The OECD LEED Forum on Social Innovations

I. Background and Definition

The Forum on Social Innovations was created in April 2000 with the main objective of facilitating international dissemination and transfer of best policies and practices in social innovation.  Some 11 organisations from 6 countries (3 European and 3 from North America) signed the Charter of Adhesion to the Forum, marking its creation.  Brian Dabson, President of the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED), United States was the first President of the Forum;  Patrick McClure, Chief Executive Officer of Mission Australia, took over the role in June 2003 and stepped down at the end of 2006.   Andy Westwood, Special Advisor to the Rt. Hon. John Denham, UK Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, is the current President.  Mrs Antonella Noya from the OECD Secretariat is responsible for the activities of this Forum.

The working definition of social innovation adopted in the framework of the Forum on Social Innovations was that it “can concern conceptual, process or product change, organisational change and changes in financing, and can deal with new relationships with stakeholders and territories”.

‘Social innovation’ seeks new answers to social problems by:

• identifying and delivering new services that improve the quality of life of individuals and communities;
• identifying and implementing new labour market integration processes, new competencies, new jobs, and new forms of participation, as diverse elements that each contribute to improving the position of individuals in the workforce.

Social innovations can therefore be seen as dealing with the welfare of individuals and communities, both as consumers and producers.  The elements of this welfare are linked with the quality of life and activity.  Wherever social innovations appear, they always bring about new references or processes.

Social innovation is distinct from economic innovation because it is not about introducing new types of production or exploiting new markets for the sake of exploiting them, but is about satisfying new needs not provided by the market (even if markets intervene later) or creating new, more satisfactory ways of insertion in terms of giving people a place and a role in production.

The key distinction is that social innovation deals with improving the welfare of individuals and community through employment, consumption or participation, its expressed purpose being therefore to provide solutions for individual and community problems.

It seems therefore that social innovation and local development can be considered as intertwined.  Other channels may exist for social innovations but most of them need a very tailored and comprehensive approach, which will be both a condition and a consequence of local development

II. Objectives

The specific objectives of the Forum on Social Innovations are:

• To identify some key locally-led actions for social innovation that are recognised as being successful in meeting their objectives but are not well known elsewhere.  
• To review available evaluation evidence and research studies to explore their strengths and weaknesses and transfer potential.
• To raise external awareness and understanding of transferable policies and promote their take up in a way that takes account of differing local contexts.  
• To reinforce international networks of policy-makers in this field. 

III. Activities

Since its launch in 2000 a number of activities have been organised in various OECD member and non-member countries under the framework of the Forum on Social Innnovations.

2000

• Washington DC, seminar on "Defining social innovation" and presenting a first set of socially innovative initiatives (both in the non profit sector and in the financial sector) 
• Washington DC, conference with the IMF on “The New Trends in the Non Profit Sector”.  The results of this conference, enriched with original studies, were presented  in the OECD publication The Non Profit Sector in a Changing Economy.
• Paris, conference on “Partners for Progress:  Towards a New Approach to Corporate Social Responsibility”. The results of the conference were published in Corporate Social Responsibility: Partners for Progress.

2001

• Identification of a hundred social innovations (projects, programmes, business initiatives, practices, policies) through the analysis of a questionnaire sent to international experts to examine the most interesting fields of analysis for the future activities of the Forum.
• A programme of work for 2002/2003 was elaborated (financed by the German Marshall Fund for the United States and by the European Commission) in order to pursue the comparative assessment of innovations in local social policy in Europe and North America and to promote the exchange of best practices through conferences, seminars, workshops, study tours and reports.
• Trento, Italy, a conference on “Social enterprise: a comparative perspective”, organised in cooperation with the University of Trento.  A publication on Social Enterprises was released.

2002

• Windsor, Ontario, Canada, a delegation of the Forum on Social Innovations participated in the conference on Asset Building for Low Income People.  An on-line report on the results of the conference was published in October 2003, Asset Building and the Escape from Poverty: A New Welfare Policy Debate.
• San Francisco Bay Area, California, a study tour and conference to analyse the role of social innovation in helping to reduce the inequalities.  An internal report, “Social Innovation and the New Economy: Evidence from the Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay Area” was prepared (available upon request).

2003

• Rome, Italy, conference on “Entrepreneurship and Local Development in Distressed Urban Areas”.  An OECD publication, Entrepreneurship: A Catalyst for Urban Regeneration was released in June 2004.
• Trento, Italy, an international conference “From Cooperatives to Social Enterprises” was held in cooperation with the University of Trento.

2004

• Trento, Italy, a one-week capacity building seminar on "Social Economy and Social Innovation" was held for policy makers and practitioners from South, Central and Eastern Europe responsible for social economic issues.

2005

• Luxembourg, conference on "Social Economy: The Leading Actor for Social Cohesion and the Lisbon Strategy".
• Trento, Italy, international conference on "The Social Economy in Central, East and South-East Europe: Emerging Trends of Social Innovation and Local Development".

2006

• Australia, conference on “Social innovation in the 21th century: a Dialogue”  organised in partnership with Mission Australia, Macquarie Bank and the Australian Government Department of Family and the Community.
• Paris, France, seminar on “Supporting social entrepreneurship development. An International overview” jointly organised with AVISE, the French National agency on Socially Innovative Initiatives. The final report is available online.
• Zagreb, Croatia, a capacity building seminar on “Emerging models of Social Entrepreneurship: possible paths for social enterprise development in Central east and South East Europe”.
• Trento, Italy, seminar on “Reviewing OECD Experiences in the Social Enterprise Sector: policy Insights for Central East and South East Europe”, under the auspices of the World Bank. 

2007

• Bucharest, Romania, conference on “Social Enterprises in an Evolving Economy: From Non-Profit Organisations to Social Enterprises” organised back-to-back to the 50th meeting of the LEED Directing Committee (June). A summary report is under preparation.
• Paris, France, conference on "Cooperative Banks and Local Development" organised back-to-back to the 51st meeting of the LEED Directing Committee (November). A summary report is under preparation.
• An OECD publication on “Social Economy: Building Inclusive Economies” based on the 2005 and 2006 international conferences held in Trento was released in November.