We understand social innovation as a new configuration of practices with the overall goal to address social problems in a way they were not addressed through established practices before (cf. Howaldt/Schwarz, 2010). The planned contribution concentrates on the problem of social exclusion, whereby disadvantaged groups like women, young girls, youth and people with disabilities are in focus. The basis of the contribution is the SmartVille project, which focuses on strengthening rural areas in Namibia and Zambia by developing entrepreneurship training courses and establishing Living Labs within an interdisciplinary network involving universities from Finland, Namibia, Zambia and Germany over a period of two years. Formal and informal educational opportunities in these regions are to be expanded, and the employability of disadvantaged groups is to be strengthened. In this context, different perspectives on inclusion emerged, particularly between the global north (Europe) and global south (Africa). This is the reason why the African perspective highlights the need to achieve education (especially for girls), employment, finance stability and healthcare, whereas in Europe equality with the guiding principle
“leave no one behind” (United Nations 2024) is more in foreground.
In Rabat, we present the different perspectives on inclusion and inclusive principles in Africa and Europe. On this basis, we will discuss to what extent the European perspective of inclusion makes sense in Africa and whether this can be implemented. Moreover, we also present how practices in the Living Labs in Africa support inclusion as well as (social) transformation. To this end, we will refer to qualitative data from a research stay in Zambia (August 2024) and to extensive questionnaire surveys the project conducted in rural areas.
Literature
Howaldt/M. Schwarz (2010). “Soziale Innovation – Konzepte, Forschungsfelder und -perspektiven,” in Soziale Innovation. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.
United Nations (2024). Leaving no one behind, https://www.un.org/esa/socdev/rwss/2016/chapter1.pdf (10 September 2024).
