European Community of Practice

People involved in social intervention projects, especially social innovation projects, had reasons to feel in good spirits as they left the 1st Social Innovation International Congress, held on 29 and 30 May at the Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon...

Firstly, because concern with social innovation is clearly concern about people and social justice. The concept incorporates ideas of equality and diversity, empowerment and citizenship, inclusion and social cohesion, and stimulates the search for new responses and the development of new solutions to the problems and needs of society’s most disadvantaged groups. It is a concept of those who believe in working with energy and creativity to achieve a better society.

Secondly, because the Congress was a demonstration of civil society’s vitality, not just in terms of the initiative itself and its organisation, but also insofar as it proved, as was seen from the examples presented at the event, its capacity for partnership (third sector, Public Administration, and private sector), and for working with people on the ground, creatively and competently, and having significant individual and social impact.

Thirdly, because it had provided an opportunity to hear the views of international experts, discuss social innovation with them, and learn about a number of different innovative initiatives, both from abroad and Portugal (mostly from EQUAL), and to better understanding how social innovation is an inspiring concept that is making its way out there as well as back here. The openness and sharing of experiences and ideas among specialists and practitioners from different countries was reassuring and stimulating.

Fourthly, because the difficulties associated with the social innovation process were met with interesting and promising responses, not only in terms of its promotion (i.e. the creation of favourable conditions relating, for example, to organisational culture, funding, needs diagnosis, etc.), and in relation to its development (experimentation itself, which calls for specialised human resources, management, planning and monitoring tools, partnership models, and tools for communication, evaluation, demonstration, and results validation, etc.), but also in terms of its dissemination and transfer (the use of innovation by potential users and beneficiaries, which requires a capacity to go outside the project and the test ground itself, and the ability to engage and involve strategic actors, secure commitments, develop appropriation and incorporation mechanisms, etc.), reinforcing the sense of belonging and effectiveness of the innovation.

Fifthly, because different leading political figures were associated with the event, including His Excellency the President of the Republic, who gave his patronage to, and attended the Congress. In his speech, the President encouraged social innovation initiatives, and this was wholeheartedly endorsed by the Minister of Labour and Social Security and the Coordinator of the Lisbon Strategy and Technological Plan who were also present.

Good reasons indeed for us to be confident in our collective capacity to increase the drive towards innovation and to find creative, quality, and effective solutions with which to tackle our problems of inequality, discrimination, unemployment, and social exclusion.

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Texts from Newsletter EQUAL

(Portugal), June 2008 (Princípio Activo – Projectos de Comunicação e Imagem, Lda.)