Social innovation can simply be understood as ‘new ideas that work which address social or environmental needs’. It may occur as a result of addressing new needs, reframing circumstances to make unmet social needs clear and urgent, or changing organisational structures to grasp new opportunities to add social value. New programmes, models, or ways of thinking – sometimes a combination of all three – may be the result.
Social innovation is more than just invention. Diffusion or the scale of ideas is an integral part of making its impact effective, as is co-ordinated action by a wide range of people and organisations spanning social, governmental and business sectors. While social innovation is not synonymous with social entrepreneurship, it represents an important strategy to pilot and test the models we need to deal with failures and disappointments of the past, as well as emerging issues. But gaps remain in the understanding and support for social innovation.
The 2007 Forum aimed to help define social innovation, raise its profile and encourage debate about its importance and practice.
2007 Sessions *All times GMT
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Opening Plenary Of The 2007 Skoll World Forum
Tue, March 27, 15:30 - 18:45SPEAKERs: Geoff Mulgan, Muhammad Yunus, Salman Ahmad, John Hood, Rushanara Ali, Charles Handy, David Galenson, Queen Rania of Jordan, Pat Mitchell, Stephan Chambers, Jeff Skoll
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When Big Is Beautiful
Wed, March 28, 10:00 - 12:00SPEAKERs: Fazle Abed, Susan Collin Marks, Jim Fruchterman
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Partnering with Business
Wed, March 28, 10:00 - 12:00SPEAKERs: Blaise Judja-Sato, John Schaetzl, Hannah Kettler, Christopher Elias, Maggie Brenneke, Sophia Tickell
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Are There Really Three Sectors? Is Social Entrepreneurship a Niche Hybrid or the End of the Old Order?
Wed, March 28, 10:00 - 11:30SPEAKERs: Meng Zhao, Marie Lisa Dacanay, Dr Xiaolan Fu
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Design Thinking
Wed, March 28, 10:00 - 12:00SPEAKERs: Sarah Stein Greenberg, Perry Klebahn, Debra Dunn
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Funding Ideas, Backing People
Wed, March 28, 10:00 - 12:00SPEAKERs: Edward Skloot, Jacqueline Novogratz, J.B. Schramm, Ion Yadigaroglu, David Bornstein
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Working at the Grassroots Level: Shared Challenges, Lessons Learned
Wed, March 28, 10:00 - 12:00SPEAKERs: Peter Wheeler, Eric Archambeau
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Can Social Entrepreneurship do Better Than Government? How Does Social Risk Relate to Social Return?
Wed, March 28, 11:30 - 13:00SPEAKERs: Geoff Mulgan, Peter Taylor-Gooby, Jeremy Large, Avner Offer
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Creating Social Silicon Valleys
Wed, March 28, 14:00 - 16:00SPEAKERs: Meng Zhao, Russell Hancock, Peter Head
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Moving Capital
Wed, March 28, 14:00 - 16:00SPEAKERs: Penny Newman, Michele Giddens, Tim Reith, John Elkington, Jan Piercy, Arthur Wood
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The Problems and Perils of Scaling
Wed, March 28, 14:00 - 16:00SPEAKERs: Ashok Khosla, Mel Young, Pamela Hartigan, Mechai Viravaidya
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Is Social Entrepreneurship the Same Everywhere? What Can We Learn from Other Contexts?
Wed, March 28, 14:00 - 15:30SPEAKERs: Johanna Mair, Patricia Marquez, Zhong-Ming Wang
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What are the Challenges and Opportunities for Growth in Social Entrpreneurship?
Wed, March 28, 15:30 - 17:00SPEAKERs: Roberto Gutierrez, Francesco Perrini, Alex Nicholls, Gregory Dees
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2007 Skoll Awards For Social Entrepreneurship
Wed, March 28, 17:30 - 19:00SPEAKERs: Muhammad Yunus, Salman Ahmad, Monica Yunus, Jeff Skoll, Peter Gabriel, Sally Osberg
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Systems of Innovation
Thu, March 29, 09:00 - 11:00SPEAKERs: Uffe Elbaek, David Muhia, Nina Smith, Piera Morlacchi
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Tapping The Right Leadership Talent At Every Growth Phase
Thu, March 29, 09:00 - 11:00SPEAKERs: Marc Freedman, Dennis Whittle, Jeroo Billimoria, Andrea Coleman, Debra Dunn
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The Future of Philanthropy
Thu, March 29, 09:00 - 11:00SPEAKERs: Helmut Anheier, Lester Salamon, Alex Nicholls, Mark Kramer
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Closing Plenary of the 2007 Skoll World Forum
Thu, March 27, 11:30 - 13:30SPEAKERs: Taddy Blecher, Ed Miliband MP, Martin Fisher, Mindy Lubber, William Drayton, John Elkington, Colin Mayer, Roger Martin, Roshaneh Zafar, Larry Brilliant
