How can social innovation address pressing societal challenges such as segregation, mental health issues, and ecological imbalance? The new anthology *Social Innovation for Sustainable Development* provides compelling examples of this through an overview of current Swedish research.
When we talk about innovation, it’s easy to picture new products and advanced technologies. But social innovation focuses instead on human behavior. This might involve, for example, promoting new methods and ways of working, or new ways of thinking and organizing.
In*Social Innovation for Sustainable Development*, researchers from various disciplines and universities highlight innovative approaches to addressing the challenges we face. These include climate change, integration, poor health, and social inequality.
“The hope is that the book will serve as a supportive tool and a source of inspiration, particularly for efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda,” says Karl Johan Bonnedahl, one of the editors of the anthology.
Progress can sometimes mean taking a step back
One of the goals of the 2030 Agenda is to promote good health and well-being for all. Another is to preserve forests and nature for a sustainable future. Both of these are brought together in the book in a chapter on nature-based interventions. That is, how nature can serve as a stress-relieving factor, both to prevent mental health issues and to promote well-being for people who are struggling.
“I think that’s a great example of how social innovation doesn’t always have to be about moving forward toward something completely new. It can just as easily be about going back to something that worked before. Like spending more time in nature, away from screens full of stimuli, the straight lines of cities, noise, and car traffic,” Karl Johan Bonnedahl continues.
The importance of participation
Collaboration among different stakeholders is a key element of social innovation, as is involving those affected by a problem in finding solutions to it. For example, another chapter in the book describes how a suburb of Stockholm is working to create a more equitable, safe, and inclusive everyday environment by involving young women in urban planning.
– Instead of urban planners sitting in their offices trying to solve problems after sending out a survey, the approach is based on a collaborative model in which young women are given the opportunity to influence the city’s development based on their experiences and needs.
Does that sound logical? Social innovations often do, according to Karl Johan Bonnedahl. Yet they involve consciously challenging conventional ways of thinking and acting.
Challenges concepts and behaviors
One area of research where the editors believe social innovation is severely underutilized is environmental issues. In his own chapter, Karl Johan Bonnedahl emphasizes the importance of reflecting on modern technology versus the behavior behind it. Why do we act the way we do? How do we think? What concepts do we use, and what goals do we set for society?
– Behind our behavior lies a wealth of preconceptions, values, and the words we use to describe things. They influence us quite a bit. If we were to use different words and set different goals, we would head in a different direction. It sounds trite, but that’s how it is.
He uses demand as an example. According to Karl Johan Bonnedahl, this is an economic concept that is rarely defined or examined, yet is often used without question. We just assume that demand is a good thing and think it’s the same as need. It isn’t. Demand is wanting something and also having the money to pay for it. That rarely applies to those with strong, basic needs—clean water, food for the day, a roof over their heads.
– Why are we manufacturing jet skis for the rich instead of clean water for the poor? That’s what happens when we let demand dictate things instead of need. I’m making a case here for the need to build systems where real needs take precedence over demand.
Focuses on the causes of the problems
To bring about change, we must first use the right terms, understand what they mean, and then steer our actions in the desired direction. But if we don’t even start by changing the words we use, we’ll never realize that we have a problem. This is where social innovation can make a real difference, he argues.
– With this book, we want to highlight what social innovation is all about—and for many people, that in itself is something new. A new way of thinking. I would say that is the most important thing of all, more important than the individual examples. To think beyond this tech gadget that we hope will solve a problem society is in the process of creating, and instead try to change the reasons why we create the problems in the first place,” concludes Karl Johan Bonnedahl.
The book is published by Studentlitteratur and is available there .
Text: Lena Holmberg
Digital Book Launch: Social Innovation for Sustainable Development
On March 18, 2022, we hosted a digital book launch for the research anthology *
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You can watch it here.