1,720,980 research outputs found
Innovating public service delivery through crowdsourcing: what role for the Third Sector and civil society?
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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)
Creating social engagement through social network sites: a survey in an Italian university
Full text linkReducing plastic pollution by recovery and recycling: evidence from a ‘Blue Economy’ project impacting policy-making in Italy
Full text link: This paper recognizes the relevance of the Seabed Cleaning Project, created by the Angelo Vassallo Sindaco Pescatore Foundation in 2010, and presents it as a tool to achieve benefits in environmental, social, and economic terms, in line with the innovative framework of the Blue Economy. The project suggests a practical, feasible, and scalable solution to plastic pollution that can be obtained thanks to the activity performed by fishermen in cooperation with the municipality and local community (in a multi-level cooperation perspective). The data show a significant reduction of plastic on the seafloor thanks to the project, but further research is needed in order to collect further positive outcomes from different applications of the project. In 2022, the "Salva Mare" Law was approved in the Senate, extending the good practices proposed by the Foundation nationwide and showing how small gestures and concrete actions can provide significant improvements in pursuit of a healthier, safer, greener, and smarter city for the future
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
Distance learning as a resilience strategy during covid-19: An analysis of the italian context
Full text linkThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the strategic model of distance learning adopted by Italian higher education, showing how the health emergency due to Covid-19 has transformed it from an "optional" for traditional universities to the only means to ensure public health protection and continuity in education programs. Comparing two situations (before and during the pandemic), the aim is to identify best practices that, even after the end of the emergency, can be adopted by Italian higher education institutions to boost their digital supply and compete in an international context. After a general context analysis, aimed to underline benefits and risks connected to the development of distance learning, the case of the Italian higher education system has been analyzed. Data were collected through a documentary analysis, looking at what Italian higher education institutions disclosed through their official websites and documents: every form of communication about digital strategy was taken into account. Then, they were analyzed qualitatively, in order to individuate which platforms have been combined to ensure quality in education provided. Research findings demonstrate the resilience of the Italian higher education, able to react and to re-organize itself in only one week: the results of the pandemic may be a stronger university, able to combine quality in education with the potential of technological devices and to compete at the international level. Distance learning represents a complex field, still characterized by separated understandings and in a context where limited attention has been dedicated to its development for what concerns the Italian context, the choice to examine it represents the originality of this paper
The evaluation of universities' third mission and intellectual capital: theoretical analysis and application to Italy
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Understanding social impact and value creation in hybrid organizations. The case of Italian Civil Service
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