# Social Innovation: New Forms of Organisation in Knowledge–Based Societies

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/books/social-innovation-new-forms-of-organisation-in-knowledge-based-societies/
- Published: 2015-03-26T10:27:00+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

Routledge/Lisbon Civic Forum Studies in Innovation

‘Social innovation’ can be simply defined as the new ideas and initiatives that 
make it possible to meet our society’s challenges in areas such as the environment,
education, employment, culture, health and economic development. It is currently
becoming increasingly important as a central concept for social theories and politics.
This edited volume brings together interdisciplinary contributions which examine
the complex interrelation between innovation and social problems, a link which has
been surprisingly underexplored in academia and practice thus far.

_Social Innovation: New Forms of Organisation in Knowledge–Based Societies_ examines
the mutual interdependence of innovation processes and social affairs. This interdependent
relationship is characterised by a high degree of complexity which stems on the 
one hand from the true uncertain character of innovation and on the other hand from
the different time scales in both domains.

The alliance between innovation and social policy is highly relevant to the challenges
which we are facing in the 21st century, such as resource scarcity, ageing societies
and climate change. All of these issues demand substantial, continuous and sustainable
structural change to maintain international competitiveness. Social change can only
be understood by improving our knowledge about the impact of innovation processes
in their co-evolutionary alliance with social evolution.

The purpose of this book is to increase awareness of social participation among 
civil society organisations, SMEs, governments and research institutions, in order
to promote economic, political and social changes that enhance collective welfare.
This volume offers a key starting point for those looking to further explore this
important realm of social research.

## Authors

**Carmen Ruiz Viñals** is Director of  Business Management Studies at Abat Oliba
CEU University, Spain.

**Carmen Parra** **Rodríguez **is Director and Chair of Social Economy and Solidarity
at Abat Oliba CEU University, Spain.