Social innovations are often presented as solutions to wicked social problems, operating across sectors, and disrupting traditions of policy and practice. Social innovations - including social enterprise, design-led service creation and citizen co-production – are initiated within, between and beyond the bounds of established organisational forms. Redefining boundaries creates new opportunities for combining wisdom and resources for progressive social change. Yet, critical scholars have observed that many popularised social innovations are limited in their focus on systemic change, and subject to isomorphic pressures from government and commercial interests. Others have argued that individual social innovations are limited in their effectiveness without wider systems-thinking in the design of social innovation policy and practice.
The ninth annual International Social Innovation Research Conference (ISIRC 2017) will explore social innovation within and beyond the organisation. It invites research-led reflection on the organisational boundaries recast by social innovation, the systemic imperatives of a growing focus on social innovation, and the cross-cutting implications of these for theory and practice. Empirical, conceptual and practice-informed research contributions are encouraged.
Streams The conference organisers invite abstracts for papers and panel proposals in the following streams:
• Social innovation, hybridity and networks (Stream co-chairs: David Littlewood and Jarrod Ormiston)
• Social innovation, environmental sustainability and food security (Stream co-chairs: Alex Murdock and Anne de Bruin)
• Social enterprise models and comparative perspectives (Stream co-chairs: Marthe Nyssens and Joanne McNeill)
• Co-Production and co-creation (Stream co-chairs: Sarah-Anne Munoz and Sophie Yates)
• Design Thinking and Social Innovation (Stream co-chairs: Abby Lopes and Cameron Tonkinwise)
• Critical perspectives on social innovation (Stream co-chairs: Simon Teasdale and Suzanne Grant)
• Public Policy and social innovation (stream co-chairs: Chris Mason and Robyn Keast)
• Health, wellbeing and social innovation (Stream co-chairs: Michael Roy and Jane Farmer)
• Social innovation: Indigenous perspectives (Stream co-chairs: Ella Henry and Emma Lee)
• Social innovation in rural, regional and remote contexts (Stream co-chairs: Artur Steiner and Robyn Eversole)
• Social innovation education (Michael Moran and Maggie Buxton)
• Diverse economies, solidarity and social innovation (Stephen Healy and Nick Henry)
• Open stream (stream chair: Bronwen Dalton)
• Social innovation and complexity (Stream co-chairs: Sharon Zivkovic and Christine Woods)
Guidelines for abstract and panel proposal submission:
All paper abstracts and panel proposals must be submitted via the conference website at
www.isircconference.com. Where references are included, all proposals should adopt the Harvard referencing system.
A maximum of two proposals may be submitted per presenter (joint papers to be presented by co-authors will also be considered)
Paper abstracts must be maximum 400 words, excluding references. They should articulate: the research objectives or questions being addressed; the conceptual or theoretical perspectives informing the work; where appropriate, the methodology utilised; and the contribution of the paper to knowledge in light of the conference themes.
Panel proposals must be a maximum of 1000 words. They should include: the panel purpose and its relationship to the nominated conference stream; details of (minimum) three and (maximum) four papers and paper presenters to be included in the panel; and the expected contribution of the panel.
Key dates: Paper abstract and panel proposals due:
March 10, 2017 Decision of submissions to be advised by:
April 30, 2017 Early-bird registration closes:
July 25, 2017 Full papers submitted for consideration in best paper awards due:
September 10, 2017 Inquiries: Inquiries about submissions to specific streams should be directed to stream co-chairs listed in the call for papers -
http://www.isirconference.com/call-for-papers/ Inquiries about conference administration and technical issues related to online submission should be directed to the conference secretariat at
csiswin@swin.edu.au All other inquiries should be directed to the conference secretariat at
csiswin@swin.edu.au