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Top 11 Things to Read on Strategic Foresight and Philanthropy

In our rapidly changing and volatile world, funders need to build more capacity to better deal with the new challenges that come their way. This August, SIX is hosting a retreat with our Funders Node to explore how they can fund strategically with future foresight and adaptive capacity for emergent change. Below is a selection of readings ... Top 11 Things to Read on Strategic Foresight and Philanthropy

Getting Alignment: Some Helpful Aides for Action

Author: Mark Cabaj The idea for this resource emerged during a retreat on Wasan Island for the SIX Funders Node devoted to exploring the challenges and opportunities of getting alignment on tackling tough social, economic and political issues.   The retreat focused on the changing role of foundations, why foundations need to align and how they ... Getting Alignment: Some Helpful Aides for Action

A Wayfinder’s Guide to Systems Transformation

Introduction On 30-31 August 2017 in London, 14 participants from around the world met to explore the question of ‘how might we approach transformational change for complex challenges in the future?’ The workshop was convened by the Australian Futures Project, a not-for-profit that seeks to create the enabling conditions for long-termism including the space for ... A Wayfinder’s Guide to Systems Transformation

Participatory Systems Change: A Primer

Abstract  Addressing many of today’s most pressing problems—from climate change to unsustainable borrowing to rising inequalities—requires both engaging broad public audiences and working with complex systems of institutions, actors and drivers to mobilize solutions. Over the past thirty years, advances in the field of public engage – ment have enabled citizens to meaningfully affect government ... Participatory Systems Change: A Primer

Engineering Change Lab – Sharing the Latest Lab Thinking

The Engineering Change Lab is a platform for collaboration to allow individuals and organizations from across the profession to take action to address the systemic challenges (i.e. ethics failures, lack of diversity, and low levels of innovation) that have been holding back the profession’s full potential. Engineering Change Lab hosted their 5th highly successful workshop in Montreal ... Engineering Change Lab – Sharing the Latest Lab Thinking

Migrant crisis: what can cities learn about new service design?

This blog was originally published on URBACT. A message from Sicily There’s been a lot of recent talk about the additional pressure new migrant arrivals place on public services. There has been less discussion about how cities – and it is mainly cities – are coping with this. And less still about what we are ... Migrant crisis: what can cities learn about new service design?

Migrants, social innovation and collaborative inclusion

In the next decades, a growing number of people will be on the move. The challenge for Europe is to see this not as a threat, but as an opportunity. That is, to imagine how migration can become a driver of innovation towards a younger, dynamic, cosmopolitan and, at the end of the day, a ... Migrants, social innovation and collaborative inclusion

How to be more innovative in your practice: 6 reflections from SIX and Hivos

Across the world, development and social challenges are increasingly more complex and urgent. From INGOs to community organisations to governments, finding new ways of working to meet these challenges is more of a priority than ever. The organisations that are best placed to deliver the biggest impact are those that are highly connected, that are agile ... How to be more innovative in your practice: 6 reflections from SIX and Hivos

Pushing boundaries to advance social impact

In January 2016, a group of 25 foundations from across 4 continents came together at the Rockefeller Foundation’s New York office to learn and share insights about funding social innovation that help them tackle their most important opportunities and challenges. Although there are numerous toolkits, guides and traditional gatherings for foundations providing tips, practical suggestions ... Pushing boundaries to advance social impact

Connecting peers to push boundaries for social change – a new kind of meeting

Insights from the meeting of international foundations in January 2016: An interview with Louise Pulford, the Director of SIX. What makes this node different?  This group is about the people, and I felt lucky to be in the room with such a great group. It really felt like the best were learning from the best. ... Connecting peers to push boundaries for social change – a new kind of meeting

Scaling social innovation: An art or a science?

This originally appeared on the BRAC blog. If there were a simple recipe for social innovation, anyone could easily transform an idea into an impactful solution reaching millions. Unfortunately things are a lot messier on the ground. Many ‘amazing’ innovations that promise to save millions of lives fail to scale and quietly disappear. Who’s to blame: ... Scaling social innovation: An art or a science?

Comparative Report on Social Innovation across Europe

SIMPACT investigates the economic foundation of social innovation in relation to markets, public sector and institutions with the intention of providing a dynamic framework for action at the level of individuals, organisations and networks.  According to SIMPACT’s understanding, social innovation refers to: novel combination of ideas and distinct forms of collaboration that transcend established institutional contexts with the effect of empowering and (re) engaging vulnerable ... Comparative Report on Social Innovation across Europe

Recoding Our Innovation Systems

This article was written by Tim Draimin (Executive Director, Social Innovation Generation) and is part of our SIX Global Council series on Ideas for the Future.  Social Innovation’s Imperative to Be Ambitious and Think Big The world is awash with innovation reports and indices comparing the innovation prowess of different countries, cities, and corporations. The two ... Recoding Our Innovation Systems

Lab Practice: creating spaces for social change

How to organise and run a social lab? Lab Practice aims to share experiences from doing a social lab with elderly people in Amsteldorp by sharing methodologies and stories from both changemakers and social lab facilitators. In the face of fast moving, global, often elusive developments, national governments and their counterparts (public sector) find it ... Lab Practice: creating spaces for social change

People Powered Everything?

This article was written by Chris Vanstone (Director of Co-design, TACSI) and is part of our SIX Global Council series on Ideas for the Future.  The commonsensical approach of doing with rather than to might just be sticking, in places. A decade and a half of work on people powered public services and a long demand ... People Powered Everything?

