Summer School on Social Innovation

Last year’s inaugural summer school in San Sebastian (Spain) brought together the community of people and organisations involved in practical social innovation to share skills, methods and insights, and involved some 80 participants from across the world.

It was a great success – and great fun – so we have decided to do another one, and make it the landmark event in the SIX calendar!

Organised by the Young Foundation and MIK, with the support of Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, last year’s summer school “Scaling up Innovation – From Ideas into Action” was held in San Sebastian, in the Basque Country, Spain.

Its primary focus was how to respond to growing interest from governments, foundations, businesses and NGOs in Social Innovation, and how to better use SIX as a vehicle for developing the field of social innovation, by making it easier for practitioners and organisations to exchange methods, tools, experiences and problems. Despite there being a lot of impressive and imaginative practice, there is a need to build up skills, methods and a research base.

The varied programme reflected the range of organisations that were represented – from businesses, to foundations, charities, government departments and research institutes. A number of open discussions on topics ranging from incubators and catalysts, to promoting inclusive entrepreneurship were mixed with more structured sessions.

For more detailed information, see http://www.socialinnovationexchange.org/summerschool