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SOCIALINNOVATIONa travel guide


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2

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tives that are socially innovative or aim to create social innovation.

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or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite

300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.

Except pictures of Dave Eggers and Muhammad Yunus which is li-

censed under GNU Free Documentation License

Picture page 57 Copyright 2007 David Shankbone.

Picture page 60 Copyright Muhammad Yunus.

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this doc-

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3

Social Innovation

a travel guideFirst edition July 2008

The Kaospilots International

Mejlgade 35

8000 Aarhus C

Denmark

www.kaospilot.dk

www.socialinnovation.biz

A publication by

Amalie Villesen, Anders Fred-

s Olsen, Anders Graae, An-

ders Toft, Anna Edwall, Bieke

van Dijk, Camilla R. Misser,

Carl Johannes Borris, Chris-

tian Stoltze, Daniel Seifter,

Fridda Flensted-Jensen,

Gregers Mrsk Mller, Hrafn-

hildur Heba Jlusdttir, HedvigHyster, Henrique Vedana,

Jacob Klintrup, Jakob Chris-

tian Ipland, Karen Steinfeld,

Kristian Meiniche, Mark Hes-

sellund Beanland, Mille Ob-

el Hier, Nana G. Dall, Nanna

Wedendahl Frank, Nicklas Pe-ter Hg, November Sky Frey-

ss-Cole, Philip Hahn-Petersen,

Pontus O. Bergqvist, Rune

Barfred, Sara Skafsgaard Hjort,

Sara Walln, Sren Bo Steen-

dahl, Thomas Gjerulff, Tone Ev-

jan and Torben Brandt.

The Kaospilots Team 13

Chief editors

Anna Edwall and Mark Hessel-

lund Beanland

Co-editors

Amalie Villesen, Carl Johan-nes Borris, Christian Stoltze,

Fridda Flensted-Jensen, Hen-

rique Vedana, November Sky

Freyss-Cole, Sara Walln and

Torben Brandt

Graphic design and layoutAnders Freds Olsen

Michelle Kertevig and

Philip Hahn-Petersen

Photographers

Anders Freds Olsen, Camilla

R. Misser, Jacob Klintrup, No-

vember Sky Freyss-Cole, Philip

Hahn-Petersen and Sren Bo

Steendahl, Daniel Seifter

Illustrators

Anders Freds Olsen, NannaWedendahl Frank, Nicklas Pe-

ter Hg and Philip Hahn-Pe-

tersen

We would like to thank

Birgitte Freds Rasmussen,

Christer Lidzlius, DeborahGolblatt, Frederik B. Wulff, Ka-

rin Barreth, Per Krull, Peter

Liljeros, Simon Kavanagh, Fan-

ny Posselt, Solveig Brun, Su-

sanne Hjlund, Tania Ellis and

Thomas Hessellund Nielsen

A special thanks to Michelle

Kertevig for giving us her lay-

out expertise, time, and ded-

ication.


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Introduction 6Preface 6

Starting point 8

Before take off 10

Innovation and

social needs? 14

The story of SocialInnovation 16

On route to your destination18

The Map of SI 20

Sectors 22

The Landscape 28

Corporate Social

Responsibility 30

Corporate Social Innovation 34

Public Innovation 35

Socially Responsible

Investing 37Social Purpose Ventures 38

Is it the why or the

what that maters 40

Non-Governmental

Organizations 42

Social Entrepreneurship 44

Social Intrapreneurship 47Before moving on 48

Famous Travellers 50

Table of doers 52

Muhammad Yunus 56

Dave Eggers 58

Marie So and Carol Chyau 62Jimmy Donal "Jimbo" Wales 64

Natalie Killassy 66

Movement 68Shedding light on social

innovation 70

SI in action 72

Social Innovation

in Action 72

Starting with me 74Mapping out me 76

Understanding the cultural

context 78

The Need 82

The need and the dream 84

Target Group 86

Team and Resources 88

The Project 90

The Story 94

Bon voyage 96

Glossary98

Sources 102

Index


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Introduction

Preface

This book was conceived on a trip made by 34 students from the Ka-osPilots International in the spring of 2008. These 34 students, rep-

resenting seven nationalities, travelled to the other side of the world

with the purpose to explore the meaning of the term social innova-

tion. After three months, these same students returned home to

document their learnings in this book.

Though Shanghai was our port social innovation was what we as-

pired towards, digging it out of the concrete and steel of the hec-tic city. Only after returning home with the creation of this book did

we nd it. We found it through the sharing of knowledge that took

place while we were working on the book and through the overview

provided through the process of translating our ndings into words.

This is why the book you are about to read is in the format of a trav-

el guide. It is our hope that it will make the journey into the abstract

realm of social innovation easier for the travellers that follow in our

footsteps, and that it will guide the traveller past dead ends of inac-

tion in the labyrinthine jungle of theory where so many are lost, and

into action; the place where we have come to believe social innova-

tion reveals its true value.

Our travels showed us that to embark on social innovation you

need to embrace disorientation at rst. Everywhere you look yound opposing views on what the term means and what it encom-

passes. To us this confusion sparked both a need and an ambition:

to bring social innovation out of the clouds and down to earth. It

has not been our purpose to show the frustrations we went through

on our path though there were many but through our ndings to

make it easier for coming travellers to navigate. Most important-

ly, we felt a need to make the concept tangible to a reader in or-der to create a foundation for action. We are giving you as a reader

the knowledge we would have liked to have had when we set off on

our journey; how to be able to take action with a social purpose and

spark innovations on your way.

We have attempted to cut the path through the jungle bed. It is

our hope that you will be inspired to walk it. Please forgive us any

bushy parts you come across. As with any jungle, the shroud and veg-etation grows back in new ways on a daily basis and our method of

cutting the bush might leave areas unexplored.

Some of you may enjoy reading this book without wishing to em-

bark on the journey like someone who enjoys browsing the pages

of a travel catalogue. You are welcome readers. However, our intent


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7INTRODUCTION

was to write this as a guide to those of you who have a desire to go fora swing in the vines yourselves.

Change is the only constant in the world and we hope that this

book can help to unleash your potential and to guide this change in

a positive direction.

Finally, as you start to read, please keep in mind that the 34 trav-

ellers who set off on this journey have also shared the task of writing

about their experiences. Sometimes when some saw a lion otherswere sure they saw a kangaroo. Evidence of this phenomenon will

be present as you scroll through the pages of this book. Please, we

encourage you not to despair in the face of this diversity. At least,

we have come to rest in the fact that our confusion around social in-

novation seems simply to reect that of the world.


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8 INTRODUCTION

Starting Point

You are about to read about a realm that you may or may not al-ready know about and as with any travel guide you can go through

it in the way that best ts your preferences. You can start at the end

and backtrack, look up sections that relate to your personal inter-

ests or read it cover to cover.

These compiled contents should give you somewhat of an over-

view. But within the book you will also nd references to experts

working more in-depth with the term. This is a starting point to digfurther or to step directly into action. Our hope is that you do both.


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9INTRODUCTION


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Before take off

Are You Curious about Social Innovation?

This section of the travel guide will get you ready to explore.


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11BEFORE TAKE OFF


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12 BEFORE TAKE OFF

Soc

iali

nnov

atio

nin

thefuture?

Letsfirste

xplore

whats

ociali

nnovat

ion(S

I)isin

thepresen

t.

Whatissocialinnovationcomposedof?Whycombinesocialwithinnovation?

Whatissocialinn

ovation?

Below we have outlined the components of social innovation to an-

swer these questions. This is the foundation on which the book isbuilt.

As illustrated on the following page there are many views on the

words within as well as the concept of social innovation. In this book

we will not highlight a specic denition as more relevant or bet-

ter than others. The bright minds that have created denitions be-

fore us have done a good job and we have found inspiration in allof them. We encourage you to do the same. What we found lack-

ing, however, was a way to bridge them. In our perception, for it to

best serve its purpose to improve the conditions for life one must

seek to create it at every turn of the road. It is our goal to make you

feel that this is not such an amazing task but something we can all

contribute to, rst and foremost by trying.


