An underpinning principle of the Innovation and Improvement’s strategy is the emphasis on creating spaces for innovation to happen. We believe that we have a role in supporting the incubation of ideas, and are trying to understand what that role might look like in the future.
To explore this further, we had the pleasure of attending the Innovate conference in San Sebastian (or Donostia, in Basque) last week. The conference was designed to share practice across a range of European countries about the focus on social innovation for economic development.
Our contribution to the conference was based on our experiences of supporting a social entrepreneur, Alison Urie, to develop a social enterprise, Vox Liminis. Happily, Alison was able to attend the conference to share her learning and experience directly with the audience.
In the short time that was available for the presentation, Alison explained that 9 months ago, IRISS provided time space and a small amount of funding to help her on her way to developing Vox Liminis. This support, alongside that of many others (Fergus McNeill (Criminologist from Glasgow University, The Melting Pot etc.) has helped Alison’s idea become reality.
Alison’s passionate and articulate presentation seemed to give the audience plenty of food for thought regarding the link between research and practice – as well as the elements which are necessary in order to encourage start-ups to grow and flourish. She noted that her journey hasn’t always been smooth, but that the links between practice, academia and being based within an agency (like IRISS) which bridges all these worlds had made her work possible. If we’ve been marginally helpful to Alison then we are glad – but ultimately, the success is down to her skills, networks and determination to make her social enterprise a success. We are sure she’ll continue to go from strength to strength.
At IRISS, this experiment has reminded us of the need to have a mixture of diverse perspectives to keep ideas flowing – we have gained huge amounts from having Alison’s input and her influence is clear in our organisation.
To read more about Alison’s journey, please visit her blog: www.voxliminis.co.uk,
To find out more about the Innovate project, see one of the ongoing outputs, the Social Innovation Network, an online facility that allows users to access information, participate in research, debate and discussion, and co-ordinate collaborative ventures with other stakeholders