Today, societies in Europe face several complex and interrelated socio-economic challenges such as high youth unemployment, migration and demographic change, to name but a few. Welfare systems in Europe have limited ability to adequately address these challenges, with the effect that a growing population faces difficulties accessing social benefits and participating in social life. Moreover, traditional (technological/economic) innovations alone have proved inadequate to master the challenges outlined and contribute to inclusive growth. Consequently, alternative solutions, new forms of cooperation and better use of social resources are needed. Social innovations present a promising prospect for providing sustainable solutions in this context.
In the seminar, the theoretical foundations of social innovation and its societal (social and economic) impact will be worked out and reflected based on case studies. The questions of how, under what conditions, and with the help of which mechanisms the local embeddedness of individual social innovations (micro-level) and the grand socio-economic challenges (macro-level) can be bridged will be elaborated. An emphasis will be put on hybrid business models and methods like the "Business Model Canvas", "Design Thinking" and others. Small groups of students will develop concrete social innovative ideas (including a business model) considering the respective regional/local context. Finally, the fundamental connection between social innovation, institutional and social change, and measuring of impact on different societal levels (micro, meso, macro) will be worked out.
The seminar combines a Moodle course for self-learning with a three-day seminar on site. The Moodle course contains all the theoretical input for the seminar, case studies, tests and individual assignments. The contact time in the seminar will focus solely on interactive work. Both parts must be completed to finish the seminar. To clarify the requirements, an info session will be held in the second semester-week. The specific dates for the sessions are:
Info session – 23.10.25; 16-17h (at the Ruhr-University, room tbd.)Seminar days – 15./16./17.01.2026; 10-16h (Institute for Work and Technology, Munscheidstr. 14, Gelsenkirchen)
- Kursleiter/in: Maria Rabadjieva
- Kursleiter/in: Judith Terstriep