magnitude, they can be considered as radical or incremental. For example, when Joseph Chamberlain encouraged workers to become organized to achieve universal male suffrage in Great Britain in the 1885, this was a considered a radical innovation for British society, which in turn changed its political framework. Social innovations may be based on intelligence and commitment, on technology, or on social entrepreneurship in its most open forms. In addition, social innovations can be classified into those which correspond to an entire country or region, a field (e.g., education) or a sector (e.g., entrepreneurship, technology, social reform). Featuring contributions on topics such as agro-food, smart cities, higher education, gender equality and sports, this book is ideal for academics, students, scholars, professionals and policy makers in the areas of innovation, entrepreneurship, sustainability and regional development.