Alice Bah Kuhnke is responsible for a number of areas, including civil society policy, democracy and human rights, and culture. She previously served as Secretary General of the Fairtrade organization, Executive Director of the civil society think tank Sektor3, and Director General of the Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society (MUCF).
– “This is an interesting area, and I’m here to learn more about what you do,” the minister began.
Met with university presidents
During the visit, President Kerstin Tham spoke about Malmö University’s efforts to focus on societal challenges and explained that Forum for Social Innovation Sweden a key role in this initiative. Charlotte Ahlgren Moritz, Vice President at Malmö University and Chair of Forum for Social Innovation Sweden Forum for Social Innovation Sweden areas of focus.
The Minister spoke about the activities currently being carried out by the government that have significant overlap with social innovation, such as the work on partnerships between the public and nonprofit sectors. She also highlighted her own experience, for example, in implementing social and environmental requirements in procurement procedures.
Other topics discussed included the development of social innovation and social entrepreneurship internationally compared to Sweden, and how Forum for Social Innovation Sweden to promote the growth of social innovation. Developing knowledge and identifying knowledge gaps is an important part of this work, and Forum for Social Innovation Sweden connection to Malmö University is central.
– The fact that there isn’t more investment in this area in Sweden is probably mainly due to a lack of knowledge. Social innovation is still a fairly new field, which is why we want to develop research and knowledge around it, said Kerstin Tham.
The minister was particularly interested in Forum for Social Innovation Sweden initiative to highlight 100 social innovations that we believe will shape Sweden’s future, as part of our efforts to showcase best practices and increase awareness of the field.
– “We are living in a time of great challenges; we need all the good ideas and creative innovations we can get!” said Alice Bah Kuhnke.