This document discusses the growing role of universities in social innovation and social entrepreneurship. It notes that universities quickly incorporated these topics into R&D projects, courses, and programs like incubators. It also describes the rise of cross-sector collaborations and funding opportunities through programs like Horizon2020 that support applied, multi-disciplinary research on societal challenges. The document outlines how universities have institutionalized social innovation through centers, programs, conferences, and positioning themselves as hubs for collaboration on solving global problems.

1. Social innovation and social
entreprenurship
– new role(s) for Universities?
Fredrik Björk

2. Universities, social innovation & social
entreprenurship
• Universities quick to pick
up social innovation
• R&D projects
• Courses & programs
• Incubators & knowledge
centers
• Cross-sector collaborations
ACSI (Aalto Camp for Societal Innovation,
Malmö University 2013)

3. • Discourse around the need for academia to be
'relevant' and act on current societal challenges
• Discourse about the need for cross-sector
collaboration and multi-/cross-/transdisciplinary
approaches
• “governance”-approach opens up/gives legitimacy
for “new” actors and collaborations
• An increasing proportion of research funding is
directed towards applied approaches (like
Horizon2020)

4. Background
• Engaged scholarship US
1960s
• Critical perspectives -
civic, social &
environmental
• Early 1970s: action
research - participatory
research
• Project based education

5. ”The competitive University”
• Higher education as a
market
• Focus on rankings etc.
• Business oriented approach
• ”Education factories”
• ”Employability”
• Higher proportion of
research funding from
external sources/industry

6. Universities and sustainability
• Big impact in Universities
since 1990s
• Cross-disciplinary /cross-
sector perspectives
• Project-based approach
to learning
• Different directions –
differ in the view on the
view on growth & role of
business/CSR

7. • When social innovation and social
entreprenurship became household concepts –
many universities, especially in the US, were
quick to pick it up and institutionalize (ex as
courses for MBAs) – mid-1990s – (Harvard
Business School Social Enterprise Initiative)
• Student focus – ”outreach”
• Later in the EU (c. 2005) primarily business
schools as well
• More focus on research (SKOLL Center for Social
Entreprenuership at Oxford)

8. Courses & programs:
• From modules to masters (ex. social
entrepreneurship and management masters at
RUC)
• campus to moocs; (ex. zukunftsmacher-plattform
,
Kiel U.; U-Lab (edX/MIT))
• Applied; design-thinking; skills for social
entreprenurs; case studies/live cases

9. Research
• Horizon2020 and other transnational
programs (EU-funding)
• Independent foundations (Ex. Robert Bosch
foundation)
• National funding – (ex FORMAS in Sweden)
• Often emphasize cross-disciplinary and cross
sector approaches

10. Institutional arrangements:
• Center for Socialt Entreprenørskap, RUC
• Institute for community engaged scholarship,
Uni of Guelph, Canada
• Forum for social innovation Sweden, Mah
• Research – education –
collaboration/knowledge hubs

11. Conferences & workshops
• Ex. Social innovation summit,
Malmö Nov 2016
• Policy makers, social
entrepreneurs, impact
investors, students, researchers
• “to facilitate unexpected
encounters”
• Seminars, roundtables, poster
exhibitions, ‘science slam’

12. New role(s) for the academy?
• ”The challenge driven university – to solve
global problems”?
• Geoff Mulgan, NESTA
• Student focus
• Collaborative problem solving
• Sustainable development goals