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Social innovations «meet social needs», are «good for society» and «enhance society’s capacity to act». But what does their rising importance tell us about the current state of public policy in Europe and its effectiveness in achieving social and economic goals? Some might see social innovation as a critique of public intervention, filling the gaps left by years of policy failure. Others emphasise the innovative potential of cross-boundary collaboration between the public sector, the private sector, the third sector and the household.
This paper explores the conditions under which the state either enables or constrains effective social innovation by transcending the boundaries between different actors. We argue that social innovation is closely linked to public sector innovation, particularly in relation to new modes of policy production and implementation, and to new forms of organisation within the state that challenge functional demarcations and role definitions.
Anchoring challenges through citizen participation in regional challenge-based innovation policies
(2024)
This study focuses on citizen participation as a co-productive and knowledge-intensive process in innovation policies concerned with regionally anchoring grand challenges. We apply a process-tracing approach and analyse citizen participation in two regional challenge-based innovation policies in the Ruhr, Germany. Local sensemaking, problem ownership, iterations and knowledge co-production are discussed as key mechanisms in the anchoring process. The results reveal the importance of a collective dimension in interpreting the local problem setting of a challenge achieved by reaching out to numerous citizens and how local, corrective and actionable knowledge facilitate the regional challenge anchoring. The policy formulation phase required the highest level of knowledge co-produced with citizens, followed by the implementation phase.
This article explores the importance of belongingness in migrant entrepreneurs' (MEs) engagement within entrepreneurial ecosystems (EEs), focusing on emotional and social dimensions often overlooked in favour of structural factors. Through two case studies in Germany's Ruhr area, the article demonstrates how a strong sense of belonging enhances resilience, trust and social capital, essential for business success. The experiences of two MEs, Ilyas and Elif, illustrate belongingness as a catalyst for connectedness and embeddedness, enabling access to networks and resources while countering discrimination. The study suggests that policy frameworks should acknowledge and support the emotional and relational aspects of MEs' integration in EEs. Emphasising informal support systems, community engagement and tailored interventions could help overcome structural barriers and foster more inclusive ecosystems. Future research should further examine these dynamics across diverse cultural and geographical contexts to offer a more comprehensive understanding of MEs' entrepreneurial trajectories.
In an effort to better understand the various forms of social innovation, mapping has become a common and widely applied method for gaining insights into social innovation practices. The transdisciplinary nature of social innovation research has led to a plurality of distinct approaches and methods. Given the increasing interest in social innovation, and the apparent endeavour among policymakers to utilise social innovation to address current societal challenges, it is argued that mapping efforts need to be streamlined in order to make better use of their results. The article describes 17 ongoing or recently finalised research projects on social innovation and their methodological approaches on “mapping” social innovations. It provides a systematic overview on project objectives, SI definitions and mapping approaches for each of the scrutinised projects and ends with a synoptical analysis on methods, objectives and missing research.
Entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE) research has flourished, yet it continues to overlook how power shapes who can mobilize resources, legitimacy, and opportunity within these systems. This paper reframes power as a constitutive, and not incidental, dimension of ecosystem functioning. Integrating insights from Pfeffer's resource-dependence theory with Foucault's and Bourdieu's social perspectives, we develop a Power-Sensitive Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Framework (PSEEF) that conceptualises power across micro (entrepreneurial identity), meso (network structures), and macro (institutional governance) levels. Our key insight is that power dynamics are the hidden mechanisms through which EEs determine who gains visibility and support, and whose ventures remain peripheral. Recognising these mechanisms enables scholars and practitioners to understand ecosystems not merely as collections of resources but as evolving arenas of legitimacy and control. The framework provides actionable tools for ecosystem leaders to diagnose and rebalance inequalities, advancing both the analytical and practical agenda for inclusive and high-performing EEs.
Solutions to empower and (re-)engage vulnerable and marginalised populations to unfold their hidden potential allowing them to fully participate the social, economic, cultural and political life, necessarily involve institutional change. This in turn necessitates understanding the processes and mechanisms by which social innovations lead to in-stitutional change. Considering the specific nature of social innova-tions as interactive, generative and contextualised phenomena while maintaining that many practices at the micro-level can add up to patterns and regularities at the macro-level, middle-range theorising (MRT) is proposed as an appropriate method to theoreti-cally underpin and substantiate theoretical advancements towards a multidisciplinary perspective on the economic dimensions of social innovation, identifying the direction of future empirical inquiries.

