Engaging citizens in the social innovation
When launching a social business or a social innovation project, there are several different aspects that should be taken into consideration. Among various practical things such as the right time, location and funding, the social innovator should always seek for another very important aspect – participation and engagement of the community. Social business or other social innovation ideas are usually born when facing a certain societal issue or challenge, therefore engaging the local community in different phases of the business or social project is not only important – it is crucial.
A European research report “Engaging Citizens in Social Innovation: A short guide to the research for policymakers and practitioners” suggests different ways how to engage citizens in social innovation. At the first stages of the innovation or launching of the business, citizen involvement can be very valuable for the purposes of “informing about the present states” – providing information regarding their needs and challenges that they are experiencing at the moment. This information and opinion gathering can take different forms – research and consultations, practical workshops or online activities. The opinions and experiences of the community members can be very valuable also when developing future solutions – through such activities as idea camps or competitions people can help to create better solutions for social innovation projects or social businesses.
The research report indicates three main ways of how citizens can be engaged in social innovation processes. Providing information and resources is one of those approaches. As previously stated, the opinions and experiences of the citizens are very important throughout all the phases of social innovation projects – either by helping to define the main challenges and needs or in later phases when evaluation and feedback of the involved people is of very high importance. This category also involves providing resources – not only time but also money. Local people can get engaged in the social innovation projects by volunteering or donations – therefore providing very practical support for social innovation. The second way how to engage the local community is through problem-solving which essentially means engaging groups of people in the development processes. Involving people with different backgrounds can be very beneficial to a social initiative as it helps to make it valuable and useful for a variety of social groups in the local community. Engaging in the problem solving also means involving people who are facing specific challenges that the social initiative or business is trying to tackle – when those initiatives are not done for the people but are done with the people. The third approach to engage citizens in social innovation is through taking and influencing decisions. This form of engagement is more consistent and requires continuous involvement and cooperation with the people rather than just taking part in events or workshops. Through this approach, the community is given quite a significant power in decision making. A very good example of this approach is participatory budgeting when the local community is given the power to decide on the spending of a certain part of the municipal budget.
There are many reasons why to strive to engage the community in the social innovation processes. First of all, sometimes the people who are planning to launch the business or the social initiative are not very well informed about the actual desires and needs in society. Asking them to engage and share their thoughts and actual every-day challenges may render the social initiative a lot more useful, valuable and legitimate. Moreover, engaging citizens through workshops and competitions can lead to new innovative ideas as often the local people themselves are full of genius ideas on how to solve the challenges that the community is facing. Involving community members often means cooperating and finding common solutions with people with completely different opinions, experiences, and viewpoints. This diversity of approaches can help to develop the social business or social initiative further and make it more appealing to various groups of society.
Read the full research and also a few interesting case studies here: https://youngfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Engagign-citizens-in-social-inno.pdf
(Davies, A and Simon, J, (2013). Engaging Citizens in Social Innovation: A short guide to the research for policy makers and practitioners. A deliverable of the project: “The theoretical, empirical and policy foundations for building social innovation in Europe” (TEPSIE), European Commission – 7 th Framework Programme, Brussels: European Commission, DG Research.)
“Since 2012, IKEA has been collaborating with social businesses – pioneers with the ambition to create business that is ethical in all dimensions. This is the story of business done differently, which aims to create 95,000 jobs that positively impact 500,000 lives. And that’s just the beginning.
IKEA social entrepreneurship is a program that started with the vision of honouring unique skills and competences and gives them a global platform to stand on – resulting in better lives for those who need it most. This has been accomplished by partnering with enterprises that produce products and services that in turn empower people who struggle to provide for themselves and their loved ones. The result is financial independence and life-changing opportunities for families and communities; with improved health care, education and gender empowerment.
IKEA has high standards for all suppliers through something called IWAY. IWAY sets social and environmental requirements for all IKEA suppliers; making sure that people are well treated, resources are protected, and workspaces are healthy and safe. A social business meets these standards, but chooses to go beyond IWAY to reach people furthest from the job market.
Focus areas
Inclusion
Supporting social entrepreneurs who strive to improve the terms on which individuals and groups take part in society. This involves providing jobs, incomes, capabilities and tools to those who are vulnerable and marginalised irrespective of their individual or group characteristics.
Equality
Working with social entrepreneurs who look to make society more equal in terms of income, status, rights and opportunity. This involves supporting individuals or groups, but also changing systems, with a view to allow people to earn a decent and sustainable living.
Livelihood
Ultimately aiming to lift people out of poverty by having the opportunity to earn a decent living. With increased inclusion and equality comes a better chance of a dignified life, where people have the possibility to provide for themselves and their families in a sustainable way.
Partnerships that inspires change
Through real business
Partnering with social entrepreneurs at a business level, IKEA designs and produces products and services that are sold and offered at IKEA stores worldwide. It is a win-win situation with high quality products manufactured and vulnerable peoples lives changed through the jobs created.
IKEA co-worker engagement
What’s really unique about IKEA is how it uses colleagues as a resource. Their involvement ranges from operational support for social entrepreneurs who make products for IKEA, to strategic development for the ones that don’t provide products or services for IKEA. At the same time, it gives IKEA the opportunity to learn how to become more circular, sustainable and entrepreneurial in the business. It’s a relationship built on knowledge sharing, a mutual exchange of competences and inspiration.
Financial support to the partners
Since the characteristics and needs of each social entrepreneur are different, IKEA will customize its financial support. This will be a choice between grants – without the demand for repayment or financial return -, loans and equity investments.”
Read more here: https://ikea.today/social-entrepreneurship/
Source: https://www.ikeasocialentrepreneurship.org/en