1,720,985 research outputs found
Higher education and stakeholders’ donations: the first civic crowdfunding project in an Italian university
No full textCreating social engagement through social network sites: a survey in an Italian university
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Designing a new skills set for women-led rural social innovation: a theoretical framework and research approach
No full textTraditionally, the concept of ‘innovation’ has referred to economic and/or technological progress developed by firms and research centres, taking the form of a “new or significantly improved product (good or service), or process, a new marketing method, or a new organisational method in business practices, workplace organisations or external relations” (OECD and Eurostat, 2005). Since the ‘70s, however, the notion of innovation has progressively expanded to include other actors, processes and values, as well as a more comprehensive, participatory approach. This is when the idea of social innovation emerged to describe initiatives coming from civil society (Chiffoleau and Loconto, 2018). At the same time, the “social” element of innovation came to describe socially-oriented improvements in technological and economic innovations.
Consequently, social movements adopted the idea of social innovation to carry out experiments aimed at improving quality and conditions of life in different areas of the world: this has been clearly observable in the agricultural sector with the emergence of solidarity economies, fair trade, organic farming and alternative food networks (Seyfang and Smith, 2007). In the end, social innovation has come to describe “a raised awareness of new societal challenges and the necessity of citizen participation in the elaboration of new solutions to social problems” (Chiffoleau and Loconto, 2018), and it must be “designed by and for society” (European Commission, 2013).
Social innovation is seen as a process and as a product at the same time (Baker and Mehmood, 2015); others (Polman et al., 2017) separate the process (i.e. the interactions between different stakeholders) from the product (i.e. the reconfiguration of social practices) and its impact or outcome (i.e. the consequence of reconfiguration on societal wellbeing)
L’impresa sociale: una direzione di evoluzione della sharing economy oltre il platform capitalism?
No full textInnovating public service delivery through crowdsourcing: what role for the Third Sector and civil society?
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Sustainable strategic planning in Italian higher education institutions: a content analysis
No full textPurposeThis study aims, first of all, to analyze the extent to which Italian higher education institutions declare their mission statements in their official documents; then, to examine their content; and finally, to investigate whether mission statements include considerations on sustainability dimensions.Design/methodology/approachAfter a theoretical background on the new strategic approach adopted by higher education institutions and the related disclosure of their mission statements, the study deepens their sustainable perspective presenting the concepts of social engagement and knowledge transfer from a literary point of view. Then, a documentary analysis on the content of Italian universities' official mission declarations will be conducted, to understand the role they play in society, by individuating their actual interest in sustainable dimensions.FindingsFindings suggest that 36% of the 98 Italian universities state their engagement in societal issues, but only 3 of them mention sustainability targets in their mission declarations.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is limited, exclusively based on what higher education institutions share and, in terms of future perspective, the aim can be to investigate further official documents, especially for what concerns sustainability reports.Practical implicationsPractical implications regard the denounce of weak attention paid by Italian universities to sustainability, with the aim to foster them to increase connections with the external world, aware of the centrality of their role within society.Originality/valueIn a context that is not yet completely investigated, the originality of the paper regards the intent to study the sustainable propensity that characterizes the Italian higher education system
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