Social innovation and inclusion: a new paradigm for action

Ana Vale

The EQUAL Community Initiative

A starting point: new solutions to social problems more and more complex can benefit from the exchange of experiences, practices, knowledge and reflection between Member States

A clear objective: developing innovative actions to fight against discrimation in the labour market

A framework:

the innovation and mainstreaming cycle: needs diagnosis, testing, validation and mainstreaming

Principles:

partnership, empowerment, gender equality, transnational cooperation, mainstreaming as main ingredients to promote social innovation

Resources:

Wide range of organisations and people involved

National and european networks

Time to achieve results and mainstream them

Specific funding allocated to social innovation

Changing the paradigm:

To focus on individuals and communities strenghts rather than their weaknesses

Community based solutions rather than national solutions

To capitalize on diversity rather than discriminating gender, race, religion, age, handicapped people

To build solutions with the target groups rather than detached from them

To develop an holistic approach to problems rather than answering in a fragmented way

To reinforce collaborative solutions and partnerships rather than give one organisation one responsability

Changing the paradigm:

• To encourage collaboration rather than competition

• To make information available rather than limited and inaccessible

• To make a better use of resources rather than duplicate effort

Innovation & Mainstreaming Cycle:

• Needs assessment

• Experimentation

• Validation and recognition of the quality of the results

• Transfer and dissemination

EQUAL – a capital to explore :

• New ways of learning (the role of peers)

•New spaces and dynamics of learning (networks, empowered communities)

•New actors and new leaderships (social innovators, social artists)