This is a CTP of initiative: DESIS - ID+ DESIS Lab, Aveiro (Portugal)
The project OIS (Oficinas de Inovação Social or Social Innovation Workshops) was considered a critical turning point because it worked based in the relation between the ID+ DESIS Lab, which is rooted in the Design discipline, with other departments and disciplines in the University.
The Social Innovation Workshops was a pilot project developed by the +ID DESIS Lab with other partners in the university: a member of the Department of Economy, Management and Industrial Engineering, with experience in service development, and another member of the department of Social, Political and Territorial Sciences, with expertise in Urban Politics, Public Policy, Public Administration.
This “interdisciplinary” relationship that was crucial to the project was considered to be an important achievement. Members of the +ID DESIS Lab recognized that social innovation activities require multiple approaches to be able to complement their skills and knowledge as designers: “I found more partners in the management discipline than among my own fellow designers”.
Therefore, “we started to develop the triangulation between Design, Management and Social Sciences” and “we started to develop workshops for the authorities in this region”.
The Social Innovation workshops project included the following activities: (1) mapping of existing opportunities and social innovation resources in the local area; (2) four Social Innovation Workshops on the following issues: Cultural Heritage Enhancement; Agriculture & Gastronomy; Tourism & Conservation of the Environment; Health Care.
The workshops were aimed at identifying opportunities and promoting the development of innovative social enterprises, to answer to the demands that had been identified in the local area. The focus was placed on the development of ideas that would answer social needs through the use of local cultural heritage (tangible and intangible) and based on the collaboration between different actors in the region (those that were involved as co-creators in the workshop and later as co-producers).
Each workshop was developed in 2 days of intensive work, which also aimed to intensify local network interactions and to foster the development of entrepreneurial projects in the region. They involved “tools and methodologies for collaborative design”, which is how do you work when people work out their own solutions based on social innovation and services.
A member of the ID+ DESIS Lab was looking to collaborate with other disciplinary areas as they were convinced that an integrated effort between disciplines would be required in order to promote social innovation. They also believed that design expertise should be complemented by other approaches.
The opportunity came when the ID+ DESIS Lab was introduced to a local actor who was looking for experts to be able to develop innovative services to promote rural tourism in Portugal. A workshop was proposed to develop these services, and the first collaboration with the management department took place:
“I invited a colleague from the management department to help me develop a workshop looking at innovative services for rural tourism. The results were amazing and (the colleague) became active, became a design fan, and brought new ideas for projects”.
The project Social Innovation Workshops (OIS) was one of these projects. It was developed as an action within the framework of the Platform for Enhancement of Entrepreneurship and Innovation (PAVEI) which in turn had been developed to support the activities of the Business Incubator of Aveiro Region (IERA). The actions defined in the framework of the PAVEI included the Social Innovation Workshops. The workshops were developed by the University of Aveiro (in a joint effort of the Design, Management and Social Sciences) in collaboration with the municipalities of the Aveiro Region.
The project was co-financed by the European Community.
There are huge investments currently being made in Portugal including the Municipalities of the Aveiro region. The Social Innovation Workshops were promoted under this flow of investments, which were carried out in the framework of the Portugal 2020 program that started in 2014.
Another related event was the first workshop organized by ID+ DESIS Lab in collaboration with a member from another department at the University of Aveiro. This marked the beginning of the university’s “interdisciplinary” collaboration to promote social innovation in the Aveiro region. From this workshop, other collaborations took place, including (considered to be the most important) the Social Innovation Workshops (OIS) project.
2012 – First initiative in cooperation with another department in the University of Aveiro . With the Co-design process looking at Rural Tourism - The ID + DESIS Lab coordinated a workshop named "Collaborative services for creative spaces: Innovation in Rural Tourism”. This workshop, organized by Privetur (Portuguese Association for Rural Tourism) was the first collaboration between the ID+ DESIS Lab with other departments at the University of Aveiro aimed at promoting social innovation in the region. From this collaboration, the project Social Innovation Workshops (OIS) was defined in the framework of collaboration with a member from the Department of Economy, Management and Industrial Engineering.
2014 – 2020 – Portugal 2020. A partnership agreement was entered between Portugal and the European Commission which brought together the work of 5 Structural European Funds and Investment funds- ERDF, Cohesion Fund, ESF, EAFRD and EMFF. - These defined the principles that guided the social, territorial and economic development policies that would be developed in Portugal between 2014 and 2020.
There is seen to be great potential in design for social innovation: “There are huge investments taking place across the region in social innovation projects. For example, the (Social Innovation Workshop – OIS) project included social innovation mapping as well as workshops. The mayors and advisors came to visit us. I realized that the promotion of social innovation had become a clear strategy in the region”.
There have been a lot of investments made in social innovation in Portugal and in the Aveiro region, however the opportunities for the ID+ DESIS Lab to develop new projects in social innovation are limited. The group does not expand its activities because there is “resistance from other colleagues at the university. All the strategy in the region is for social innovation but we are alone”.
Therefore, forming collaborations with other departments is very important to overcome obstacles. One of the major obstacles is design: “there is no possibility of power, there is a lack of respect for knowledge and skills in the area of design”.
The association with other disciplines is seen as an opportunity to showcase the value of Design in promoting social innovation and in creating alliances in order to get access to new opportunities (for example the program Portugal 2020 which includes social innovation and is promoted in partnership with the European Commission). It is possible that the term social innovation is being developed by groups that have no knowledge or experience in this kind of innovation so that they can gain access to financial support.
Yes, this was identified as a critical turning point at the time. This is because the main goal at that time was to strengthen “interdisciplinary” alliances in the university, both in order to increase the “critical mass’ of participants involved in the ID+ DESIS Lab projects (the group had a limited number of members and partners) as well as to improve the work completed on the topic of social innovation at the University of Aveiro:
“The university has a strong technological base, with a focus on engineering. The solutions for increasing the use of bikes include the use of sensors.All discussions are centred on sensors and batteries, with a focus on technology. There is no role for the humanities, and there is no place to consider the user’s behaviours. It’s all about the latest technology”.
“With the OIS (Social Innovation Workshops) we gained valuable exposure to our work at a low cost ... there were 12 service ideas. People said: “Finally someone is doing this at the university” ... People realized that this part existed and that it was not technological” .
“There was a need to make alliances, not only to have alliances, but because the projects benefit from being developed under an interdisciplinary approach… in fact, the social innovation projects are interdisciplinary, they do not have stars and there is no manager”
The design of the workshops was important to further understand the role of design in promoting social innovation:
“The Social Innovation Workshops, in collaboration with other disciplines were important in order to understand our role. The designer appears as articulator between entities and disciplines, providing support to the emergence of innovative ideas and collaborations”.
The ID+ DESIS Lab performed a role to intensify “interdisciplinary”collaborations:
“We are trying to create this triangulation between management, social sciences and design, and without the work of ID+ DESIS Lab it would not happen”.
It was also understood from the experience of the Social Innovation Workshops (OIS), that a Master’s degree in social innovation would be a good opportunity for the University of Aveiro:
“For more than a year I have been suggesting that we should offer a master's degree in social innovation, which would include many disciplines and rely on the university’s resources and knowledge, including social, political and urban science; management and economy”.
“We are trying to create a kind of intensive summer school to verify if there is a demand for this kind of course or not”.
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