Introduction to the conference

1. Introduction to the conference The idea and its implementation Josef Hochgerner Centre for Social Innovation, Vienna

2. Thank you: Welcome, speakers and supporting organisations • European Commission / NET4SOCIETY • Austrian Ministry for Science and Research (BMWF) • Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG) • City of Vienna (Stadt Wien) • University of Technology, Dortmund (TUDO) 370 Participants from 54 countries of all continents Organisers • ZSI, Zentrum für Soziale Innovation – Centre for Social Innovation • sfs, Sozialforschungsstelle – Central Scientific Institute of TUDO • NET4SOCIETY, Network of National Contact Points for Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities (SSH) • The Steering Committee, Chairs, Speakers, and Hallamasch

3. The idea of this conference • Expectations in social innovations seem to increase boundless • At the same time scientific comprehension and methods of identification, development and measuring the impact of social innovations still fall short to meet such prospect • In general, innovation requires sound scientific foundations – more than ever in the globalised knowledge society of the 21st century • In order to improve adequate scientific concepts and methodologies concerning social innovations in a wide array of societal challenges, our aim was to assemble the leading brains in social innovation • The core objective is to strengthen social sciences and research pertaining to social innovation, focusing on the provision of knowledge applicable to change social practices – i.e. to generate social innovation • CSI-2011 shall establish research topics, research networks, and a firm concept of social innovation, leading to equal footing of social innovation compared to the prevalent notion of innovation in the corporate sector

4. Why „CSI Vienna“ ? • Preceding ICICI conferences since 2008 • Social innovation in Austria • The welfare state • Innovation centres and business parks in the 1980s • The Centre for Social Innovation, 1990 • The annual Social Innovation Award „SozialMarie“ since 2005 – www.sozialmarie.org • Cultural and scientific heritage: Vienna and Joseph A. Schumpeter (1883-1950)

5. „Schumpeter adopts social innovation“ ... a video combining facts and fiction: Some key quotations from what Schumpeter wrote about innovation, starting 1911, and assumptions of what he might tell us now, aged 128, on social innovation.