Verso (Eco)Sistemi di Innovazione Sociale : Un percorso di capacity building

Abstract

The book is not just another content on Social Innovation. It is certainly about the practices and processes which generate innovation. Still, above all it is an attempt to broaden our view of the interconnection of these practices and processes with those elements that - directly or indirectly - can influence their design, implementation, dissemination and sustainability over time. Therefore, we refer to (Eco)Systems of Social Innovation and we do so from a critical reflection of the term ‘ecosystem’. This book is one of the results of the project SEED: Ecosystems of Social Innovation, (supported by the European Commission's DG Employment, Social Affairs & Inclusion) whose aim was to develop public and accessible spaces to enhance European resources for social innovation. In the course of the project, the University of Bologna contributed to the design and implementation of capacity building aimed at supporting the understanding and dissemination of social innovation ecosystems. Thus, in line with the reflections and experiences shared in that occasion, the book proposes a reasoning on the competencies - capacities, possibilities and potentialities, of actors and territories - that are favourable to the development of territorial ecosystems of social innovation. The variety of topics, analysed through diverse theoretical approaches and research techniques, makes the book a valuable resource for both sociological analysis and policy design dealing with social challenges and generating social innovation.