Hungry, and tired
September 22, 2021
Gift of skills
October 21, 2021
Images: Kronk
A new way of doing business
As guest editors of this edition of The Big Issue, we have focused on four incredible Social Entrepreneurs who are blazing new pathways in safety and security, healthcare, education, and food security. This community represents a small sample of how South Africa is leading the continent into a new territory where solutions lie. Additionally, we also have chosen to explore a little deeper two areas where social innovation is desperately needed, namely job creation and online safety. I hope this Social Innovation edition provides you with new insights and aspirations for a country we all want to live in. - Tanner Methvin Partner, Impact Amplifier
SOCIAL INNOVATION:
When we think about the word innovation, Tesla, Google, Apple, Facebook, and other tech giants come to mind because they have created disruptive products and services that have changed the way we manage our lives. However, we can also think about innovation from another perspective: like new ways of addressing access to education, job creation, or ecological preservation. This is called ‘social innovation’. The Organization for Economic Development and Co-operation (OECD) defines Social Innovation as, “the design and implementation of new solutions that imply conceptual, process, product, or organisational change, which ultimately aim to improve the welfare and well- being of individuals and communities.”
Social innovators are people and organisations, that have emerged in the last 15 to 20 years around the world to address challenges, which were previously the domain of the public and private sectors, and the non-government organisations (NGO) community. Historically, governments have driven access to services for the public good: like schools, healthcare, and infrastructure. In many places, particularly in the global south, these services do not address the needs of most people. NGO’s emerged to fill these gaps with support from the private sector and other philanthropic sources. This model has been in place post the Industrial Revolution and now, more than 200 hundred years later, billions of people still live in destitution globally. Social innovators or Social Entrepreneurs emerged from the belief that a private sector approach may offer a new source of solutions, talent, and resources to the issues of social justice and environmental conservation.
The emergence of Social Entrepreneurs has been nothing short of a revolution in how social and environmental issues are thought about andaddressed.Althoughnotanearly adaptor, South Africa has emerged over the last 10 years as a social innovation leader in Africa. While still in its infancy, the social innovation or impact ecosystem that is emerging is in large part responsible for why South Africa is and can continue to be an African leader in finding new ways to address the social challenges confronting the majority of the continent.
