Transformation of Hei's Three Missions in the German Social Innovation Ecosystem: A Survey-Based Description of the Status Quo, Its Challenges and Development Perspectives
The recognition of the importance of and engagement with social innovation has increased considerably in Germany in recent years across all sectors and policy fields. In terms of innovation policy, the recognition of the potential to effectively tackle social problems and societal challenges was accompanied by the intention to create suitable framework conditions and funding instruments to foster SI. The German “National Strategy for Social Innovation and Social Enterprises”[1] represents a milestone in this development. The implementation of the strategy is based on a large number of participatory, strategically and practically oriented activities and a corresponding process of networking relevant stakeholders, which are bundled through a digital platform[2]. A central pillar of the communication and interaction architecture in this process are HEIs, which as central actor of the quadruple helix approach can play a vital role in social innovation, as several case studies reveal.
Against this background, TU Dortmund University is coordinating the development of a national scientific network in the field of social innovation.[3] A key element of this process is a quantitative desk research and qualitative interviews on the current state of SI at HEIs , including their research, teaching and transfer activities as well as cooperation with societal stakeholders. While the quantitative survey provides an overview of how widespread SI is in the German HEI landscape, the qualitative interviews dive deeper into the question of SI’s structural anchoring in HEI’s strategies.
The presentation provides insights into the current activities and future challenges of HEIs in the German social innovation ecosystem. Furthermore, excerpts from position paper developed collaboratively by the scientific network will be provided for discussion.
[1] https://www.bmbf.de/bmbf/shareddocs/kurzmeldungen/de/2023/09/230913_sigu.html
[2] https://sigu-plattform.de/nationale-strategie-sigu/
[3] https://sfs.sowi.tu-dortmund.de/en/research/projects/platform-for-social-innovations/