What is Social Innovation?
We define social innovation as pursuing novel approaches to tackle challenges facing people and planet. *
As social and environmental challenges intensify, governments, businesses, and civil society increasingly recognize the need for new approaches. Innovation has emerged as a crucial tool for addressing these complex issues, fuelling growing interest in social innovation across sectors and regions. By addressing issues often neglected by both public and private sectors—due to structural barriers or competing priorities—social innovation has the potential to drive transformative change at local, national, and global levels.
As social and environmental challenges intensify, governments, businesses, and civil society increasingly recognize the need for new approaches. Innovation has emerged as a crucial tool for addressing these complex issues, fuelling growing interest in social innovation across sectors and regions. By addressing issues often neglected by both public and private sectors—due to structural barriers or competing priorities—social innovation has the potential to drive transformative change at local, national, and global levels.
* This definition was first proposed in a working paper prepared by University of Oxford for the Government Council for Social Innovation and then adopted in the Luxembourg Declaration in April 2025.
Learn More