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13BEFORE TAKE OFF

People using new knowledge to

experiment with new possibilities in order

to implement new concepts that create

new value.

(www.businessweek.com)

New strategies, concepts, ideas in

organisaions that meet social needs.It can be used to refer to social processes

of innovation, alternatively to desribe

innovations which have a social purpose.

(wikipedia)

The act of starting something for the first

time; introducing something new.

(www.thinksmart.typepad.com)

New ideas that work to meet pressing

unmet needs and improve peoples lives.

(The Young Foundation)

New ideas that resolve existing

challenges for the benefit of

people and planet.

(Center for social innovation)

Social is relating to human society and itsmembers.

(www.wordreference.com

Of or relating to society or its organisation.

(Oxford American dictionary)

Social + Innovation

Social Innovation


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14 BEFORE TAKE OFF

Innovation and Social Needs?

Looking at society as a whole, solving a need sometimes involvesshifting limited resources from one area to another. This is often an

unsustainable short-term solution satisfying pressing needs but as

new needs arise old ones are likely to remain; hence, we need to

take hold of the root of the problems causing these needs.

Einstein once said, No problem can be solved from the same

level of consciousness that created it1. This involves embodying

the knowledge that has evolved in society and applying it in thecreation of new solutions of social innovations. Innovations tar-

geted to meet social needs aim to permanently alter the percep-

tions, behaviours and structures that previously gave rise to these

challenges2. Simply put, social innovations aim to obtain the tri-

ple bottom line (measured on the satisfaction of both people, planet

and prot) and be an idea that works for the public good3.

The more new concepts, thoughts, and actions that take place

on a local and global level, the more innovations will occur and

spark possibilities for socially innovative solutions.


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15BEFORE TAKE OFF

Profit

Planet

People

THE TRIPLE BOTTOMLINE


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16 BEFORE TAKE OFF

The Story of Social Innovation

Though social innovation has occured throughout the history ofmankind, there has not been enough interest to trigger the map-

ping out of the occurrence of social innovation or how the phrase

has evolved in modern times. Our offset was that though social in-

novations are not new to the world, an increased amount of people,

institutions, and companies around the world are starting to look for

ways to become more sustainable towards the environment and/

or their stakeholders. Without knowing it, these initiatives that ariseunder titles like social entrepreneurship, user-driven innovation or

corporate social responsibility are in truth aiming towards creating

social innovation.

Understanding the concept of SI and actively using the term can

give social action and contribution more power. It can help create a

larger awareness in society around imbalances and challenges that

need to be dealt with and it can work as a trigger for more people to

strive for creating positive change.

In order to further understand what SI can be see the outline of

past innovations on the next page.

They are listed according to:

*Innovation*Time of origin

*Initial place of origin

In order for it to be socially innovative rather than merely innovative

it needs to answer a need or create new value in society so we en-

courage you to think about the need, if any, these innovations re-

spond to.

Which of these things do you take for granted in your everyday life?


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17BEFORE TAKE OFF

Past innovations

1406

1680

1840

1860

1870

1948

1969

1976

1983

1983

Bank, Genova, Italy

Insurance, London, UK

Kindergarten, Germany

Subway, London, UK

Welfare State, Germany

National Health Service, UK

The Open University, UK

Grameen Bank, Bangladesh

Cell Phone, USA

Internet, USA


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18 BEFORE TAKE OFF

On Route to Your Destination

Now that you have packed your bags we would like to forward someof our learning from the land of SI to you. They are excerpts from our

own experiences and the conclusions we drew from them.

It is important to understand the context from which the need

emerges before you address it.

Some aspects relating to this

As human beings we stand on a platform composed of opinions

and perceived truths. We bring this with us wherever we go. When

working with SI in a context outside of our own it can be fruitful to re-

ect on our own platform and what we bring into the new context

our worldview, assumptions, prejudices, and frames of reference.

We cannot impose our worldview onto others. We can, however,

indulge in theirs. This boils down to one thing: Engage in dialoguewith the experts the locals and explore their perspectives. The

common mistake made when meeting another perspective than

your own is to engage in a discussion to attempt to persuade the

counterpart that your viewpoint is more valid. This approach only

leaves room for one winner. The object of a dialogue is to increase

the understanding on both sides. This way everyone can learn from

the outcome and knowledge and understanding can be co-devel-oped and lifted to another level.

People become aware of their culture when they stand at its

boundaries; when they encounter other cultures, or when they be-

come aware of other ways of doing things4

Anthony P. Cohen


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19BEFORE TAKE OFF

There are different social needs in different places and there are dif-ferent demands in different places; hence, different innovative ac-

tions.

Social innovation is context related and it is important

to understand the context from which the need

emerges before you address it.

In doing this, some of the clouds we en-

courage you to grab are...


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Take a close look at the map and try

to get acquainted with the different

areas. In the following chapter we

will try to give you as much gener-

al insight as possible into the differ-

ent sectors within our society as well

as the landscape of social innovationwith all its different areas, branches,

and strange hybrids.

The Map of SI


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21THE MAP OF SI


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22

22 THE MAP OF SI

Sectors

Three sectors dominate most societies. The public sector, the pri-vate sector, and the civil sector. Due to changes in society and the

arrival of new social needs, a new sector or more accurately a

number of alternative practices has emerged as a kind of cross sec-

tor between the already existing sectors. A common term for this

phenomenon is the fourth sector.

The Public SectorThe role and responsibilities of the public sector varies greatly from

country to country based on the community it represents and the

values of the respective governmental institutions it consists of.

Its responsibilities can span areas such as the development and

maintenance of infrastructure, providing of education, healthcare

and eldercare, and the creation of laws and legislation. The income

comes from taxes paid by individuals, the private sector, and often

from publicly owned companies.

The Private Sector

The role of the private sector as a whole could be viewed as the

responsibility to ensure economic growth in society as well as to

provide jobs and the production of goods and commodities. Theprivate sector is based on the freedom to engage in commercial ac-

tivities and trade and it is inuenced by supply and demand in so-

ciety.

The Civil Sector

Traditionally, the civil sector relies on volunteer work and on do-

nations from the private sector as well as contributions from indi-vidual people who believe the cause to be worthwhile. These or-

ganizations are known as non-governmental organizations (NGO),

non-prot organizations (NPO) or voluntary organizations.

Initiatives in the civil sector are based on several different foun-

dations, the most usual being dissatisfaction with the actions of the

private or the public sector (Green Peace is an example of this) or

simply a shared passion for a specic activity (e.g. a sailing club).Their overall role and responsibility can be seen as that of defend-

ing the rights of the civil society. Read more about this in the section

Non-governmental organizations in the Landscape on page 40.


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23THE MAP OF SI

Privatesector

Publicsector

The 4thsector

CivilsectorPrivatesector

Publicsector

The 4thsector

Civilsector

The HybridNo sectors on their own have managed to encompass the com-

plete foundations of a society. With societies around the world un-

dergoing constant change the cross- or fourth sector can be viewed

as all the initiatives that arise outside the confounds of the tradition-

al sectors to address needs and issues that are not covered by the

three sectors or could be covered in a more effective way. The last

15 years, especially, have seen the emergence of new business ar-eas and of organizations that work across the sectors. Such organ-

izations within the fourth sector are numerous and the sheer quanti-

ty of names given to them gives an impression of their scope. They

include; high purpose companies; double bottom line businesses;

afrmative businesses; values driven enterprises; for-benet organ-

izations; civic entrepreneurs; social purpose ventures; socially re-

sponsible businesses; sustainable businesses, social enterprises,

and social entrepreneurialism (see more under Social Entrepre-

neurs in the section the Landscape on page 42).


