What is social innovation?

Social innovation refers to rethinking and reshaping social practices to improve society’s well-being in response to different challenges. It aims at enhancing collective well-being and system change. This process often involves civil society and focuses on transforming traditional ways of addressing poverty, environmental degradation, or social inequality. It can result in the development of new collaborations between the public, private, and civil sectors. Social innovations can emerge at any level – from the local level (e.g. grassroots initiatives) to national ones (e.g. in forest policies).

In forestry, social innovation plays a key role in empowering the local population, fostering economic development, and promoting sustainable resource management. It has the potential to revitalise rural areas by addressing structural challenges such as depopulation  and marginalisation, while encouraging new management forms and uses for forest-based resources (e.g. community forestry, ecotourism).

The implementation of social innovation remains challenging. Gaps in policies, governance structures and institutions can impede the progress of social innovations. Overcoming these requires building trusted networks,  supporting local leadership, and creating flexible policy frameworks that allow social innovations to thrive.

Further reading
Živojinović et al. 2023. Institutional structures impeding forest-based social innovation in Serbia and Slovenia. Forest Policy and Economics, 151, 102971. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2023.102971