30 de March de 2021
There are many definitions of what social innovation is. According to Wikipedia, social innovation is "a process of creating, implementing, and diffusing new social practices in very different areas of society." According to the Stanford Graduate School of Business, it is "a new solution to a social problem that is more effective than the current solution because it provides added value to society as a whole rather than solely to individuals."
- The "Communal Starter" entrepreneurship competition promotes innovative business models in rural areas to generate new opportunities and establish population in areas experiencing demographic decline.
There is certainly a growing interest in social innovation. What qualities or characteristics should we consider to identify a social innovation project?
- Impact and social transformation . The goal of social innovation should be to solve a social problem.
- Intersectoral collaboration . Social innovation does not occur in isolation. It must involve the public, private, and civil sectors.
- Economic sustainability and long-term viability. Focused on self-sufficiency and results-driven financial strategy.
- Types of innovation . Generally, there are two types: open and closed . The first is based on the copying and adaptation of a pre-existing idea. The second is based on intellectual property, whereby the knowledge belongs to the author.
- Scalability and replicability . In this global world, it's important that social innovations can be replicated and scaled elsewhere.
“Communal Starter” Contest
The Comunal Starter competition is part of the Comunal project, promoted by the Government of Navarra and El Hueco , and with the support of the Caja Navarra Foundation and the La Caixa Foundation. It was created to promote innovative business models in rural areas , generate new opportunities and establish population in areas experiencing demographic decline.
In its first edition in 2021, seven social innovation projects were selected to be launched in the regions of Sangüesa, Allo, and Falces (Navarre).
The selected ones have been:
- "With you by my side." Support for seniors at different stages of aging. The project's methodology is based on unifying the services of all institutions, groups, and associations and creating a network of appropriately trained home caregivers.
- “Rural Home Staying.” To introduce vacant homes into the real estate market in rural areas through renovation and restoration.
- “Sangüesa Circular Economy Park.” The project proposes transforming the Bordablanca estate, which already cultivates medicinal plants and reintegrates vulnerable people into the workforce, into Europe's first visitable circular economy park .
- "Cultural Space of the Sangüesa Region Creative Association." The project proposes the rehabilitation of an abandoned site to use it as a work and meeting space where different creative disciplines converge.
- "Autumn in Falces." Its goal is to raise awareness of towns with unusual tourist attractions . For example, an outdoor tourist escape room.
- "Poly-Supporting Women." A vocational training project that supports women in socially vulnerable situations to help them enter the labor market through the creation of micro-cooperatives or other entrepreneurial initiatives.
- “Atarian.” An online recorded music platform. Its goal is to collaborate with local groups to build an alternative to the major music distribution platforms. The recording studio is located in Arellano.
In addition to a financial award, the Communal program offers winners a supervised project incubation process and subsequent evaluation of their activities.