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24 THE MAP OF IS

The Connection to Social InnovationIt is important to know that the dened responsibilities of the three

sectors vary from country to country. In the US, for example, the pri-

vate and the civil sectors have a large inuence on social initiatives

compared to many European countries where social responsibilities

traditionally lie within the public and civil sectors. In China, social in-

itiatives are ofcially considered a responsibility of the government

only and many civil initiatives related to social issues are classiedas illegal.

On top of the variations in political systems and traditions for gov-

erning, the sectors are also blurred as private companies focus

more and more on social issues, NGOs start working more towards

generating their own prot, and public institutions start co-operat-

ing with volunteer work and management models inspired by pri-

vate companies.

Social innovation can happen within or across the sectors. In fact,

SI does not seem to care about sectors but about ideas, the use of

knowledge, networks, and competences.

Change?

As food for thought we note that China is experimenting with waysof governing that all stem from a one-party system. And that with-

in this system certain provinces are encouraged to try out new ways

of governing that break with traditional thinking. In the words of the

British foreign policy thinker and author Mark Leonard, the leftist po-

litical thinkers in the Chinese communist party believe in a philos-

ophy of perpetual innovation developing new kinds of companies

and social institutions that marry competition and co-operation5

.What few people outside China care to consider is that examples

like this one, of willingness to experiment along with the inherent na-

ture of social innovation, of changing the way we work and think,

may make many of our current denitions obsolete.


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25THE MAP OF IS


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26 THE MAP OF IS

Travelling Together

A way to work with social challenges is to use the competencies of

all three sectors: Public (Governments), Private (Businesses) and

Civil (NGO/NPO) in order to see perspectives and business models

that can solve our current and future social challenges and unmet

needs. In Northern America and Europe there is a lot of talk about

cross sector collaboration and initiatives. However, many of the so-cially innovative projects are not based on a strong collaboration

and we see a potential for this collaboration and shift in mindset to

grow to new heights and become more beneciary for all parties.

NGO

NGOs have the knowledge of social needs and the voluntary la-

bour force, engaged and committed to act on it but they often lackthe money to carry out their ideas and make them sustainable.

Business

Businesses have the money and the experience within commerce

to carry out large projects and ideas but they often lack knowl-

edge, motivation, and experience within the social needs of socie-ty to act on it.

Governments

Governments have the overview of the needs and challenges of the

entire country and they provide stability and a long-term perspec-

tive. However, they often lack efciency, employee ownership, and

the ability to make money.

Challenges of Travelling Together

When talking about SI, companies, NGOs, and the public sec-

tors very often move within a grey area where the responsibilities of

business and civil society blur. We see new ways of thinking about

the relationships and partnerships between the sectors as impor-

tant. It is not about businesses handing a check to an NGO or thepublic sector economically supporting business. It is about getting

the three parties to sit down together at the table and strategically

shape projects, specic products, or wider processes.


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27

Dong TanAn example of a cross-sector project is the Chinese eco-vil-

lage Dong Tan which is placed on Chong Ming Island near

Shanghai and planned to be one of the rst fully sustainable

cities in the world along with two other eco-cities in China.

Dong Tan is planned by the Shanghai City Council as part of

the Carbon Neutral Urban Development Plan where Dong Tan

is meant to be a counterweight to the less sustainable Shang-

hai and at the same time reveal China as a player in the eld of

sustainability.

The Chinese government decided to hire Arup, a British

company that specialises in green urban planning, to provide

the necessary knowledge for the creation of Dong Tan. AlsoWilliam McDonough and Michael Braungart, the authors of

the groundbreaking book on sustainability Cradle to Cradle6,

have been hired to help designing Chinas coming eco-cities.

Dong Tan is an example of how the public sector in one

country uses the knowledge from a company from the

private sector in another country to create something new that

will benet society and the environment.

THE MAP OF SI


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The Landscape

You will come across many terms when you move around in theland of social innovation and without proper guidance these may

be difcult to distinguish from one another. You can use the glossa-

ry in the back of this book to assist you on your way but the list be-

low further explains some of the most important of these terms and

can be used as a work of reference. All the different areas do not

have to be explored fully before you start your journey but we be-

lieve that you will nd the descriptions useful as your desire to digdeeper evolves.


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29THE LANDSCAPE


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30 THE LANDSCAPE

Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility, or CSR, is a concept wherebycompanies integrate social and environmental concerns in their

business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders

on a voluntary basis7 the stakeholders being those who are im-

pacted positively or negatively by their activities.

Some background information is necessary in order to understand

the term:It is often argued that for some companies the motivation for en-

gaging in CSR stems from marketing concerns and is applied as

make-up with little genuine impact on the business. This debate

about sincerity or the lack of it comes from the denition and pur-

pose of business. While some argue that the business of business

is business8, i.e. maximizing prot, others have a broader under-

standing that includes a concern for the business environmental

and social footprint. With businesses having grown in importance

and inuence over the last 200 years, now representing more than

half of the worlds biggest nancial powers9, they become key driv-

ers for change - positive or negative. Regardless of the critics, cor-

porate refers to business where money is a key measure for recog-

nition and growth.Any criticism can be generalized and in order to avoid that we see

a need to differentiate between three levels of CSR10.

First level: Corporate philanthropy

Companies give back to communities, charities, and non-govern-

mental organizations and develop internal projects that aim to sup-

port people in less privileged positions. Some companies involvetheir employees in such projects in exchange for their motivation

and commitment (corporate volunteerism).

Second level: Risk management / reputation

As a response to pressure from stakeholders, non-governmental

campaigners or regulatory bodies companies may see their reputa-

tion being affected positively or negatively based on their actions (orpeople's perceptions of said actions).

Third level: Business case / value creation

This is the rst and only proactive approach where business lead-

ers see value in practicing social responsibility as an investment that

brings about nancial return in the long run despite the short term

costs.


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31THE LANDSCAPE


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32 THE LANDSCAPE

UN Global Compact -

Ten Principles

Human Rights

Principle 1: Businesses should support and respect the pro-

tection of internationally proclaimed human rights.

Principle 2: Businesses should make sure that they are not

complicit in human rights abuses.

Labour Standards

Principle 3: Businesses should uphold the freedom of associ-

ation and the effective recognition of the right to collective bar-

gaining.Principle 4: Businesses should uphold the elimination of all

forms of forced and compulsory labour.

Principle 5: Businesses should uphold the effective abolition

of child labour.

Principle 6: Businesses should uphold the elimination of dis-

crimination in employment and occupation.

Environment

Principle 7: Businesses should support a precautionary ap-

proach to environmental challenges.

Principle 8: Businesses should undertake initiatives to pro-

mote environmental responsibility.

Principle 9: Businesses should encourage the development

and diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies.

Anti-Corruption

Principle 10: Businesses should work against corruption in all

its forms, including extortion and bribery.

The Global Compact was initiated by the United Nations Sec-

retary-General Ko Annan in the year 2000. It is a voluntary

network aiming to mainstream 10 universal principals for so-

cially responsible business. Today, it includes over 3000 com-

panies from all around the world and another 1000 civil and la-

bour organizations.


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From Financial Reporting toSustainability Reporting11

Financial reporting, today a standard requirement for com-

panies to operate and be trusted by governments and share-

holders, only became mandatory after the stock exchange

crisis of 1929. The internationally recognized standards on ac-countancy were developed mainly in the 1930s. Nowadays,

the pressure from stakeholders is requesting organizations to

become more transparent in the way they manage their busi-

ness and the impact they cause on society and environment,

not only their nancial statements. Since the early 90s, many

organizations have started publishing social and environmen-

tal reports, citizenship or sustainability reports, mostly on a vol-

untary basis. The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) was creat-

ed in 1999 and today its guidelines for sustainability reporting

are being used by thousands of companies, many of the larg-

est corporations in the world and are fast becoming a de fac-

to standard. The Swedish government has also mandated

state-owned companies to report in accordance to the GRIsguidelines. The International Standards Organization (ISO) is

now developing its own standards for social accountability

and both GRI and ISO are aligning themselves with other initia-

tives such as UN Millennium Development Goals and UN Glo-

bal Compact.

