Social innovation

In an era of growing social, economic, and environmental challenges, social innovation has emerged as a powerful framework for generating sustainable and inclusive change. This course explores how individuals, organizations, and communities develop innovative solutions that address complex social issues while challenging conventional models of business and governance. By blending theory, case studies, and applied learning, students will gain a deep understanding of the processes, actors, and contexts that shape social innovation across the world.

Students will begin by engaging with foundational definitions and conceptual debates surrounding social innovation. They will then explore different pathways of change — from social intrapreneurship within existing organizations to social entrepreneurship and the rise of social enterprises. Special attention will be given to the role of social business models and the unique funding mechanisms—including microfinance and impact investment—that sustain these initiatives. Through global examples, students will learn to recognize the contextual dynamics that influence how social innovations emerge, scale, and sustain impact. The course will also introduce tools for measuring social impact and emphasize governance and stakeholder engagement as key drivers for civic wealth creation.

Course content per session:

1. Social Innovation, an introduction: Definitions and Concepts

2. Social Intrapreneurship, social entrepreneurship and social enterprises: Various innovations schemes for social change

3. Social business models: Promise and challenges

4. Why context matters in Social Entrepreneurship: Examples from the Global South

5. Funding social innovations: From donors to microfinance and impact investing

6. Measuring impact of social enterprises

7. Governance and Stakeholder engagement: Civic wealth creation

8. Conclusion and class discussion

At the end of the course, the students will be able to:

• Critically think about social enterprises and social innovation
• Be able to understand and develop social business models
• Understand different funding options for social enterprises (microfinance, impact investment)
• Understand the importance of context for social innovations
• Develop some reasoning on management issues of social enterprises

Required and Corequired knowledge and skills

N/A

Lectures

Exercises

Case studies

References, bibliography, and recommended reading

Will be shared during the sessions.

Course notes

• Université virtuelle
• Podcast
• Syllabus

Contacts

Alina Spanuth: alina.spanuth@ulb.be
François Maon: f.maon@ieseg.fr 
 

Campus

Solbosch

Method(s) of evaluation

• written examination

written examination

• Open question with developed answer

N/A

Mark calculation method (including weighting of intermediary marks)

100% written exam

Language(s) of evaluation

• english