“The UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are bold, setting objectives and, above all, targets”. These were the opening words in the ESADE Social Innovation Institute’s 11th Annual Workshop and were uttered by Ignasi Carreras, the Institute’s Director. Throughout the various sessions covering Social Innovation to achieve the SDG, he stressed that “the SDG constitute a comprehensive agenda linking all Nation States”. Carreras also highlighted the fact that “the SDG agenda fosters social transformation and the creation of economic value in diverse spheres (Urban Transport, Health, and Agriculture, among others)” and that “Social Innovation must be scalable and replicable to achieve these Social Development Goals”.

Yves Moury, founder and President of Fundación Capital, took part in the workshop and during his address, noted that “If we are to achieve the UN’s Social Development Goals (SDG) by 2030, we need to invest US $4 trillion a year”, adding that “At the moment we are only spending US $1.5 trillion”.

He also spoke of the need to use technology to achieve this scalability but warned that “The human factor remains key”, noting that “Social changes cannot be wrought without humanising technology”. “There is a need to make activities people-based and centred and shift the focus away from individual, short-term interests and towards altruism. We are all seeking a positive economy”, said Moury.

Diversity and inclusion

Christopher Earney argued that “Innovation is somewhat cyclical, given that it is a process in which one endlessly asks questions”. Referring to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Earney noted that “Collaboration and alliances are vital on fostering innovation and that not only applies to technology companies but also to people”.

“Innovation should not just belong to a few companies that decide what innovation is. True innovation must benefit society as a whole”, stressed Earney. “When it comes to innovation, data pose the next barrier in operations, given that we need data to take decisions and weigh their impact”. “When we speak of innovation, we must do so from the standpoints of diversity and inclusion”, he said, stressing that “Innovation tends to be associated with young whites living in developed countries but it needs to be accessible to many more people. We must break this elitist mind set and stop selecting just part of the population”. “Technology, inclusion, and diversity play very important roles in UNHCR”, Earney stated.

Cecilia Tham, Head of Social Technology at Alpha Telefónica, spoke of ‘superimposed waves’ to explain why technology and business were changing at lightning speed. She considered that this greatly shortened the time for creation, and noted that there is technology allowing customisation and that one can now get raise money (for example, through crowd-funding). Tham argued that these changes meant that “Individuals now have the same power to innovate as big companies and nations — something that is new in Man’s History”. “Today, we all have the same power to innovate given that we all have the tools to do so”, she added.

Eva Jané-Llopis, Director of Health, ODS and Social Innovation at ESADE summed up the situation thus: “We must speak of a paradigm shift, of the role of middle-men, and think about the players with whom we work for the purposes of co-creation”. “This is a big change from the individual standpoint but we need to think about how to go about this co-creation as both individuals and companies if we are to boost change”, she argued.

The ESADE Innovation Institute’s 11th Annual Workshop was held on Tuesday the 17th of April on the School’s Barcelona Campus. Others taking part included: Louise Pulford, Director of the Social Innovation Exchange; Nerea Plaza, Head of Governance and Sustainable Development at Suez-Water Spain; Cristina Moral, Head of Corporate Responsibility at Ferrovial; Borja Lafuente, Project Manager at Danone España; Santiago Lefebvre, Director and founder of ChangeNOW; Ana Sáenz de Miera, Co-Director of Ashoka España and Europe.

The event provides a forum for various stakeholder groups — NGOS, commercial and non-profit companies, social entrepreneurs, public administrations, academe — to foster reflection and debate on some of the burning issues covering: Social Innovation; Corporate Social Responsibility; Social Enterprise; the Non-Profit Sector.