In the Europe of the 21st century, with all its societal challenges and cultural tensions, social inclusion is progressively becoming the common answer and strategy for a smart, sustainable and, not only ‘inclusive’, but also community-based future.
Regardless the level of awareness on the concrete application of such a holistic practice, social innovation is vertically mainstreamed into the majority of European local policies’ agenda, and it is certainly confirmed as the “red thread” linking the seven official flagship initiatives of the EU2020 strategy.
In fact, whether you are reading the local press seated at a bar in the central square of a countryside village in Europe, or you are surfing the Web for personal or professional information, the chance that an article on social innovation pops up is very high.
Anyway, whatever the application field and the policy level, the key aspect that makes social innovation policies extremely relevant nowadays is their unavoidable tendency in producing social value, instead of market value. A secular trend in the history of the Union that, if successful, will manage to fill the present gap existing between social and economic policies.
Within such a socio-political framework, the main role of a Social Hackademy is to support the implementation of innovative actions and projects with the final aim of demonstrating how digital and social innovation can mutually benefit for the realization of a “Digital Single Market” founded on social value and social investments.
Indeed, we are convinced that if, on one hand, it is important to address the centralized policy agenda of Commission with periodical position papers, on the other hand, social innovation should not remain a cosmetic intellectual practice. Social innovation cannot exist without social subjectivity and grassroots approach.
