BSSEC CIC: Social Innovation Hubs – insights from Social Impact Summit, Porto
11th December 2024
So, what is a Social Innovation Hub? Learning and insights from Porto and Portugal.
On a recent visit to Porto to speak at the Social Impact Summit on Social Innovation, social impact and place-based ecosystems, I found the usual rich seam of innovation to tackle social problems we all get when we take time out to listen, explore and reflect on practice from another country.
Portugal Social Innovation is a Government initiative to support innovation within the social sector and also to stimulate social investment. They are using EU funds to finance this work which is operating across the country. Each Hub has the opportunity to develop a local approach relevant to their place.
Their goals are to:
- Promote Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship in Portugal to create new solutions for social problems, which complement traditional responses and solve important social problems.
- Stimulate the social investment market by creating financial instruments better suited to the specific needs of the social economy sector and those of innovative and social entrepreneurship projects.
- Empower players in the social innovation and social entrepreneurship ecosystem in Portugal, improving the response levels of social sector organisations and contributing to the economic and financial sustainability thereof.
Each hub recognises that they need a staged approach to identifying the social issue to be solved, usually with the support of the local authority. All hubs take the same approach but the methodology differs from Place to Place to get to the outcome of a new social business.
Initially, priority groups are identified and the issues they face in society. The second stage involves getting a deeper and more thorough understanding with service users and researching how others address the issue. The third stage involves testing solutions and getting feedback. Following this the idea moves to incubation with the requirement for each new approach to identify a leader and write a proposal for funding. If successful an early stage business if formed which test trades over 2 years with resources from the Hub. The new business leader can identify local markets and possibly national markets for their new approach to solving social issues.
This is a Lego version of eldercare used to visualise the issues facing older people in the Innovation Hub!
In Porto, I saw many new businesses that were emerging from the HUB and one in particular remained with me. The target group was young people in care. A group which is always hard to reach and who often do not trust public sector services.
The approach was to set up a club for young girls and to support them to develop confidence in everyday life using sport, social media and companionship. It has been very successful to supporting the young women to think about their future, gain confidence in public speaking, employment, health issues and to create very strong bonds between one another. Some young women having benefited from the support of the club are now trainers themselves, and they provide great role models.
I wonder if such an approach would work in the West Midlands?
Wouldn’t it be great to see resources unlocked to develop some innovative approaches to social economy development and creation of new businesses which really can solve societies problems but in a safe innovation space.
BLOG authored by Sarah Beaumont | Director, BSSEC CIC | Connect | Email