33THE LANDSCAPE


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34 THE LANDSCAPE

Corporate Social Innovation

Corporate social innovation, or CSI, happens when social solutionsare the core of the business. This standard covers companies that

either remade or created a company based on a social need.

These companies are the vanguard of the new business logic;

they view community needs as opportunities to develop ideas and

demonstrate business technologies, to nd and serve new mar-

kets, and to solve long-standing social problems. They focus their

efforts on inventing sophisticated solutions in close collaborationwith their stakeholders.

Handling social sector problems often forces companies to

stretch their capabilities to produce innovations that have business

as well as community payoffs. When companies approach social

needs in this way they have a stake in the problems and they treat

the effort the way they would treat any other project central to the

company's operations. They use their best people and their core

skills. This is not charity; it is a strategic business investment.12


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35THE LANDSCAPE

Public Innovation

Public innovation, or public sector innovation, concerns ways of im-proving performance and outcome through innovations within the

public sector, e.g. in healthcare, social welfare or criminal justice.

An initiative that exemplies public innovation with a social angle

can be taken from the Belgian Federal Police who hired blind peo-

ple to get more out of their wiretap recordings in criminal investiga-

tions.

The UK business school for government National School of Gov-

ernment, together with the Young Foundation and NESTA also set

up a Public Innovation Conference. The aim was to generate an

awareness of public service innovations and to discuss the role of

government in diffusing innovative practice.13 The same trio has al-

so drawn up a case study report on the subject Creating the Con-

ditions for Public Innovation in the year 2007.


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36 THE LANDSCAPE

Hip-Hop and the DanishMinistry of TaxationWhat is the most important essentials / conclusions of our

conversation?

The creative process is long...innovation takes time (contraryto the romantic vision of the lightning bolt strikes and innova-

tion happens). The creative process is based on the multitude

of micro-innovations that occur in everyday life. From the mi-

cro-innovations, a new culture grows.

The producers or creative catalysts are needed to collect or

catch the innovations and bring them into the world. The inno-

vative process requires time/patience, an open environmentwhere ideas can be safely expressed, and enough resources

to allow the innovative process to grow.

Strong leadership and recognition are basic requirements for

fertilizing the ground for innovation.

Keepin it real we deal with real people acting in the real

world.14

The text above is taken from a debate on the question What

can we learn from hip-hop keeping it real among Danish of-

cials from the Ministry of Taxation at a workshop on public sec-

tor innovation in 2007.

75

41%

25% mom5%5% moms

0.07

0.075

5

%= 7657+

=(97)

$$

# 4125% mo

25% moms0.075

=

7657

+

=(97)#


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37

Domini - Social InvestmentsThe way you invest matters. Be part of the solution15

It is stated on the website of the Domini Funds that as a share-

holder, you make a difference in the world, engaging compa-

nies on global warming, sweatshop labour, and product safety,

revitalizing distressed communities, bringing new voices to the

table and helping redening corporate Americas bottom line.

They outline their investment strategy as determined by

stakeholders such as communities, customers, ecosystems,employees, investors, and suppliers.

Domini Social Investments won the Social Capitalist Award

from Fastcompany Magazine and Monitor Group in 2008.

THE LANDSCAPE

Socially Responsible Investing

Some say that the history of Socially Responsible Investing, or SRI,goes back to the Quakers (Religious Society of Friends in the US). In

1758, the Quaker Philadelphia Yearly Meeting prohibited members

from participating in the slave trade of buying or selling humans.

One of the most articulate early adopters of SRI was John Wesley

(1703-1791), one of the founders of Methodism. Wesley's sermon

"The Use of Money" outlined his basic tenets of social investing - i.e.

not to harm your neighbour through your business practices andto avoid industries like tanning and chemical production which can

harm the health of workers.

The present view on SRI kicked off during the Vietnam War with

a picture of a girl running towards the photographer with her back

burning from the napalm that was dropped on her village. This led

to wide demonstrations against companies proting from the Viet-

nam War, and people began to be more aware of how companies

invested and made money.

As an example, pension funds are becoming increasingly aware

of the target of their investments after the exposures of several pen-

sion funds investing in the arms trade.

Another trend is found in people who are investing their mon-

ey in win-win-win projects such as environmentally friendly bonds,stocks in windmills, CO2 quotas or micro-nancing.


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38 THE LANDSCAPE

Social Purpose Ventures

If we take a deeper look into the vast ocean of social innovation wewill nd one of the more rare species called Social Purpose Ven-

tures (SPVs).

"The world today is awash with spectacularly talented, hopeful, and

creative social entrepreneurs who offer important solutions to our

social and environmental challenges. But there's a shortage of cap-

ital and support to nourish entrepreneurs' visions through the ear-ly stages. GSVC offers access to such capital, along with solid and

grounded advice and a network that reminds entrepreneurs they

are not alone in their pathological optimism."16

Global Social Venture Competition

In more tangible words:

Social refers to meeting the needs of people, prot or planet through

what you do.

Purpose is why you do it.

Venture means involving considerable risk. The risk is of course

connected to the capital involved.

In most SPVs the capital comes from philanthropists. People who

give money without any expectations of getting them back. An in-creased number of venture capitalists (VCs) seem to nd interest

within this eld. VCs invest in companies in which they see a high

potential for growth. They are a group of wealthy investors, invest-

ment banks or other nancial institutions that pool their funds to-

gether. In return for the investment the VCs usually demand a say in

the company decisions as well as a portion of the turnover.

To bottomline it: SPVs invest in social enterprises/entrepreneurs to

get their say as well and a part of the turnover.


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39THE LANDSCAPE

Profit

Social impact


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Is it the why or theReections by Daniel Seifter, TheKaosPilots International,

Team 13

In the second issue of 2008

of the newsletter CHANGE

distributed by myC4 (a plat-

form for supporting social en-terprise in Africa), a headline

read: Sometimes, it falls up-

on a generation to be great17.

Apart from the feeling of be-

ing overwhelmed with re-

sponsibility, the headline in-

spires to look more deeply

into how social innovation

can create new opportunities

to solve world problems. How

do we as representatives of

this generation meet the yet

unmet social needs?

You never change things by

ghting the existing reality. To

change something, build a new

model that makes the existing

model obsolete. 18 These words

by Buckminster Fuller open upto the phenomena of social in-

novation by inviting new initia-

tives to create social change.

Fuller, who among other oc-

cupations was a visionary au-

thor and inventor, was through-

out his life concerned with thequestion Does humanity have

a chance to survive lasting-

ly and successfully on planet

Earth, and if so, how?19

Companies and entrepreneurs

today have a more central role

in peoples individual lives aswell as the society they oper-

ate within and a question has

arisen as to whether they have

a responsibility in regard to sus-

tainability and social needs be-

cause of their strong position in

the world. Looking at the mar-ket and society as a whole, this

denitely seems to be the sit-

uation. The market is putting

higher demands on products

(environmentally-friendly, sus-

tainable solutions, fair trade

etc.) and companies in turn are

required to take more respon-

sibility on a social level (both in

regard to its employees, supply

chain, and society overall).

Professor Bradley Googins at

the Boston College, Centre ofCorporate Citizenship describes

what he calls: The 5 stages of

Corporate Citizenship20 as:

1. Compliant(Do what is expect-

ed due to laws and regulations).

2. Engaged(Working with a CSRprole to contribute).

3. Innovative (Finding new so-

lutions within their structure to

create a greater effect on social

needs).

4. Integrative (Integrating social

innovations in the corporate sys-tem).

5. Transformative (Changing the

Game. Make it a natural way of

running a business).


