What is the social innovation community? Conceptualizing an emergent collaborative organization

Toivonen, Tuukka

Abstract

Although social innovation is stimulating tremendous interest among scholars and policy-makers, its emergent catalysts are insufficiently understood. This paper thus identifies and explores a relevant collaborative organization, the social innovation community (SIC). Found in cosmopolitan cities, SICs are held together by recognizable shared cultures and online/offline spaces. This account sets out a basic categorization of SICs, profiles their salient features, and offers an original definition. SICs support early-stage social entrepreneurship but may also help to introduce social innovation into new cultural settings, re-programme wider innovation circuits, and promote productive collaboration amid diversity.

Citation

Toivonen, T. (2015). What is the social innovation community? Conceptualizing an emergent collaborative organization. Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, 7(1), 49-73. https://doi.org/10.1080/19420676.2014.997779

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Feb 13, 2015
• Deposit Date: May 22, 2015
• Journal: Journal of Social Entrepreneurship
• Print ISSN: 1942-0676
• Electronic ISSN: 1942-0684
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 7
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 49-73
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/19420676.2014.997779
• Keywords: Social innovation, social entrepreneurship, innovation community, collaboration, networks
• Additional Information: Additional Information : Published Online 13th February 2015