Institutionalising social innovation in the Global South: Lessons learned

Abstract

Most social innovation research in scientific literature focuses on cases in the Global North, where basic needs have already been met. However, examining the Global South, where institutional failures and gaps pose a more complex challenge and require innovative solutions to promote territorial development, is crucial. Our study analyses how social innovation with territorial impact has been institutionalised in Global South countries, contrasting these experiences with Global North countries. The most pressing needs addressed by social innovation in the Global South are food, poverty and health, with a higher emphasis on service and process innovations. These innovations create socio-environmental value through governance processes and attention to basic needs, particularly in rural and peri-urban areas. The various experiences in institutionalising social innovation in the Global South have given rise to multi-faceted innovation referred to as territorial-institutional innovations in contrast to the Global North, combining bottom-up and top-down approaches to institutionalising social innovation through governance structures and policy support to promoting territorial development.

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