The TRANSIT project is coming to an end.
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From the end of December 2017, this website will close. Our official project website will still be online and available as an archive of resources.
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Thank you for attending!
Learning for Change:
A Journey through the Theory & Practice
of Transformative Social Innovation
14-15/09/2017
Social innovation has been heralded as an effective way of dealing with societal challenges and has found its way into policy discourses across the EU. There is a sense that social innovation can help empower people and drive societal change, the need for which has made itself strongly felt in the aftermath of the recent economic recession and the wider retreat of the welfare state. The optimistic assumptions made about social innovation merit scrutiny however, as they seem to underestimate the complexity of these challenges.
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Building on this analysis, the conference will explore the empowering and transformative potentials of social innovation in the face of persistent problems and growing complexity. This will include a critical approach, open to the paradoxes of social innovation and the diversity of interactions between actors engaging in it. Attention will also be given to the fundamental question of how transformative change can be generated through learning.
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As the final conference of the TRANSIT research project, we will be sharing insights into the transformative nature of social innovation, while also seeking to foster new connections and knowledge in support of a transition to just, resilient and sustainable societies.
Key themes
Paradoxes of transformative social innovation
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Social innovation is widely heralded as the proverbial silver bullet, but is it really? In some cases, governments have used it to fill the gap left by a retreating welfare state; and in others, it has exacerbated social tensions by fuelling exclusion. If we truly want to generate a transformative impact, we need to have an honest conversation and include the good, the bad and the ugly of social innovation.
Activating the hybrid sphere – institutions and social innovation beyond the friend-foe distinction
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The relationships between governments and social innovations are as multi-faceted and complex as these actors themselves. Yet, we tend to reduce their interactions to a pure positive or pure negative, overlooking the diversity of ways in which they are linked. TRANSIT will offer a conceptual framework, as a basis for mapping these out and discussing them. We hope this will enable a meaningful conversation for policymakers and practitioners to collaborate.
Learning by sharing narratives of change
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Transforming our societies calls for new ways of thinking, organising and doing, which in turn requires dedicated learning processes and story-telling. Since all social innovations involve new practices, they come across similar learning issues. Rather than reinventing the wheel, we can exchange experiences, share our narratives of change and collectively reflect and think about how we together can make change happen – via sustainable lifestyles, emancipation, entrepreneurial support or the fine-tuning of institutions.
By Metro:
From Rotterdam Central, take metro line D or E to Beurs, switch to A, B or C until Oostplein. Follow the map below to arrive at BlueCity010.
By Tram:
From Rotterdam Central, take tram 21 or 24 to Oostplein. Follow the map below to arrive at BlueCity010.
BlueCity
Maasboulevard 100
3063 NS Rotterdam
0031 (0)10 307 2247
ABout the venue
BlueCity010 is an ecosystem for SMEs engaged in the transition towards a sustainable circular economy. Housed in the iconic Tropicana, a former tropical spa complex on the banks of the Maas river. Entrepreneurship, research, education, manufacturing and urban agriculture come together in BlueCity010.
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BlueCity010 is inspired by the Blue Economy that argues for a shift from scarcity to abundance. It comprises of a network of about 50 entrepreneurs and SMEs who have aligned their business plans, their material and waste streams (e.g. energy and heat) co-designing and collectively comprising an ecosystem and its circular business model.
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BlueCity010 is a network of entrepreneurs focusing on a wide variety of sectors. At this moment the main location is being developed in order to house an urban mushroom farm, algae and aquaponics, a honey bee farm, a beer brewery, a bakery, a carpenter, bio-plastics development, a vegan Jewellery shop based on reused leather material and a Bar-Restaurant.