The European Union (DG R&I) has published a report on Social Innovation as a Trigger for Transformations – The Role of Research. It analyses in particular how the social sciences and humanities can contribute to the much need social innovation. The report argues for a broad concept of social innovation, which encompasses a variety of forms of social change: social, cultural and educational emancipation, social movements, bottom-up organisations aiming at the satisfaction of human needs, new ways of bottom-linked governance, in addition to solidarity and the social economy.
It underlines the importance of social innovation research to ensure its societal and historical embeddedness and emphasises the absolute need for interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary methodologies.
