Problem addressed

Methods for measuring the economic impact of social innovation and for finding out which business models are best for sustaining social innovation have not been fully defined, due to a lack of empirical research. This gap hinders the ability of both policy makers and businesses to ensure impactful social innovation, and to mainstream socially innovative practices into the European economic and policy environment.

Innovative solution

SIMPACT is a collaborative research project involving 12 partners across ten European countries. It aims to promote social innovation targeting vulnerable and marginalised groups by understanding its economic dimensions. SIMPACT is based on the understanding that social innovation involves a broader range of groups than traditional innovation, and that all have valuable experience in what does and does not work. Based on this philosophy, the project involves a wide range of social innovation stakeholders in its research and work – in particular, vulnerable groups who are the end beneficiaries of actions.

SIMPACT combines theoretical research and empirical evidence with continuous stakeholder dialogue at all levels. Small-scale stakeholder experiments with marginalised and vulnerable groups are used to test findings and tools – ‘indicator labs’, for example, involve representatives of vulnerable groups, statistical organisations and policy makers in the development of indicators for social innovation in a collaborative way. Methods such as 'policy action learning’ help policy and decision-makers at all governance levels, and from various policy fields, to work on real-world social policy issues. This active multi-level participatory approach has led to the development of three toolboxes that aim to support businesses, policy makers and evaluators. These toolboxes serve to underpin the economic foundation behind the implementation of social innovation, targeting vulnerable and marginalised groups in society.

Key results and benefits

The active multi-level participation approach was employed from the very beginning of the project and has consistently supported the translation of research findings into practice. From 2014 to 2016, the project engaged a variety of stakeholders, including unemployed young people, migrants, older people, social innovators, policy makers and statisticians, all of whom contributed to the development of three toolboxes.

The SI Business Toolbox helps social investors or social innovators to develop, measure and assess social innovation, and the SI Impact Assessment Toolbox is a practical guide assessing the impact of social innovation. The SI Policy Toolbox provides guidance to policy makers at all governance levels on how social innovation projects can be established and sustained. It identifies the key enablers of public intervention in social innovation. These include effective and strategic partnerships between public and third sector organisations and new modes of developing policy-based approaches through open and inclusive dialogue.

The toolboxes have been downloaded almost 7 000 times, including 3 500 downloads of the SI Impact Assessment Toolbox, 2 200 downloads of the SI Business Toolbox and 1 200 downloads of the SI Policy Toolbox. The project also developed an online database, which includes more than 65 social innovation business case studies from across Europe. The case studies showcase examples of creative communities and social entrepreneurship, and are based on interviews with marginalised groups and representatives of the private, public, and non-profit sectors.

Potential for mainstreaming

The SIMPACT project shows that, through continuous multi-level stakeholder engagement, theoretical research can be translated and applied in practice. The findings and tools of the project have been disseminated at several events across Europe. The European Institute for Public Administration (EIPA) has held, and is planning, further masterclasses with stakeholders (including European institutions) to showcase the toolboxes. Furthermore, the Ruhr-University Bochum holds an annual master class on social innovation, based on SIMPACT findings. A Workplace Innovation Europe workshop also presented the tool to UK public organisations for use in their work.

The toolboxes have been positively received by policy makers and practitioners alike. The majority of the 29 participants (including 13 public agencies) at the final Policy Forum event for the project reported that they had acquired new insights and actionable knowledge from the project. The toolboxes have been used by members of the University of Bath team in informal policy advocacy meetings with public administrations in the Basque Country and Scotland. The success of the project has led to a follow-up project with the Westphalian University, financed by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research in Germany, to further develop indicators to measure social innovation at the national level.

Furthermore, the results of SIMPACT and CrESSI (Creating Economic Space for Social Innovation) are being utilised for the development and pilot-testing of indicators to grasp social innovation at different analytical levels: organisational innovativeness, regional innovation capacity, and resonance, to position social innovation in the broader field of innovation.

There is considerable potential for using the toolboxes in countries that are not part of project consortium, as the methods of stakeholder involvement and the tools provided can be used and applied in a variety of settings.