Can We Tackle ‘Grand Challenges’ through Social Innovation?



Overview

In the current climate of increasing social and political challenges, countries have been trying to reform their social models. Social innovation has thus entered welfare policy debates at the national and supranational levels.

This course will introduce the theoretical concept of social innovation, framing it into the gradual transformation of the welfare state in terms of welfare mix. The topic of social innovation will be critically discussed in order to uncover both opportunities and limitations embedded in such new potential form of welfare provision.

In order to arrive at a better conceptual and empirical understanding of the phenomenon, this course will look into welfare debates within the public sector as well as recent developments in the third sector and civil society, focusing on the synergies between the two.

Throughout the course, theoretical arguments will be looked at hand in hand with practical examples, with the last sessions particularly dedicated to evaluate changes in welfare mix with respect to specific challenges such as poverty and social inclusion.

Programme details

Courses starts: 21 Sep 2023

Week 0: Course Orientation.

Week 1: Introducing Social Innovation.

  • This session will be dedicated to introduce the main theoretical concepts related to social innovation and welfare provision. 

Week 2: Social innovation and welfare reform.

  • This session will be focused on discussing different welfare mix typologies and framing the topic of social innovation within the broader debate on welfare reforms, taking a cross-national approach. 

Week 3: Social innovation and inequalities.

  • This session will be dedicated to discuss the extent to which social innovation may reduce or, on the contrary, amplify pre-existing social inequalities.  

Week 4: Social policy and non-take up.

  • This class will touch upon one of the main issues in the context of social policy, that of non-take up of social benefits. Furthermore,  the class will discuss the opportunities and challenges related to universalistic social policies. 

Week 5: Public sector innovation. 

  • This class will discuss how social innovation works in the context of the public sector and the role of private-public partnerships. Furthermore, it will additionally focus on new forms of participatory budgeting as well as new forms of financing strategies such as social bonds.  

Week 6: Social innovation and the city.

  • This session will present the concept of social innovation ecosystem, presenting how cities represent optimal context for experimenting with new practices and innovations. A number of real life examples will be discussed.   

Week 7: A focus on evaluation.

  • This class will present how traditional policy evaluation theories  and practices can and should be adapted in the framework of social innovations.  

Week 8: Poverty and social inclusion.

  • This session will discuss poverty and social inclusion as grand societal challenges, focusing on real life cases highlighting some of the benefits and limitations of social innovation in this context.  

Week 9: Social policy and human migration.

  • This class will discuss the topic of international migration and how different States have tried to address this challenge, highlighting the potential contribution of social innovation. 

Week 10: Managing crisis: the case of Covid-19.

  • The final session will look into how the concepts and experiences built over the previous sessions may apply in the context of a social and economic crisis, and more specifically of the Covid-19 global pandemic.   

Certification

Students who register for CATS points will receive a Record of CATS points on successful completion of their course assessment.

To earn credit (CATS points) you will need to register and pay an additional £10 fee per course. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online.

Coursework is an integral part of all weekly classes and everyone enrolled will be expected to do coursework in order to benefit fully from the course. Only those who have registered for credit will be awarded CATS points for completing work at the required standard.

Students who do not register for CATS points during the enrolment process can either register for CATS points prior to the start of their course or retrospectively from the January 1st after the current full academic year has been completed. If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee.

Fees

Description Costs
Course Fee £257.00
Take this course for CATS points £10.00

Funding

If you are in receipt of a UK state benefit, you are a full-time student in the UK or a student on a low income, you may be eligible for a reduction of 50% of tuition fees. Please see the below link for full details:

Concessionary fees for short courses

Tutor

Miss Laura Silva

Laura Silva is a PhD candidate in Sociology at the Observatoire Sociologique du Changement at Sciences Po in Paris. She is also affiliated to the Center for Research in Economics and Statistics (CREST). Her current work focuses on spatial inequalities and her research interests span from neighbourhood effects to social housing to the integration of gender inequalities within urban policies. In the past, she has additionally collaborated with third sector organisations aimed at fostering the social innovation ecosystem and the pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).

Course aims

To critically assess the role of social innovation within the bigger discourse on welfare State reforms.

Course objectives:

  • To explore relevant and emerging concepts in the field of social policy, such as welfare systems, welfare mix, social innovation, social investment, new-public governance, public-private partnership.
  • To discuss relevant contemporary policy problems, looking into different ways in which different countries are dealing with an ongoing crisis in their welfare regime and highlighting opportunities and challenges of social innovation in relation to other forms of welfare provision.
  • To present and analyse throughout the course a number of real life social innovation cases, in order to make a clear link between theory and practice and assess how such experiences could inform social policies.

Teaching methods

The format of the course is highly participatory and interactive and will involve a combination of pre-recorded lectures, readings and a weekly live online class. The expectations are for students to have completed the assigned readings prior to class and to be willing to engage in active conversations, exposing their ideas and developing their point of view around the subject.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the course students will be expected to have:

  • familiarity with the main academic and policy debates in the field of State welfare reforms and social innovation;
  • gained a deep understanding of the relevant theoretical perspectives as well as empirical knowledge connected to opportunities and challenges around social innovation in the context of political economy and current welfare reforms;
  • actively engaged in discussions around this topic, developing a critical understanding of the subject matter as well as learning how to best integrate theory and practice.

Assessment methods

Students will be assessed via a short in-class presentation (not counting towards the final grade) and a summative assessment due by the end of the course.

The summative assessment consists of an essay of up to 1,500 words (excluding bibliography, word-count must be stated on the first page of the essay), due by the 30th of November at midnight CET.

Students must submit a completed Declaration of Authorship form at the end of term when submitting your final piece of work. CATS points cannot be awarded without the aforementioned form - Declaration of Authorship form

Application

We will close for enrolments 7 days prior to the start date to allow us to complete the course set up. We will email you at that time (7 days before the course begins) with further information and joining instructions. As always, students will want to check spam and junk folders during this period to ensure that these emails are received.

To earn credit (CATS points) for your course you will need to register and pay an additional £10 fee per course. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online.

Please use the 'Book' or 'Apply' button on this page. Alternatively, please complete an enrolment form (Word) or enrolment form (Pdf).

Level and demands

No specific pre-existing knowledge is needed to attend this class. 

Most of the Department's weekly classes have 10 or 20 CATS points assigned to them. 10 CATS points at FHEQ Level 4 usually consist of ten 2-hour sessions. 20 CATS points at FHEQ Level 4 usually consist of twenty 2-hour sessions. It is expected that, for every 2 hours of tuition you are given, you will engage in eight hours of private study.

Credit Accumulation and Transfer Scheme (CATS)

Terms & conditions for applicants and students

Information on financial support