Innovative approaches to addressing complex societal challenges such as poor health, unemployment, segregation, and climate change often require collaboration among different societal actors and sectors. The complexity of these societal challenges means that addressing them can take a long time, thereby creating a need for long-term forms of collaboration that go beyond time-limited projects. This is particularly true at the regional level—that is, in geographical areas that extend across municipal boundaries but do not encompass entire countries (although they may transcend national borders). Regional collaboration on societal challenges has been discussed in terms of what are known as “ecosystems” for social innovation. This report presents a mapping of Swedish and international examples of regional collaboration on societal challenges. The aim is to gather and disseminate knowledge and experience as inspiration for further development of support structures for social innovation.
The mapping was conducted by Forum for Social Innovation Sweden (FfSIS), a national knowledge and collaboration platform based at Malmö University with regional nodes at the University of Borås, Jönköping University, Luleå University of Technology, Malmö University, Umeå University, and Örebro University.