“Nearly every problem has been solved by someone, somewhere. The challenge of the 21st century is to find out what works and scale it up” Bill Clinton.
Many of the solutions to any nation’s social and environmental problems exist across the world but most don’t find their way in a timely fashion – this is true of any nation in the world, rendering the market for social and environmental innovations incomplete. Over the past three years, Ashoka Ireland has honed the process of importing social innovations into Ireland, bringing new ideas and programmes one at a time. With Change Nation, we’re bringing 50 proven solutions all at once.
There is a market failure in social innovation. Each new innovation consumes entrepreneurial and leadership capacity as well as financial resources, and yet, relevant innovations that have proven their effectiveness elsewhere in the world too often remain untapped. Importing proven innovations leverages knowledge and technologies developed elsewhere, enabling one to achieve goals with less leadership resources, at higher speed, a lower cost and a higher probability of success. To solve social problems in a timely and cost effective manner, Change Nation is systematically seeking out and importing the most innovative ideas and institutions from around the world.
The need for the talent and ideas of the worlds leading social innovators is enormous, and yet demand remains low because this opportunity has not yet been fully appreciated. Nations that execute first and best will have access to the worlds leading social innovators and their ideas—and Ireland is at the forefront of this movement. There is no shortage of innovative ideas but the incentives and supports offered to social entrepreneurs to scale beyond regional or national boundaries are non existent by comparison to the corporate sector. Think of the incentives and supports nations will provide to entice a Google or an Intel to relocate or expand.
The supports/incentives required for social entrepreneurs to effectively scale their ideas and/or organisations include access to local networks, finance and strategic advice - an innovation brokerage. With the biggest social innovation pool in the world, Ashoka – the worlds association of social entrepreneurs, is well placed to drive this process with the collaboration of Government and the citizen sector. Learn more about our work with Change Nation here.
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