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SI-Drive

The importance of social innovation keeps evolving, and thus many ongoing activities draw on this area of work. This applies to a high degree where public awareness and citizen engagement and co-creation in the development and uptake of new solutions in response to outstanding social and environmental problems is of high importance. In much of this work, IKED builds on the results and findings of SI-Drive (see further below). Meanwhile, various conferences, seminars and workshops continue to advance exchange of information and collaboration on social innovation. Examples of such events in which IKED has taken active part, includes the Workshop on the Future of Social Innovation in Education, organised by the European Commission, DG for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (EAC), on July 10th, 2019, in Brussels. Another was ECER 2019, "Education in an Era of Risk – the Role of Educational Research for the Future", Hamburg, Germany, September 3-6, 2019.

Additionally, work on social innovation continues in other activities, such as “the Future of Water and Humanity”, launched in Muscat, Oman, on November 13-15, 2019, and with further follow-up on February 3-4, again in Muscat. Another important outlet, related to URBiNAT, is the work on linking Living Labs and Community of Practice (CoP), advanced in the Thessaloniki workshop organised by ENOLL, the European Network of Open Living Labs, on September 3-5, 2019, and prepared for the World Urban Forum (WUF), February 8-13, 2020, in Abu Dhabi.

SI-DRIVE, a unique EU-funded research project with global reach which represents the most ambitious review and analysis of social innovation ended December, 2017. It represented a collaborative research effort which included an extensive mapping of social innovations in eight major world regions as well as extensive analysis at several levels. The European and global mapping provided an overview of social innovation and its different, regional and cultural background and differentiations. Further, SI-DRIVE examined the role of current public policies in this context. This included considerations how public policies can enable both the development of social innovations in the first place and subsequently their diffusion and up-scaling for the purpose of achieving favorable systemic change. As one component, theoretical research is undertaken to provide insights into the nature of social innovation and its relations with public policy. The project also included in-depth analysis of case studies in seven policy areas including, Education, Employment, Environment, Energy, Health and Social care, Mobility and transport, Poverty and Sustainable Development. The SI-DRIVE Policy Declaration is available here.


The first phase of the project was completed in 2015, with the collection and structuring of one thousand cases of Social Innovation from around the world. In the second phase, in-depth analysis was undertaken of some 70 vibrant cases which was followed by Policy field reports. The final SI-DRIVE "General Assembly", which took place in Dortmund, Germany, on the 6th and 7th of April 2017, brought together all partners and took stock of the project achievements. The final major conference of SI-Drive, "Social Innovation - Research and Policy for future: Towards a Comprehensive Innovation Policy", was held in Brussels on October 24-25, 2017.


Many of the results produced through the project have been reported in the SI-DRIVE quarterly eNewsletters


The in-depth case studies carried out by IKED in the policy fields of Education, Health, and Environment, were the following:


  • NASF(Iceland): NASF is a unique initiative which pioneers restoring Salmon stocks to the historical abundance level in the North Atlantic. The project has gained international recognition and helped support cross-border cooperation more generally in this field. For further details, please visit NASF website (Click here)
  • Myrorna (Sweden): Myrorna is a well-established case of social innovation, the foundation of which goes back to the 19th century. It is based on a bottom-up initiative to organise the collection from the rich of surplus clothing and other household utilities, upgrading the quality and then making the products available for needy people at affordable prices. Over more than a century, Myrorna evolved from essentially a charity organisation to a professional operation with a solid handle of fashion while a promotor of social goods with regard to the environment as well as social practices. For further details, visit Myrorna website (Click here)
  • Storycrafting (Finland): Storycrafting is a research-based initiative dedicated to learning. It pioneered and diffused pathbreaking methodology for putting the child at the centre of the learning process. For further details visit project website (Click here)
  • Fryshuset (Sweden): The core idea of Fryshuset is to build a sustainable society where every human being is awarded the possibilities to join and take active part. The widespread need of learning support is the main driver which guides the coaching support and other activities. For further details visit project website (Click here)
  • Friluftsfrämjandet (Sweden): Friluftsfrämjandet focuses on "Learning in the field" which mostly means being outdoors in nature when learning. Participants are guided by trainers; the learning is practical and based on the principle of learning-by-doing. For further details visit initiative website (Click here)
  • Självdialys (Sweden): An innovative solution for the treatment of dialysis under the control of patients themselves. The model builds on a process that serves to establish trust between hospital personnel, notably nurses, and patients. Following an introductory period, the care process becomes totally managed by the patient at a hospital, without the need of any direct involvement (except introduction and general support) by healthcare personnel. For further details about initiative (Click here).
  • FAR (Sweden): In the FAR-programme, both patients and health care personnel are made aware of and encouraged to discuss physical activity as a complement and/or priority measure in the context of health care. For further detail visit the website (Click here)


Policy reports are available here for the areas of Health, Education, and Environment.


Among published articles, see an article on Comparative Analysis: http://www.si-drive.eu/?p=2283


Information on the Atlas presenting different key contributions, including two from IKED, can be found here


On the partners:

In total, SI-Drive included 15 partner organisations from 12 EU-countries, and 10 from other parts of the world.


SI-Drive was coordinated by the Technische Universität Dortmund, Germany. http://www.sfs-dortmund.de/v2/index.php.


Within SI-Drive, IKED was responsible for the policy analysis and mapping of social Innovations in the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) as well as in Western Asia, or the Arab Gulf (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates).


The other SI-DRIVE partners are listed below: