The theme for the 2011 Forum was “Large Scale Change – ecosystems, networks and collaborative action.” Social issues have become more global, complex and interrelated than ever before, requiring knowledge, networks and solutions to address. While social innovators continue to drive progress, change at scale requires a shift from disparate players and solutions to an ecosystem approach that removes barriers and engages the full spectrum of actors required for sustainable change.

This year’s programme was organised around core ecosystem drivers of issues, influences, innovations, institutions, ideas and investments.

The complexity and scale of today’s ‘wicked problems’ demand we raise our game. Social entrepreneurs with innovative solutions to critical issues of climate change, water scarcity, poverty, education and public health, cannot achieve impact at scale without forging cross-sector partnerships and alliances. With shifts in policy and funding environments and a critical mass of social entrepreneurs working globally, the imperative to collaborate is now.

This year’s Forum engaged the world’s most influential social entrepreneurs, social investors, and thought leaders from all sectors in critical discussions, debates and work-sessions designed to create partnerships, networks, knowledge and collaborative pathways between the social, policy, academic and private sectors.

Social entrepreneurs tend to operate where markets and governments – structures for allocating economic and political power – have failed. Yet social entrepreneurs, themselves, usually start with extremely limited power: They have few financial resources, no hierarchical power of position, and limited political power. Instead, they tap two levers of power – innovation and persuasion – to reach their goals.

With this in mind, the 2009 Skoll World Forum facilitated discussion, debate and critical questioning around the theme of Social Entrepreneurship: Shifting Power Dynamics – exploring how social entrepreneurs access, navigate and influence power dynamics in their approach to change.

Whether it is considering the perspective of a tribal leader in a Ghanaian village, understanding the interplay between different castes in rural India, appreciating the employer-worker relationship in a factory in Shenzhen, or innovating government provision of health services in Brazil, the culture and context within which social entrepreneurs operate is critical to the desired outcome.

If social entrepreneurship is truly about changing the world, then what are the cultural and contextual barriers that social entrepreneurs need to overcome to create sustainable change in the areas where they work? To what extent does culture accelerate or inhibit change, innovation and scale? How can social entrepreneurs best evaluate the contexts in which they operate? At the most practical level, what mindsets and tools are needed for social entrepreneurs to work successfully across different cultures and contexts?

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.

All around the world the social sector is approaching a tipping point. If the last century was one of economic growth, the 21st century has the prospect of coupling wealth with well-being, and bringing to the fore the people and processes by which we can sustain social resilience.

While there are many approaches to social change, social entrepreneurs are in the vanguard of this shift, innovating, growing new models, and demonstrating how others can be more effective.

The 2006 Skoll World Forum aimed to expand these efforts by helping broaden and deepen the range of financial resources creating social and environmental impacts. Key topics included, leveraging assets and growing social capital markets.