Insights into the German Social Innovation Ecosystem



In 2022, a team of ESIA member TU Dortmund University in a joint effort with the project partners of the German National Competence Center for Social Innovation (KoSI) collected a total of 95 cases of a) framework conditions (innovation strategies, funding schemes or infrastructures) and b) social innovation projects and initiatives in Germany.

The goal of this mapping study was to gain insights into the German social innovation ecosystem and thus to understand the context of success and failure of new initiatives, to identify gaps, reflect on current developments as well as to capture trends.

Ultimately, the mapping wants to inspire readers about what can be done at different administrative levels of society and to provide a basis for the further development of social innovation initiatives, networks, programmes, infrastructures and strategies in Germany.

The report of this study was published (in English) by the TU Dortmund University (Social Research Unit) on November 30, 2022. Key outcomes were:

• Nationwide, developments at the political level strengthen the ecosystem, nationally and regionally, but also locally. Some federal states explicitly mention social innovation in their coalition agreements and some federal ministries are overtly involved in promoting social innovation, formulating strategies and setting up funding programmes and support structures – often connected to the use of ESF funds. Still others are lagging behind. Yet notably, there is a considerable momentum created on the federal state level from which more reluctant states can learn when setting up their own programmes and infrastructures. In a similar vein, a substantial number of municipalities establish support structures, such as Social Innovation Labs and social innovation communities, which aim at strengthening the local ecosystem and give rise for mutual learning and knowledge transfer on the local level.

• Not only is the state actively supporting social innovation, but also various actors are strengthening the landscape of social innovation in Germany. For example, civil society has already established and further develops structures for advocacy, infrastructures, and targeted information on specific topics of social innovation and specific actors of social innovation. Most higher education institutions and research institutes are newcomers in the field of social innovation support, while social innovation research has already been well-established by a young but strong research community in the last decade. More recently higher education and research institutions take more active roles and cooperate with other ecosystem actors to support social innovation. In this way, the large welfare organisations are also increasingly aware of the potential of social innovation and promote it not only in cooperation with academia but also within their own organizational settings.

• While social innovation seems to be increasingly recognised in Germany, there is still some lack of clarity about who develops and implements social innovation. Especially when it comes to support, social enterprises are often seen as the key drivers of social innovation. Yet, they act at the interface of the non-profit and for-profit sector and thus face variety of different expectations. Civil society actors so far have helped rise overall awareness about social enterprises’ potential as social innovators. Likewise, there exists an increasing awareness that social innovation is best fostered in a common effort by different societal sectors. Accordingly, new actors increasingly enter the field to take the role of social innovators. A growing number of best practices, as a result, give rise for mutual learning and collaboration initiatives.

• In the German ecosystem, financial and non-financial support for social innovation can be found at all levels (national, regional, local). Financial and non-financial support is characterised by a variety of thematic and geographic approaches, which address specific target groups. Some are limited to specific federal states, others to specific fields of practice, such as social care. The diversity of themes, target groups and the geographical dimension makes it difficult for social innovators to navigate the complex support landscape. There is still a lack of central contact points that provide help in the overall picture of support possibilities for social innovation, such as one-stop-shops. Recognising this blind spot, such services are already emerging in some areas and regions. The increasing recognition of the potential of social innovation is not only reflected in the expansion of public non-financial support and financial funding. Private investors increasingly take an active role in the ecosystem and support social innovation. With instruments often established in the financial world, their focus mainly is on promoting social enterprises. Both well-known and new tools, such as social impact bonds, promise new ways of financing social innovation through private money, often with the intention of impact investment. Nevertheless, there is still a need for more financial instruments to close the last remaining gaps.

• German law allows for a range of different legal forms that social innovation initiatives use to achieve long-term sustainability. Some examples are association models and cooperative models, which can also support the establishment of new social practices beyond classic business models and externally financed, time-limited project structures.

• International role models play an essential part in the efforts to develop the German social innovation ecosystem. Specifically, a look beyond the national scope allows for novel input boosting social innovation in Germany such as through the concentration of competencies in centres of social innovation or novel governing bodies specialised in the support of social innovation. Furthermore, the whole of society must be committed to supporting and developing social innovation, i.e. not only civil society and public administration, but also academia and business. Global role models likewise indicate that particularly funding can trickle from the public to the private arena of promoters and vice versa. Ultimately, trends gathered from global partners call for a cross-national cooperation to boost social innovation.