Social innovation and public service: A literature review of multi-actor collaborative approaches in five European countries

Abstract

Governments increasingly tend to involve or rely on various societal actors to address social challenges and develop cost-effective and high-quality public services. This paper identifies the major themes of social innovation relating to this type of collaborative governance, by carrying out a conceptual analysis of the scientific and grey literature on social innovation in five European countries. Depending on the country, different emphases of social innovation are found. One theme that appears common to all countries is social entrepreneurship. This paper provides a mapping of these major themes on social innovation. It discusses the nexus of collaborative governance and social innovation by theme, and the impact that the history of the national welfare state has on social innovation initiatives and forms of collaborative governance.