Citizens at the core of Social Innovation: from grassroots action to systemic change.

Building on the SEED mapping of Social Innovation in Italy, Greece, Romania and Slovenia, the webinar introduces the relevant role of citizens in the development of Social Innovation. Because citizens often generate networks made of weak and low-intensity ties and membership forms are impalpable or non-existent, their innovative projects and practices are more difficult to map. However, the map shows that most of the citizen movements were created during the years of crisis as an immediate response to the needs of society, and they operate at a very grass root level. They usually have a neighbourhood spread, their actions are often short in duration and magnitude, and they operate strictly voluntarily. In any case, what is notable is that there cannot be any social innovation without citizens, even when the innovation is triggered and spread by public or private actors. Citizens and their well-being are always the core and involving them is not a choice. Through the analysis of four different cases, the webinar focuses on the conditions and tools which favour the empowerment of citizens as social innovators. The speakers reflect on the potentiality of dialoguing with citizens and involving them for the development of even more efficient innovative solutions.

Agenda:

First part:

Giulia Ganugi, UNIBO – Introduction of the webinar and explanation of Miro blackboard and the how which participants can interact with us. 

​Piero Brunod, Fa’ la cosa giusta – HostHello! Critical path reinterpretation between future scenarios, community spaces, and organizational model. 

Madalena Lima, Ashoka – Changemaker Generation programme to foster youth leadership and build a large community of girls and boys who are promoters of social change. 

Simona Beolchi, Fondazione Innovazione Urbana

Amalia Zepou, Kollektiva

​Second part:

Piero Brunod, Fa’ la cosa giusta: Generative Visions. Exploring new narratives for change and the role of cultural actors. 

Madalena Lima, Ashoka – Transformative weekends with two specific objectives: 1. Community building, 2. Capacity building 

Simona Beolchi, Fondazione Innovazione Urbana

Amalia Zepou, Kollektiva

​The webinar is supported by a Miro’s blackboard, where each speaker’s contributions are summed up to draw a final scheme with different cases, tools and methodologies that enable the empowerment of citizens into social innovators. Besides recalling speakers’ contributions, the blackboard allows participants to interact with us, asking questions, writing comments, indicating tools and methodologies they use/know, etc. 

Q&A: check on Miro blackboard whether participants interact and read out loud what they wrote + open the discussion in the call for questions and comments.

Madalena Lima – Ashoka, presentation

Simona Beolchi – Fondazione Innovazione Urbana, presentation

Amalia Zepou – Kollektiva, presentation

Piero Brunod – Fa’ la cosa giusta, presentation