social innovation
Novel societal solutions
Social innovation refers to new strategies, concepts, or practices that address social needs more effectively than existing approaches.
The term covers everything from microfinance to community land trusts to new models of healthcare delivery.
What distinguishes social innovation from ordinary innovation is its primary aim: solving social problems rather than generating profit.
The nonprofit sector has become a laboratory for social innovation.
The phrase sometimes carries a whiff of corporate jargon, suggesting solutions that sound transformative but may be modest reforms.
- grassroots movementsCitizen-led collective action
- grassroots organizingLocal citizen-led collective action
- community engagementActive local participation
- poverty alleviationReducing extreme economic need
- design thinkingEmpathy-driven solution framework
prototyping · education reform · systems thinking · cooperative · systemic change · crowdsourcing · microfinance · pay it forward · ethical business · mission-driven · environmental sustainability · community leaders · activists · policymakers · mental health advocacy · nonprofit · changemaker · agile methodology
social innovationsocial conservatism
Ideology favoring established moral standards
traditionalism · status quo · entrenchment · convention · orthodoxy
social innovationtechnological innovation
Novel application of science
mechanical invention · technocracy · product innovation · financial engineering