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what that matters?By creating a CSR prole acompany displays that it takes

some sort of social responsibil-

ity whether connected to envi-

ronmental sustainability or more

direct social needs. It brings

credibilit y and strengthens the

brand in the eyes of the marketwhich is benecial to the cus-

tomer, the company, and soci-

ety. A survey made by the con-

sultancy rm McKinsey in 2007

revealed that 95% of CEOs said

that society now has higher ex-

pectations of business taking on

public responsibilities than it did

ve years ago21. Therefore, it is

no surprise that social and envi-

ronmental issues are becoming

business drivers.

Innovative Capitalism?

At rst glance the term inno-

vative capitalism seems only

to awake associations to new

ways of making more money

but what if the new ways of in-

creasing prot, that stem from ademand in the market, result in

increased social responsibility?

The Committee Encouraging

Corporate Philanthropy (a New

York based business associ-

ation) reports that the share of

corporate giving with a stra-tegic motivation jumped from

38% in 2004 to 48% in 2006.

Also, in 2006, The Harvard

Business Review published a

paper on how, if approached in

a strategic way, CSR could be-

come part of a company's com-petitive advantage. Could these

strategic plans be an example

of such innovative capitalism?

Is it socially innovative although

the priority is prot and not so-

cial needs?

Whether the initiative comesfrom the heart (social innovation

in this text) or from the head (in-

novative capitalism according

to the above) does it matter in

the end? When a company im-

proves its social responsibili-

ty as a part of a strategic plan

to increase their turnover, it still

improves society. A company

which produces more sustaina-

ble and environmentally friend-

ly products due to market de-

mands might boost its protand be seen as a more respon-

sible company, yet it also con-

tributes to a healthier world.

Whichever motivation the ini-

tiatives stem from I feel inspired

by the words of his holiness the

Dalai Lama. Rather give withan un-clean heart, than not give

at all.


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42 THE LANDSCAPE

Non-Governmental Organizations

In a denition from 1945 Non-Governmental Organizations (orNGOs) are dened as organizations that are not controlled by gov-

ernments; organizations that exist to defend the rights of the civil

society but are independent from the state. NGOs also differentiate

from private companies as they do not pursue a prot.

There are many forms of NGOs and many alternative terms to

cover it. Independent sector, volunteer sector, civil society, grass-

roots organizations, transnational social movement organiza-tions, private voluntary organizations, self-help organizations, and

non-state actors. In World Bank typology NGOs are categorized

as either operational or advocacy NGOs. The primary purpose of

an operational NGO is the design and implementation of develop-

ment-related projects whereas advocacy NGOs defend or promote

a specic cause.

Many international NGOs have a consultative status with United

Nations agencies relevant to their area of work. As an example, the

Third World Network has a consultative status with the UN Confer-

ence on Trade and Development.

Large NGOs may have annual budgets in the hundreds of millions

or billions of dollars. Funding such large budgets demands signi-

cant fundraising efforts on the part of most NGOs. Major sourcesof NGO funding include membership dues, the sale of goods and

services, grants from international institutions or national govern-

ments, and private donations. Several EU-grants provide funds ac-

cessible to NGOs.

Some organizations resembling NGOs are starting to put more

emphasis on generating their own prot fuelled by a need to free

themselves from the dependency of donations. Many social enter-prises surfacing in China are examples of this due to the tight re-

strictions towards donations that exist in China.


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43

Springboard Innovation22Springboard Innovation emphasizes the aspect of prot by

calling themselves a social prot organization.Springboard Innovation is passionately enabling youth and

adults to solve local challenges with sustainable, innovative

solutions. They believe that the key to increased capacity is

education and engagement with the community and their ed-

ucational material and training programs are customized to t

any learner or context. One example is a program called Lo-

cal Agenda that helps people create positive and sustain-

able change in their own communities. Their approach is

to share knowledge on problem identication, problem solv-

ing, leadership, and planning with community members who

are passionate about changing the future but lack the skills

Springboard can provide.

The organization looks at innovation as a process that canbe learned and put into practice to create lasting change, and

Local Agenda is just one great example of that. They have a

very humble approach towards learning and believe that with

a little education on innovation you can, as a community mem-

ber, create the sustainable change YOU want!

THE LANDSCAPE


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44 THE LANDSCAPE

Baisikeli*Bikes for a Better Future the Work of a Social Entrepreneur.

The idea of Baisikeli is to ship used bicycles to Africa where they

are repaired or rebuilt and sold and where the prot forms the

foundation for the creation of a sustainable bicycle industry in Af-rica. - A commodity that has no value in one place may have

great value in another- The idea comes from a need for quality bi-

cycles in Tanzania where most bicycles are of mediocre standard

and are sold at an extremely high price. While there is a high de-

mand for used bicycles in Africa 400,000 bikes are scraped an-

nually in Denmark. Many of these can be used in Africa.

We strive to make bicycles accessible in the poorest areas ofthe world where the bicycle can be a means out of poverty. We

have designed bicycles that meet the needs of the poorest so

that we can:

Increase the income of farmers by more than 100%

Create healthcare accessibility

Increase the attendance to primary schools

All of the above are considered key factors in reducing extreme

poverty and meeting the Millennium Development Goals.

My denition of social innovation is to activate unexploited re-

sources. To take something that has no value at one place, acti-

vate it, and thereby impart value into it.

Henrik Smedegaard Mortensen, founder of Baisikeli

www.baisikeli.dk

*Baisikeli means Bicycle in Swahili

Social Entrepreneurship

A social entrepreneur works to address social needs and problemsin innovative ways by viewing challenges in society as a platform

for idea generation. She differentiates herself from a conventional

entrepreneur by focusing on the nancial aspects as a means to

an end rather than an end in itself. She measures the success of

her endeavour on its positive impact on society as a whole. It is a


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45THE LANDSCAPE

common misunderstanding that prot is unimportant for a socialentrepreneur but in fact the ability to self-sustain by generating prof-

it often determines the viability of the ideas or projects of social en-

trepreneurs. By breaking with established structures, logic or con-

victions, they pave the way for new practices and social innovations

that benet both the economy as well as people (See page 21).23


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46 THE LANDSCAPE

The SpecialistsIn 2008, a Danish IT company called The Specialists26 re-

ceived the international IT award for most unusual entrepre-

neurship and it is a good example of an initiative with a triple

bottom line (people, planet, and prot).

The Specialists are known for primarily employing people

with autistic behaviour to work with quality checking softwarethus acknowledging that they are some of the best in the eld.

In a simple and beautiful way, the Specialists tell the good story

of how IT businesses can be a constructive engine to change

the world and improve peoples lives. Not only do the people

employed as a result of this initiative benet but so does the

computer industry itself through the employees highly devel-

oped skills within repetitive quality control.

Usually the IT award goes to millionaires who have been in

the industry for a long time but for the rst time, thanks to the

Specialists, a social company has received this award. This is

something that creates an echo among autistic people, rela-

tives, and therapists in the entire world as a new world in which

autistic people are actually the best within their eld is openingup in front of them.

Among young people with autism this initiative gives new

hope of entering the job market.


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47THE LANDSCAPE

Social Intrapreneurship

Social intrapreneurs, also known as corporate changemakers, rep-resent many of the same values as social entrepreneurs but func-

tion within corporations and companies. Social intrapreneurship is

becoming increasingly common and has the potential of being a

driving force within corporations or companies towards more sus-

tainable business.

The greatest agents for sustainable change are unlikely to be [so-cial entrepreneurs], interesting though they are They are much

more likely to be the entirely reasonable people, often working for

large companies, who see ways to create better products or reach

new markets, and have the resources to do so.24

The social intrapreneur acts behind the scenes of large corpora-

tions, developing tools and methods that push businesses in a so-

cially responsible direction. Provided with economic and adminis-

trative support from the company itself, he/she is allowed to focus

on the entrepreneurial idea alone. Often the challenges of social in-

trapreneurs lie within the organizations, e.g. through internal resist-

ance to change.25

In an interview, Win Sakdinan of Proctor & Gamble compared cor-

porations to elephants, as they take time to change directions, but

when they do, they bring lots of weight or positive leverage.

