The Need
The incentive to embark on social innovation often stems from a motivation to answer an unmet social need. Whether the need is the foundation for a whole project or the social aspect is an add-on to an already existing business is up to you. Either way, putting emphasis on the need may help to optimize your outcome.
To get inspired about where to make a difference, look at your own neighbourhood. There is no need to travel around the world looking for places to make social innovations happen. The best place to start is in your own backyard.
How to spot opportunities for social innovation
To help you meet the world an open mind for spotting potential social innovations to be, we have designed a pair of glasses that provide you with a filter or guidelines to challenge the way you look at the world.
The new perspectives can enable you to see alternative and socially responsible solutions for creating change, starting in your own backyard.
Warning: The glasses may turn things upside down, causing new insights, and wearing them for a longer period of time can potentially result in a shift of mindset!
Guidelines for how to use the glasses to gain new insights
- Cut out the glasses from the template in this book.
- Depending on individual style and change in fashion, you can also create your own.
- Put them on.
- Take a stroll in society, starting in your own neighbourhood and use the filters described below:
1. Frustrations
What frustrates you in society? Use it as a driving force as the founder of the Live Aid concerts, Bob Geldof did, as a response to his frustration with the catastrophe in Ethiopia in 1979.
2. Think globally - act locally
What inequalities exist in your own backyard? You are an expert on your own society; use it to create change most effectively.
3. Ask
Other people have different perspectives than your own. Ask for their opinions and talk about what needs they see that might inspire you.
4. Imagine
We often tend to focus on problem-solving. Shift your lenses and start visualizing the world you want to live in. What does it take to get there?
Template: The need and the dream
Need: What is the need you want to put emphasis on? Explain what it is in the building.
Geographical and societal context: In which context do you find the social need you are highlighting? Describe the geographical location and the characteristics of the society where the need exists in the square inside the globe.
Dream scenario: What change does the execution of your project create? Describe the dream scenario in the rainbow.
Solutions: What are the possible solutions that resolve this need? Write these down in the roof of the building.
