Social Innovation - An Everyday Possibility in My W ork
Rather than an abstract, academic topic, social innovation is, in my lived
experience, an everyday possibility in the context of community social and economic
development work aimed at social change and human flourishing. In the community
where I live and work, there are urgent calls from multiple stakeholders for “social
innovation.” Our community currently faces several critical social issues endemic to
communities in all postindustrial nation states. These include rising rates of
homelessness, addiction, crime, unemployment, inequitable access to education, and
poverty. The nature of these problems is complex. They are considered “wicked
problems” in the parlance of public policy because they are deeply embedded in multiple
levels in the environment.