Orientation map for societal change
The orientation map helps you navigate the various factors that facilitate or hinder the development and implementation of innovative solutions to societal challenges. It can be used by anyone who leads, supports, or studies such processes. The map is based on research into social innovation ecosystems and lessons learned from Forum for Social Innovation Sweden.
Reference: The model was developed by Forum for Social Innovation Sweden, drawing inspiration from Hoffecker 2019, Kaletka et al. 2016, and the OECD 2021.
At the center of the map is the social innovation designed to address a specific societal challenge in an innovative way. From there, paths lead to four factors that influence the likelihood of achieving the desired societal change:
Actors and collaboration
This includes the various societal actors—in the public sector, civil society, the business community, or academia—who develop, support, or are otherwise affected by innovative solutions to a particular societal challenge, as well as their relationships and interactions with one another.
Guiding questions:
- Which societal actors are affected by the societal challenge you wish to address?
- How can you engage with and interact with the stakeholders who can either facilitate or hinder innovative solutions to societal challenges?
Support and resources
This includes support and resources for the development and implementation of innovative solutions to societal challenges, in the form of funding, advice, expertise, methodologies, meeting places, and similar resources.
Guiding questions:
- What support and resources are needed for you to address societal challenges in an innovative way?
- Which of these do you already have access to, and which ones do you need to obtain from elsewhere?
Social Structures
This includes the political, economic, legal, and technical frameworks and regulations within organizations and society that influence the ability to develop and implement innovative solutions to a particular societal challenge.
Guiding questions:
- What frameworks and regulations influence the ability to develop and implement innovative solutions to societal challenges?
- How do you approach the frameworks and regulations that facilitate or hinder this?
Norms
This includes social, ethical, and professional values, attitudes, and expectations within organizations and society that influence the ability to develop and implement innovative solutions to a particular societal challenge.
Guiding questions:
- What norms influence the ability to develop and implement innovative solutions to societal challenges?
- How do you feel about the social norms that either facilitate or hinder this?
Examples of applications
the orientation map be used by anyone who drives, supports, or studies the development of innovative solutions to societal challenges.
Here are a few examples of how it can be used:
- In a project, the orientation map can the orientation map to gain an understanding of the opportunities and obstacles within one’s own organization and in the surrounding community, in order to address societal challenges in an innovative way and navigate between these factors to bring about social change.
- In an evaluation or research study, the map can be used to understand and analyze how various factors within organizations and society influence the ability to address a particular societal challenge in an innovative way.
- In a call for project funding, the map can be used to understand what kind of support is needed to address societal challenges in innovative ways, as well as to design that support in an effective manner.
How to use an orientation map
You can start at any corner of the orientation map. Each corner contains guiding questions that you can answer individually or in a group. Finally, you can compile the answers and consider how the various factors influence one another.
Before you get started, keep in mind that:
- The various elements of the orientation map can be found both within one’s own organization and in the surrounding community.
- It can be helpful to use the map at different stages of development to navigate step by step through the factors that arise along the way.