Looking back to look forward
What is required of SIX and social innovation in the next 15 years will be different to the last. As we start this new chapter we’ve consolidated our learning and insights into this booklet.
You can read our full story by downloading the booklet here. Learn more about our the activities and achievements since 2008 here.
‘We dared to imagine an organisation like SIX’.
The idea of SIX was born when a group of innovators came together over breakfast at an event in Beijing in 2006. Social innovation was beginning to be talked about more systematically. Governments around the world were setting up innovation teams, hubs, labs, and funds. Social innovation was gaining recognition as something that could help overcome the financial and economic crisis.And a new generation of social entrepreneurs and civic innovators were emerging and spreading.
Honing our approach to social innovation
Through designing and running several new programmes and activities in close partnership with organisations all over the world, we’ve developed deep expertise in the dynamics and practice of social innovation (which we practice in our own work) as well as broad knowledge of global social innovation trends and new thinking.
Tying all of this together is the basis of the SIX approach to field building.
Key features of the SIX approach
- Bricolage by design and pluralism – Complex societal challenges can rarely be addressed through single point solutions – they require a systemic perspective which draws on lots of different approaches. We are constantly collecting new ideas, learning and creating. We draw on and blend a variety of disciplines (systems thinking, design, imagination, policy innovation, the arts) and we adapt and combine approaches to make them relevant to the people, place and context.
- The art of bridging and working in the in-between spaces – It is one thing finding people from different perspectives, it is another thing to get them to learn from each other or work together. To do this, we start by creating deep human connections which start from our own value systems, beliefs and behaviours.
- The power of cultural translation – Political, social and cultural contexts of innovation matter and it is vital we understand them to accelerate learning and exchange across borders and sectors. We work with care and sensitivity to deliver work that responds to the nuances of different sectors, communities and places.
Insights from 15 years of practice
From our bird’s-eye view of what is happening around the world over the last 15+ years, we’ve observed as trends have spread to different places, taking on different characteristics and language. We’ve observed social innovation organisations from different sectors emerge, transform, merge, and sunset (from foundations, to design studios, to labs and networks).
Above all, SIX is a practice-led organisation – all our insights have come from what we have done, and from what people in the network are doing. Each experience is a learning opportunity and has contributed to the following insights.
Our 4 lessons of social innovation practice
- Constantly experimenting – Experimentation and innovation is a mindset, a craft and a practice. However big an organisation or whatever sector, we need to build the capacity for innovation and experimentation into all organisations.
- Embracing power – Social innovation is about our distributed, collective capacity to govern, enabling people to participate in shaping the processes by which these needs are met. In the era where there is a tendency towards strong man political leaders who make all the decisions, this raises lots of questions about how we do this work.
- Centring context – Social, political and historical contexts matter in social innovation. Simple ‘copy and paste’ replications which ignores the fact that innovation can have multiple pathways. The distinct collective cultural, historical and social experiences are what makes some ideas and actions work in one place, not in another.
- Bridging silos – There is skill and practice that’s needed in the in between. Just like the role of a good gardener. It’s about understanding the context and environment, the different needs and motivations and translating across the differences to find a common purpose.
SIX in a new world
In 2024, we began a quest to find a new model for SIX. We imagined and sought for a new kind of collaboration that is truly, authentically global. In this discovery, we developed a relationship with EdelGive Foundation, one of India’s most innovative philanthropies. Together, the strong roots of EdelGive and the agility and expertise of SIX’s social innovation network, we are becoming an organisation that truly spans sectors and geography, and a model for others to follow. By working in close partnership, and inviting others to join, we will find a collaborative new model for others to follow.
SIX
A global social innovation field builder based in London, focused on accelerating learning and exchange to address social challenges across silos
EdelGive with SIX
A new collaboration that fuses the assets, experiences and perspectives of the Global South and the Global North – pioneering bold and experimental actions
EdelGive Foundation
A grantmaking philanthropy based in Mumbai, supporting grassroot NGOs committed to empowering vulnerable children, women and communities
Get in touch if you want to learn more or if you are interested in collaborating