Taking part: participatory art and the emerging civil society in Hong Kong

As civil society grows in post-colonial Hong Kong, participatory art has registered a heightened local consciousness, the desire to be autonomous and attempts to resist various kinds of hegemony in the 2000s and the 2010s. This essay aims to provide an empirical base for further studies by examining exemplary works, namely Complaints Choir of Hong ... Taking part: participatory art and the emerging civil society in Hong Kong

Digital Social Innovation – Future directions

This article was written by Geoff Mulgan (CEO, Nesta) and is part of our SIX Global Council series on Ideas for the Future.  Over the last 50 years vast sums of public money have been spent supporting digital innovation in the military and business.   These fuelled transformative new phenomena – from drones to mass surveillance, Amazon ... Digital Social Innovation – Future directions

Transnational Network for Social Innovation Incubation

Transnational Network for Social Innovation Incubation – TRANSITION – is a 30-month project that supports the scaling-up of social innovations across Europe by developing a network of incubators which brings together established partners within the fields of social innovation (SI) and innovation-based incubation (IBI). TRANSITION will also provide learning output on which scaling methodologies are most ... Transnational Network for Social Innovation Incubation

The Innovation Lab Insight Centre

The innovation Lab Insight Centre is a joint project between The Brisdgespan Group and the Rockefeller Foundation Focussing on Labs for Systems Change, the project brought together a blog and webinar series which shares research, expert insights, and perspectives on how these labs have helped funders and nonprofit organizations create environments conducive to innovation and ... The Innovation Lab Insight Centre

What does it take to scale social impact?

Twenty years ago, Indian activist Arbind Singh pleaded with local officials to address the issues facing the urban poor. The state government of Bihar had recently carried out a massive antiencroachment drive that left thousands of street vendors without the means to earn a living. Across India, cities were being ‘beautified’—which in part meant kicking ... What does it take to scale social impact?

How Social Innovation Labs Contribute to Transformative Change

The Rockefeller Foundation’s Social Innovation Labs project explores what labs are and how, when, and why we might use them to address complex social problems. Many different types of organizations run labs. Some are part of larger organizations, like UNICEF Innovation Labs or the BRAC Social Innovation Lab. Others are independent, like InSTEDD. According to The Bridgespan Group, preliminary estimates indicate that ... How Social Innovation Labs Contribute to Transformative Change

Making it Big: Strategies for scaling social innovations

This Nesta report Making it Big: Strategies for Scaling Social Innovations aims to help social innovators consider the best options for scaling up their innovations. Key findings: Scaling isn’t for everyone. Not all innovations are scalable, and scaling brings risks. But where social innovations have potential to benefit more people, we think innovators should at least consider whether ... Making it Big: Strategies for scaling social innovations

The teams and funds making innovation happen in governments around the world

Nesta and Bloomberg Philanthropies have published the i-teams report to explore in-depth twenty innovation teams and funds from around the world. We analyse the diversity of structures and approaches, their impacts, and the key lessons for other government leaders looking to emulate these efforts.  We present the new practices being developed and implemented by city ... The teams and funds making innovation happen in governments around the world

Webinar: Geoff Mulgan on ‘Master of Arts in Social Innovation’

The new study program “Master of Arts in Social Innovation” at Danube University Krems (Austria), which will start its new course on 16th of June 2014, offers a recorded version of Geoff Mulgans Webinar for all those who are interested in Social Innovation. For more informations click here.

The radical’s dilemma: an overview of the practice and prospects of Social and Public Labs.

This article was originally written by Geoff Mulgan on the Nesta website. In this paper, Geoff Mulgan looks at the various social and public labs across around the world. He summarises his personal view of the field of innovation labs – and what might lie ahead – largely based on Nesta experience. The report looks ... The radical’s dilemma: an overview of the practice and prospects of Social and Public Labs.

Design in public and social innovation: What works and what could work better

What’s going right and what’s going wrong? Is design a key to more efficient and effective public services, or a costly luxury, good for conferences and consultants but not for the public? This Nesta paper looks at the elements of the design method; the strengths of current models; some of their weaknesses and the common criticisms ... Design in public and social innovation: What works and what could work better

Social innovation research in the European Union: Approaches, findings and future directions

This report was originally posted on Wilco Project. In the course of the WILCO mid-term seminar, a pioneering initiative was launched to take stock of all the research done so far within the Framework Programmes with a view on preparing for Horizon 2020. The main result of this event is the “Social innovation research in the ... Social innovation research in the European Union: Approaches, findings and future directions

Public and Collaborative: Exploring the Intersection of Design, Social Innovation and Public Policy

An interesting phenomenon is emerging worldwide: more and more people are organizing to solve daily problems together and are collaborating with each other to live more socially cohesive and sustainable lives. This active and collaborative attitude, driven by several social and economic factors, is also based on a technological pre-condition: the diffusion of technologies that ... Public and Collaborative: Exploring the Intersection of Design, Social Innovation and Public Policy

Project Innovation: the Social Innovation Toolkit

The reality of day-to-day organizational work is that we tend to rely on typical strategies to achieve outcomes. An innovation mindset challenges key ideas about the traditional ways of working in social sector organizations, the importance of asking challenging questions and gathering data to better understand the complexity of social sector work, and the need ... Project Innovation: the Social Innovation Toolkit

New ways of doing

The original article appeared on The Guardian Social innovation is the new global obsession. It might be a nebulous idea but it has huge potential. Lord Darzi, following his review of the NHS, is so enamoured of its powers that he’s set aside a £50m annual budget to encourage its spread. Governments in Singapore, Denmark and ... New ways of doing