Social Innovation Sessions​

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At the beginning of the session, the young people were asked what they understood by “Social Innovation” and what factor they considered most important when seeking to create an innovative solution. Subsequently, the concept of Social Innovation was introduced to provide context for the following activity.

 

Next, a case study activity was conducted. The young people watched a video about the Play Pump initiative; before the video began, they were asked to identify 1) the social needs addressed and 2) what was innovative about the proposed solution.

 

Afterward, there was a sharing session, during which the students discussed what they had noted and their opinions regarding the initiative they had observed. Then, the class was informed that the innovation had failed and was invited to discuss in small groups why this had happened (afterward, the causes were revealed and explained to them: too expensive, overly complex maintenance, based on miscalculated water needs, heavy reliance on child labor, and effectiveness limited to very specific contexts, which meant it failed to address the actual problem).

 

The class was divided into working groups that were challenged to do two things:

1. After reviewing the concepts of empathy, problem-solving, and social innovation, the various parameters of social innovation¹ were presented and explained to them, and they were asked to consider—taking into account the reasons why the initiative had not been successful—which of these parameters had not been taken into account or had not been met;

2. To think about and develop alternatives to ensure the success of this initiative or come up with other innovative ideas to address the presented problem that would align with the parameters of Social Innovation.

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At the end of this activity, they had to present their ideas to the class, and a group discussion was held to reflect on the feasibility and degree of innovation of these ideas, taking into account the concepts covered.

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Another activity implemented in schools as part of the Social Innovation program was “I Am an Innovator.”

 

The first stage of this activity was “My Problem,” in which students were divided into groups of 4 to 6 members and presented with a problem they had to address. In this phase, they were encouraged to first discuss the problem briefly, define it, identify possible causes, and identify the affected groups. The problems addressed by the groups were:

 

• Social isolation of elderly people;

• Social exclusion of homeless people;

• Non inclusive Playgrounds;

• Pollution on Portuguese beaches;

• Excessive use of plastic in shopping;

• Psychological problems among young people;

• Exclusion of people with disabilities;

• Young people without work experience.

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The next stage was “Brainstorming Solutions,” in which participants first had to think of solutions individually, in order to generate more ideas without being immediately influenced by those of the other group members. Subsequently, they were asked to share the solutions they had come up with and were encouraged to generate new ideas through discussion or by combining two or more ideas. In this stage, the group began to address the issue of Ideation² in the Project Cycle.

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Subsequently, the groups had to work on the “Ideal Solution,” choosing a single solution (or one that could logically encompass others) and answering four questions related to another aspect of the project cycle:

1. What will you actually do? (Initiation);

2. Who will be responsible for this plan? (Planning);

3. When will it be done? (Execution);

4. How will you know if it worked? (Monitoring)

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​After developing their solution, there was a peer review session, during which the groups exchanged worksheets with one another and analyzed another group’s proposal (also using the Social Innovation factors), suggesting improvements and/or ideas. Later, the groups made minor adjustments after receiving their sheets back and prepared to present their idea to the rest of the class.

 

At the end of the presentations, each group voted for the solution they considered the most realistic, feasible, and innovative (though they could not vote for their own group).

 

At the end of the activity, examples of existing ideas for the problems discussed in class were presented to encourage reflection and to demonstrate that these problems can have more than one solution—and that ideas young people might consider unrealistic or unfeasible may, in fact, be viable!

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Videos/Projects showcasing innovative solutions for these cases:

• Social isolation of elderly people;

• Social Exclusion of homeless people; 

• Non inclusive playgrounds;

• Pollution on Portuguese's beaches; 

• Excessive use of plastic in shopping;

• Psychological problems among yough people;

• Exclusion of people with disabilities;

• Young people without work experience.

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¹ social impact, collaboration and co-creation, empathy and user-centeredness, creativity and innovation, replicability, sustainability and resilience, measurable results, systems thinking, empowerment and inclusion

 

² the creative exploration phase, in which one attempts to generate numerous solutions and narrows them down over time