The Atlas of social innovation is a reality

The importance of social innovation is increasing all over the world. This field explore new ways to deal with complex worldwide challenges such as poverty, climate change, pollution or demographic change and there are a large number of initiatives, from local groups to international networks, which have become success stories by doing things better.

The publication Atlas of Social Innovation - New Practices for a Better Future, edited by Hürgen Howaldt, Christoph Kaletka, Antonius Schröder and Marthe Zirngiebl form TU Dortmund University, collects these initiatives and articles which provide a comprehensive overview of social innovation research. Leading experts share new insights in social innovation research and present role-model approaches in different socio-cultural environments. 

It serves as a knowledge compilation for the growing community of practitioners, policy makers and researchers in order to opens up new avenues to unfold the potential of social innovation to create new practices for a better future. 

In detail, this Atlas offers us:

• 62 short articles which give insights into the various types of social innovations in different world regions and policy areas, delivering new intelligence on the diversity of approaches used by different actors involved.
• Map of social Innovation which visualizes the mapping of 1005 social innovation initiatives worldwide, spanning a variety of policy areas.

The Atlas is available online. The website invites its users to download the whole book or selected articles and to propose future articles for a more complete global picture of social innovation.