Social intrapreneurs may represent strong drivers of positive

change. They function from within already nancially strong entities

with a wide reach and can benet from the knowledge and skills al-ready present within the organization.


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THE LANDSCAPE48

Before Moving On

Different readers may nd themselves connecting only to some ofthe areas above. However, understanding the landscape will hope-

fully present a glimpse into the endless possibilities you are faced

with when looking for ways to engage in the creation of socially in-

novative solutions.

Where common sense normally refers to logical thinking you could

also see it as the sense made up of a collective mind. The gather-ing of different competencies, mindsets, and knowledge. Important

change does not have to be difcult and it can often come simply by

creating the arena for such common sense to be played out.

A socially innovative initiative can also consist of setting up a con-

nection between two parties that can benet from one another but

who were unaware of each others existence. Creating such a con-

nection can be as easy as a few conversations or phone calls and

setting up the right connection can mean a difference to a lot of

people.

For those of you who wish to make the trip, dont hesitate to bring

people together.


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THE LANDSCAPE 49


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Do what you love

Love what you do

Famous Travellers

Famous Travellers

What does it take to do good while doing well?

We would like to highlight some of the successful doers that have al-

ready travelled the path to social innovation. Read about where they

came from, what they brought with them, and what they strived to-

wards in their endeavours.

Innovations like theirs have gone beyond their creators and rev-

olutionized the world we live in. They stand as a testament to thepower of open eyes, minds, and hearts, and the willingness to de-

fy the risk of failure. In all of the examples shown, the people behind

went forward because of a belief in the need for their idea. They in-

spired others to join them in their efforts (individuals, organizations,

and networks) and by combining skills they reached the peaks of

their ambition.27

Other people travelling the world of social innovation are the ex-

perts, the researchers, the students, educators, and explorers who

tell the story of this age-old phenomenon. They are change-makers

that shed light on creating social change through passion, dedica-

tion, and alternative channels in our societies.

Let yourself be inspired. What would it take for you to become a

social innovator?

If you already feel like getting started, sneak a peak at the tem-

plate starting with me on page 72.


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51FAMOUS TRAVELLERS


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FAMOUS TRAVELLERS52

Who, where, when? Their Innovative

Solution

The Need

Robert Owen

Wales,

United Kingdom

Early 1800s

www.robert-owen.mid-

wales.com

He is considered one

of the founding fathers

of the cooperative

movement.

He was upset with the

living conditions in his

community, especial-

ly the way that the mill

workers were beingtreated and he was

determined to make

a change alleviating

poverty through so-

cialism.

Florence NightengaleEurope

Mid 1800s

www.orence-nightin-

gale.co.uk

She was a pioneerof modern nursing

through compassion,

commitment to pa-

tient care, and diligent

and thoughtful hospi-

tal administration.

Through a rebellion to-wards her family and

status, she chose to

become a nurse which

was considered a job

for the poor. Her work

during the Crimean

War made her ght tobetter the standards

of hygiene as many

soldiers died from in-

fections.

Saul David Alinsky

Chicago, USA

The 1930s

http://en.wikipedia.org/

wiki/Saul_Alinsky

He was a main g-

ure of community or-

ganizing. He led new

ways to organize the

poor and powerless

and created a back-

yard revolution in cities

across America.

As a slum kid raised in

Chicago he decided to

make a change in his

own backyard, begin-

ning locally. Through

creating neighbour-

hood communities, he

realized that the citi-

zens could stand upfor themselves and

gain better living con-

ditions.

Table of doers


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FAMOUS TRAVELLERS 53


Solution

The Need

Wangari Maathai

Kenya

Since 1970s

www.greenbeltmove-

ment.org

She is an environmen-

tal and political ac-

tivist. She founded

the Green Belt Move-

ment which has nowplanted over 40 million

trees across Kenya to

prevent soil erosion,

especially focusing on

mobilizing women in

poverty.

As the daughter of

farmers in the high-

lands of Mount Kenya

she became inspired

by her surroundings touse her passion for the

environment and fe-

male empowerment.

Ray Anderson

Texas, USA

Since 1994

www.interfaceor.com

He is the founder and

chairman of Interface

Inc. (oor manufactur-

er). He is committed

to reducing and later

eliminating petroleum

from the companysmanufacturing proc-

esses. The compa-

ny uses waste prod-

ucts to produce oor

tiles. Furthermore,

they strive for 0-nega-

tive environmental im-

pact in 2020.

When he read a book

by Paul Hawken en-

titled The Ecology of

Commerce which ar-

gues that the industri-

al system is destroy-

ing the planet, he wasimmediately moved to

make a drastic change

in the way his compa-

ny impacted the envi-

ronment.


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FAMOUS TRAVELLERS54


Solution

The Need

Cecilia Zanotti

Brazil

Since 2003

www.projetobagagem.

org

Co-founded an

NGO called Projeto

Bagagem which is

a community based

eco-friendly tourismnetwork.

Projecto Bagagem

gives tourists an in-

sight into local Brazil-

ian communities and

their traditions. Thecommunities gain

funds to maintain their

culture and raise their

living standards.

Peggy Liu

ChinaSince 2007

www.juccce.com

She founded JUCC-

CE (Joint US-ChinaCooperation on Clean

Energy). A Non-prot

organization aimed at

helping China acceler-

ate 30 years of world

experience and devel-

opment into 10 years.

The world is at war

with energy and Chinais our common battle-

eld. China is becom-

ing the worlds larg-

est consumer of fossil

fuels. The impact on

the environment will

be dramatic if Chinaevolves as the west-

ern countries have.


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56 FAMOUS TRAVELLERS

Muhammad Yunus

Founder of Grameen Bank and author ofBanker to the Poor: Mi-cro-lending and the Battle Against World Poverty"

This is the story of Bangladesh's Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace

Prize winner and the founder of Grameen Bank. Yunus created a

new category of banking by granting millions of small loans to poor

people with no collateral thus helping to establish the microcredit

movement across the developing world.After studying economics in the United States, Muhammad Yu-

nus went home to Bangladesh to help the rehabilitation after the lib-

eration of the country.

A shift occurred at a point when he did not feel that the under-

standing and knowledge of economics from the university course

he was teaching was applicable to Bangladesh, which at the time

was rated as the poorest country in the world. Yunus did not feel he

was making a difference.

"The least I as a human being can do is to help just one single per-

son, every single day"28

Outside the university campus in Jobra, Muhammad Yunus discov-ered that very small loans could make a disproportionate difference

to a poor person. Jobra women who made bamboo furniture had to

take out unmanageable loans for buying bamboo to pay their prof-

its to the moneylenders. The rst loan Yunus gave out (USD 27.00

from his own pocket) was given to 42 women in the village. The

women in turn made a net prot of USD 0.02 each on the loan.

While traditional banks were not interested in making tiny loans atreasonable interest rates to the poor due to high repayment risks,

Yunus believed that given the chance the poor would repay the bor-

rowed money and hence microcredit could be a viable business

model. This idea proved to be a good one. Grameen Bank was born

and has since its start in 1976 provided 4.7 billion USD to 4.4 million

families in Bangladesh. (Equivalent to each family getting $1000.

Paying back $10 at an interest rate at 1%)Muhammad Yunus' actions and successes with Grameen Bank

have since inspired others to do the same and the economic tool of

micro nancing has proven to be one of the strongest in the battle

against poverty around the World.


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57FAMOUS TRAVELLERS

"Credit should be accepted as a human right29

According to Muhammad Yunus the reason why micronance is

so powerful is the ownership and empowerment created when you

see possibilities and show trust to even the poorest of the world. He

believes that everyone rich and poor has the same capabilities and

should have the same possibilities for creating a living on their own.

Muhammad Yunus is a great example of a man that made it far bybelieving and by following up on his ideas and dreams. He is a do'er

and he dares to do.


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58

VALENCIA826

FAMOUS TRAVELLERS

Dave Eggers

Founder of 826 Valencia

"Many writers, having written a rst best-seller, might see it as a nice

way to start a career.

