Uncharted Territory - Essential Skills Ontario

More documents

Recommendations

Info

WHERE DOES SOCIAL INNOVATION HAPPEN?3.3 The Private SectorBusiness is increasingly coming to view engagement in social issues as asource of new ideas, reputation and recruitment. Many private entrepreneurssee social innovation as a way to create new business opportunities, growbrand loyalty through association with well-known charities or socialenterprises, or attract employees who want a socially conscious employer anda stimulating culture of innovation. The continued growth of social industries– such as health, education, training and long-term care – can createopportunities for collaboration and a new alignment of expertise.One of the most significant developments over the past twenty years hasbeen the growth in the number of social enterprises and entrepreneursrunning businesses that earn a profit but also focus on social goals. The mainchallenge for social enterprises is to maintain their commercial position in themarket while staying true to their social goals - not an easy task. Some smallenterprises lack the resources to take their innovations to larger markets. Iflarger commercial organizations see value in these innovations, they oftenseize the opportunities, pushing smaller enterprises to the sidelines. This hasoccurred in organics, fair trade and recycling. Alternatively, clusters of socialenterprises have developed a network for collaboration and joint serviceswhich have enabled them to access services normally available only to largefirms while remaining small themselves (Murray et al., 2010).3.4 The Three Sectors Working Together for Collective ImpactAn example of social innovation in which third sector, business andgovernment work closely together to achieve large-scale change comes in thedevelopment of technology for business, academic research and skillsdevelopment. Many universities and colleges have paired up or aligned theiractivities with technology companies. The lines between classroom researchand industry technology development are becoming increasingly blurred.While not everyone agrees with this growing trend and relevant questions arebeing raised about the extent to which the traditional mission of educationalinstitutions may be compromised, this “blurring” is seen in some quarters as acritically important lever for facilitating economic growth and a regionaladvantage in attracting industry (Essential Skills Ontario, 2012). While thisapproach has been a longstanding tradition in medical research, and wherecriticism has been most pronounced, countries such as Finland, theNetherlands and Japan have adopted it to advanced technology developmentbetween universities and private research and development divisions inindustry. In the United States, many universities and colleges are pairing upwith regional economic development offices to kick-start local economiesthrough knowledge transfer hubs that often center on the creation,diversification, and industrial application of emerging technology.[see Universities and regional economic development p.13]12 • Uncharted Territory: Can Social Innovation Revitalize Literacy and Essential Skills Programs?
WHERE DOES SOCIAL INNOVATION HAPPEN?Universities and regional economic developmentPurdue University in Indiana has adopted an ambitious role in activating the region’s economicdevelopment strategy. Working in cooperation with both local industry and government, Purduehas created:• a technical assistance program for local manufacturers through the Manufacturing ExtensionPartnership (MEP)• the Purdue Research Foundation, a 200,000 square foot technology incubator for newhigh-tech companies• a Centre for Regional Development that engages in applied research, policy analysis andassistance in high-priority regional strategic directions• a Corporate Partnership program designed to assist ‘mature’ manufacturing firms strugglingwith emerging technology (Mattoon, October 2007).Such approaches are also used to create new entrepreneurs and smallbusinesses. Many Canadian universities are establishing business incubatorsfocused on students. For example, Ryerson University’s Digital Media Zone(The Zone), in downtown Toronto, is currently incubating thirty-two firms andhas expanded twice in the past two years to accommodate the growingdemand for its service. The Zone offers numerous resources, such asStartMeUp, a program created by Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE Ryerson),that nurture entrepreneurial ideas by giving new business creators informationand advice on business planning, presenting, funding, patents, marketingand more.Uncharted Territory: Can Social Innovation Revitalize Literacy and Essential Skills Programs? • 13
Page 1 and 2: TheCentreforLiteracyLe centre d’a
Page 3 and 4: TABLE OF CONTENTSOverview . . . . .
Page 5 and 6: AUTHORSJohn MacLaughlinJohn MacLaug
Page 7 and 8: INTRODUCTIONWhat is social innovati
Page 9 and 10: FIVE DRIVERS OF SOCIAL INNOVATION1.
Page 11 and 12: THE PROCESSES OF SOCIAL INNOVATIONF
Page 13: WHERE DOES SOCIAL INNOVATION HAPPEN
Page 17 and 18: NEW MODELS FOR A NEW WORLD4.2 New C
Page 19 and 20: NEW MODELS FOR A NEW WORLDThree cha
Page 21 and 22: NEW MODELS FOR A NEW WORLDCharacter
Page 23 and 24: NEW MODELS FOR A NEW WORLD4.5 Socia
Page 25 and 26: NEW MODELS FOR A NEW WORLDFrom an i
Page 27 and 28: CAN SOCIAL INNOVATIONS HELP LES PRO
Page 29 and 30: TO CONSIDER: A CHALLENGE TO THE FIE
Page 31 and 32: GLOSSARYSocial Enterprise LendingTh
Page 33: WORKS CITEDAcker, C. & Rowen, N. (F
Page 36: ISBN: 978-1-927634-00-4 Copyright

Uncharted Territory - Essential Skills Ontario

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?