societal innovation

Societal innovation refers to a systemic change in the interplay of the state and civil society. It is a relative of social innovation, but differs from it by considering the state to be an important co-creator in achieving sustainable systemic change. In this sense, the term's origins lie beyond the traditional anglosaxon understanding for the concept of social innovation.

The term has been used in research, see e.g.Bernard Cova, Christian Svanfeldt, Societal innovations and the postmodern aestheticization of everyday life, International Journal of Research in Marketing, Volume 10, Issue 3, August 1993, Pages 297-310, ISSN 0167-8116, 10.1016/0167-8116(93)90012-N.

[http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/016781169390012N link]

,Societal Innovation: between dream and reality lies complexity,

J Rotmans (2005), [http://repub.eur.nl/res/pub/7293/EIA-2005-026-ORG%209058921050%20ROTMANS.pdf PDF]

but also in some official reports and documents of the European Union, where societal innovation is considered as an answer to societal challenges. A formal definition exists

{{cite journal|last=Lehtola|first=Ville V.|author2=Ståhle, Pirjo|title=Societal innovation at the interface of the state and civil society|journal=Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research|volume=27|issue=2|date=15 January 2014|pages=152–174|doi=10.1080/13511610.2014.863995|s2cid=144067353 }}

A societal innovation introduces a novel economic and/or social improvement to people’s

everyday life. It brings a (radical or incremental) systemic change to society’s structures or

modes of operation, and it is legitimated by the majority of societal stakeholders.