He started a movement instead."30

TIME Magazine

As a founder of the San Francisco-based tutoring centre 826 Va-

lencia, Dave Eggers has brought together community members to

help young people excel in their writing and believe in themselves in

a way they never had before.

Dave is a writer, editor, publisher and an inspiring social innovator

of our time. Here is someone who dropped a pebble in the ocean

and created a tidal wave.Dave is a spring chicken (born in 1970) but already has a wealth

of experience under his belt. He has written a memoir, multiple nov-

els and pieces of non-ction as well as founded an independent

publishing company and given birth to a brilliant tutoring centre

concept (which he describes as a "weird happy accident"we will

explain that later). In 2005 he was named one of Time Magazine's

"World's 100 Most Inuential People". He has been given $250,000by the Heinz Foundations and most recently he was the recipient of

TEDPrize 2008.

But the reason we highlight Dave Eggers in this guide is not be-

cause of his long list of titles, awards, and accomplishments. We

share his story with you because it is about taking action on a street

level and making a beautiful difference in the world by embodying

your true passion in life.Back in 2000, Dave was living in New York. He was writing his rst

book"A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius"31. It was at this

time that a social need became very apparent to him. It was not until

he moved back to San Francisco and gathered together old friends

and new friends that his idea on how to face this need took ight.


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59FAMOUS TRAVELLERS

The ChallengeMany students at city schools are not able to keep up with their

classes.

The Inuences

English is not spoken as a rst language in many households, some

children have learning disabilities, the schools are understaffed and

under-funded, the teachers are overworked and have little time ontheir hands and no opportunity to spend one-on-one time with their

students.

Dave's Inspiration

His mom was a teacher, his sister became a teacher, and he had

many friends who were teachers. He heard a lot about the strug-

gles they were dealing with and knew rst hand that they were hard-

working and inspiring people.

The Thought Paving the Way to the Solution

Teachers can't give the students the attention they need. But writ-

ers (like Dave and his friends) work exible hours and often have lit-

tle to do during the day. They have the time that the teachers lack.

The Innovative Solution

826 Valencia- A tutoring lab, a pirate supply store (yes, pirate, no

spelling errors here, ed.) and a publishing company, all in one - A

place where writers, publishers and students can work together un-

der the same roof.

Then and Now

At rst 826 Valencia had 12 volunteers. Today the organization calls

upon more than 1400 volunteers to tutor at the centre and in class-

rooms of local schools.

In the beginning, the pirate supply store in the front of the building

was created simply because the location was zoned for retail, so by

law they had to sell something. However, it turned out that the eyepatches, peg legs etc. have been selling and the prots now pay the

rent for 826 Valencia location.

Some of the students involved with what has now become Na-

tional 826 have had their work published. In addition to the original

San Francisco centre, the organization now has chapters in Brook-

lyn, Ann Arbor, Los Angeles, Seattle, Boston and Chicago.


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FAMOUS TRAVELLERS60

Dave is a man of words but he is also a man of action. It is becauseof this combination that his initiative has been so widely successful.

The tutoring project has shed light on many lives but because the

story is being told, many other similar projects are springing up as a

result of it. With community support a website has now been creat-

ed for this purpose of sharing stories and inspiring others. Check it

out and join the vision!32

"The schools need you. The teachers need you. The students and

parents need you. They need your actual person, your physical per-

sonhood and your open minds and open ears and boundless com-

passion sitting next to them, listening and nodding and asking ques-

tions for hours at a time. Some of these kids just don't plain know

how good they are, how smart and how much they have to say. You

can tell them. You can shine that light on them one human interac-

tion at a time. So we hope you'll join us."33

Dave Eggers


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FAMOUS TRAVELLERS62

Marie So and Carol Chyau34

Founders of Shokay

Marie So and Carol Chyau are two examples of social innovators,who

started a company called Shokay, in China. Marie was born in Hong

Kong and Carol in Taiwan. They both hold a number of degrees and

have worked in both the private and public sectors (UN).

The company was born while they attended Harvard Universi-

ty. In the process of studying International Development, Marie andCarol brainstormed on ways to utilize their education and talents to

build businesses that could impact poor regions. Both of them hav-

ing spent most of their lives in Asia the natural choice was China, a

country with increasingly severe income disparity where many in-

land regions suffer from poverty and lack of access to markets.

During their winter break, Carol and Marie travelled to Western re-

gions of China to investigate the needs and resources of the people

living there and look for ways to help.

They found an abundant resource of yaks and a NGO partner

China Exploration and Research Society.

This is what they did:

Shokay is a social enterprise started with one cause; "To identify theright opportunities that could impact impoverished regions in Chi-

na" The opportunity presented itself in a thick coat of hair, the fur

of the massive Tibetan Yak, which is an outstanding resource for

fabrics and yarn that equals the quality of cashmere and mohair.

Now, Shokay, the Tibetan word for Yak, sells luxury bre collected in

the inlands by local nomadic herders and processed by a number of

hand knitters near Shanghai.The philosophy of Shokay is to acknowledge the producing com-

munities by reinvesting parts of the prot in the local community. As

the company grows, the funds that they reinvest grow equally. The

funds ensure the development of the communities. By reinvesting

in the communities Shokay not only ensures a sustainable living for

the herders but also creates a platform that enables the communi-

ties to break free from poverty.The second step in the supply chain of Shokay is the knitting of

the products which is based on an island close to Shanghai. The fe-

male knitters are all local and work in near proximity of their homes.

To increase the empowerment of the people in the remote re-

gions of West China, Shokay works to promote wool from the Yak


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as a luxury fabric on the international scene to quality stamp andbrand the material, thereby increasing market value and securing

the herders an even better price.

The more Shokay grows the more the conditions of the nancially

disadvantaged communities improve.


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Jimmy Donal "Jimbo" WalesFounder of Wikipedia

We have decided to highlight Jimmy Wales as one of the biggest

socially innovative Internet entrepreneurs who has made a huge im-

pact in the eld of knowledge sharing.

Jimmy Wales is the co-founder and brain behind Wikipedia. Wiki-

pedia was created in 2001 and is a free, open-content encyclope-

dia. It is now the largest encyclopedia in the world.His inuence has helped popularize a trend in web development,

also called Web 2.0. His aim is to facilitate creativity, collaboration,

and sharing among users. Time Magazine named him one of the

world's most inuential people in 2006 because of his massive glo-

bal impact.

Jimmy Wales was born August 7, 1966 in America. He grew up in

Huntsville, Alabama, and he received his early education from a small pri-

vate school run by his mother and grandmother. Education was one of the

key values in his upbringing because of the teacher aspect within the fami-

ly. In an interview he has formulated it this way:

"Education was always a passion in my householdyou know, the

traditional approach to knowledge and learning and establishingthat as a base for a good life"35.

Jimmy has always had a great interest in nance and he has a

Bachelor's Degree in nance from Auburn University. Furthermore,

he has a PhD in a nance program at Alabama University.

You may ask yourself, Why is he a social innovator? One of his fa-

mous punch lines is:

"Imagine a world in which every single person on the planet is given

free access to the sum of all human knowledge. That's what we're

doing!"

The perspective - to share and educate everyone for free - is in-

novative in itself. The free licensing of Wikipedia content means thatit is free to copy, free to modify, free to redistribute, and free to redis-

tribute in modied forms, with attribution links. People from all over

the world are using this source because Wikipedia is a platform for

information and collaboration between people. It is exible, adopta-

ble and easy to access - it is technology based social innovation.

FAMOUS TRAVELLERS64


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The name Wikipedia is a combination ofwiki and encyclo-

pedia. Wiki is a term that describes an online tool for collabo-

rative authoring. Software programmer Ward Cunningham was

the rst to use this term which he got from Hawaiian wiki-wiki,

which means quick-quick.

Encyclopedia derives from the Latin word enkuklopaideia

and it means all-around education.

