“Transformative social innovation is defined as a process of changing social relations, involving challenging, altering or replacing the dominant institutions in a specific context.”
This quote comes from TRANSIT (TRANsformative Social Innovation Theory) an ambitious research project that developed a theory of transformative social innovation, empowerment and change in society. It was co-funded by the European Commission and ran for four years, from January 2014 until December 2017.
TRANSIT researched a total of 20 transnational networks, 110+ related social innovation initiatives in 25+ countries:
- Ashoka, Network for financial support to social entrepreneurs
- Basic Income Earth Network (BIEN), Connects people committed to basic income and fosters informed discussion
- Credit Unions, Different types of credit cooperatives
- DESIS-network, Network for design for social innovation and sustainability
- European Network of Living Labs, co-creative, human-centric and user-driven research, development and innovation
- FABLABS, Digital fabrication workshops open to local communities
- Global Ecovillage Network, Network of eco-villages and other intentional communities
- Hackerspaces, User driven digital fabrication workshops
- INFORSE, International network of sustainable energy NGOs
- International Co-operative Association, Associations that co-work in the production of sustainable inclusive habitat
- Living Knowledge Network, Network of science shops and community-based research entities
- Participatory Budgeting, Network of communities and municipalities reinventing how public money is spent and prioritized
- RIPESS, Network for the promotion of social solidarity economy
- Seed Exchange Network, Protects biodiversity by defending seed freedom for integrity, self-organization and diversity
- Shareable – Sharing Cities, Connecting and empowering urban sharing initiatives aiming for a sharing transformation
- Slow Food, Linking food to a comitment to sustainable local and global development
- The Impact-Hub, Global network of social entrepreneurs
- Time Banks, Networks facilitating reciprocal service exchange
- Transition Towns, Grassroots communities working on ‘local resilience’
- La Via Campesina, Aiming for family farming to promote social justice and dignity
One of our goals is to make MIRVA a transformative social innovation. Making Open Recognition a means for empowerment and change in society is one of the objective of the Open Recognition Framework.