When Wikipedia was created in 2001 all of its technology and

software elements had been around since 1995. Its innovation was

entirely social - free licensing of content, neutral point of view, and

total openness to participants, especially new ones. As a result the

core engine of Wikipedia is "a community of thoughtful users, a few

hundred volunteers who know each other and work to guarantee

the quality and integrity of the work."

Wikipedia is a growing organism and will continue to accelerate

its growth. It is one of the top 20 websites with 5 billion page views

monthly. And through this Jimmy Wales has made himself a legend

of our time.


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FAMOUS TRAVELLERS66

Natalie Killassy

Founder of Stitch Wise

"Our business is our vision at work!"36

Real change occurs when the mechanisms in society are shifted

to support a need that is yet unmet. Natalie Killassy of South Africa

used the channel of business to make a difference in her local com-

munity. Natalie grew up in a mining town. In this African nation, themining industry has been the main driving force behind the develop-

ment of the economy. Due to poor working conditions many injuries

and deaths occur each year.

Inspired by her environment, the reality she witnessed every

day, Natalie decided to do some research in the mines in order to

learn rst hand about the safety conditions of the miners. What she

discovered led her to start up the social enterprise Stitch Wise in

1997.

This innovative business employs paraplegics injured in the

mines to make products that make working in the mines much saf-

er. In making this connection, Stitch Wise is having a win-win-win

impact.

"What most businesses don't realize is that you just need to make

a few changes to be able to employ disabled people, and through

that process you can harness a huge pool of skills and opportuni-

ties for your business."37

Although her products are innovative, it is Natalie's holistic ap-

proach to entrepreneurship that is the real gem of her story. Of her128 employees, 50% are "differently abled". Stitch Wise holds train-

ing and empowerment programs (in the areas of personal develop-

ment, adult education, health education, and computer skills devel-

opment) and contributes greatly to the advancement of its nation's

economy.

Surely, Natalie came across challenges along the way but her

process was somewhat simple: She saw a need. She felt her role.She acted.


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My integrity is nonnegotiable,

My pride and enthusiasm unsurpassed

Our differences are celebrated,

I work at Stich Wise.


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Movement

Movement

The stories we have highlighted are people we have met on ourpath or been inspired by in our own work. They show how individ-

uals can inuence their surroundings by seeing their role in solv-

ing the social needs affecting their communities. What is perhaps

even more interesting is to see these cases in a broader context.

All over the world people are working to combat issues such as cli-

mate change, population growth, lack of resources, and violations

of human rights.Due to an increase in transnational companies and internet com-

munication our world seems so much smaller these days. For some

this is a negative phenomenon, however, there are many possibili-

ties that come as a result of this trend.

What is happening is that more and more people are waking up

to the fact that as humans on this planet our lives are not isolat-

ed. Our actions and inactions affect one another. Whether it is our

trade policies or our innovative projects everything is connected.

For some it takes a shorter time to come to this understanding than

for others.

What is exciting is to see when people come together to create

something greater than themselves in order to have a positive im-

pact in the world. This is largely happening with the support of valu-able connections created in networks and communities of practice.

The Berkana Institute38, founded by the author and consultant

Margaret Wheatley, is an organization working with fostering these

relationships around the world.

They learn how local social innovation can be taken to scale and

provide solutions to many of the worlds most intractable issuessuch as community health, ecological sustainability and econom-

ic self-reliance. The Exchange connects leadership learning centres

around the globe in such places as Brazil, Canada, India, Mexico,

Pakistan, South Africa, the United States and Zimbabwe39

Global learning networks like Berkana and Pioneers of Change40

are supporting entrepreneurs around the world, however, there areother channels at work fostering social innovation. Using education

as a tool for creating the world we want to live in we can have an in-

credible impact.


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MOVEMENT 69

The way in which educational programs are structured greatly in-uences which mindsets are present in a society. Recent decades

have seen a rise in social entrepreneurial programs, highlighting the

need for people to go into the world of business with not only the

goal of making a prot but with larger visions including people and

the planet.

An example of these educational programs is the KaosPilots.

This is a school focusing on enabling the students to act in an everchanging world through utilizing learning in real world projects and

personal leadership etc.

Other programs include the Stanford Graduate School of Busi-

ness Center for Social Innovation41 where they aim to strengthen

the capacity of individuals and organizations to develop innovative

solutions to social problems, as well as the Youth Social Enterprise

Initiative (YSEI)42; a social venture program based in Thailand for

emerging young social entrepreneurs in developing countries.

As time passes and the world evolves many new efforts and in-

itiatives conrm the thought that as individuals we can impact the

world but we can create so much more when we work together with

a common vision.


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68 MOVEMENT

Shedding light on social innovation

Tania Ellis

De Nye Pionerer

www.taniaellis.dk

Denmark

SIX: Social Innovation Exchange

www.socialinnovationexchange.org

Center for Social Innovation

Toronto, Canada

www.socialinnovation.ca

Young Foundation

Center for Social Innovation

London, United Kingdomwww.youngfoundation.org.uk

ESADE

Ramon Llull University Institute for Social Innovation

Barcelona, Spainwww.esade.edu/research/socialinnovation/about

United Nations

Global Compact

www.unglobalcompact.org

World Business Council

for Sustainable Development

www.wbcsd.org


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71MOVEMENT

The Schwab Foundation for

Social Entrepreneurship

www.schwabfoundation.org

global:ideas:bank

www.globalideasbank.org

NESTA

National Endowment for Science

Technology and the Arts

www.nesta.org.uk

The KaosPilots International

www.kaospilots.dk

Stanford Center for Social Innovation at

Stanford University Graduate School of Business

www.gsb.stanford.edu/csi

The Skoll Foundation

www.skollfoundation.org

If you want to take action, check out the SociaI Innovation in

Action chapter on page 70.

Bigger Thinking

www.biggerthinking.com

CSR Wire

The Corporate Social Responsibility Newswire

www.csrwire.com


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SI in action

Social Innovation in Action

You are approaching your destination. Your bags are packed andyou have prepared yourself for an adventurous journey into the eld

of social innovation.

In reading this rst part of the travel guide, you have experienced

many perspectives that have probably inspired you to think about

what kind of actions you could take to create social innovation in

your community. We will now present some tools to be utilized to

gain clarity, provide inspiration, and raise questions that will helpyou in your pursuit of this goal. This will be done in a playful manner.

Although the great social innovators have surely overcome incred-

ible challenges, they have also been passionate about their work

and have experienced great joy along the way. Pioneering in the

eld of social innovation is meaningful and therefore quite exciting.


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SI IN ACTION 73

The structure of this chapter will be formed around a few suggest-ed areas to explore when kicking off a socially innovative project. It

is important to emphasize that the tools provided are not to be used

in any particular order. It is up to you to follow your motivation and

need and work with what you feel for at the given moment. Remem-

ber, use them while taking action and not as an excuse to post-

pone it!

In each section, a template will be provided to visualize a certainaspect of your project. Each template will be accompanied with in-

structions on how it can be used as well as tips to support you in

your work. As a general rule these tools and tips are meant as sug-

gestions and can be altered or built upon as needed.

The visual tools are printed in a small format in this book.

You can scale them up by drawing them yourself on a piece

of paper or you can download larger versions for printing

from our website:

www.socialinnovation.biz

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes Art is knowing

which ones to keep43

Scott Adams


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74 SI IN ACTION

Starting With Me

Look at what you do and in which areas you have experience andtalent and ask: How can society benet from my skills? You do not

have to reinvent the wheel to create social innovation and apply-

ing your skills and knowledge in new ways can be the decisive rst

step.

Use the templates in the order that comes naturally to you. Start

with what you have and build on it from there. Dont force it. Find out

what you are passionate about and let it ow naturally. Passion isthe strongest driver for action.

Popular TV-chef Jamie Oliver is a good example of this; he went

from cooking delicious food in restaurants to bringing his business

into the school kitchens of Britain, revolutionizing the traditional

meal plans and giving c

social innovation online

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