Innovation today is about purpose, about doing something that can fulfil you as a human being,’ said Commissioner Moedas. ‘In the European Union, we are going to put more money into social innovation, not because it’s trendy, but because we believe that the future of innovation is about social innovation.’

According to practitioners, social innovation is about using innovation to tackle societal challenges such as climate change or migration, and – crucially – doing it in a way that actively involves the people who will be affected.

The 10 ideas in the declaration, which authors say have been shaped by more than 350 people from 19 EU countries, include setting up fellowships to pay salaries to people working on community projects so that they don’t work for free, and working with social innovation start-ups and SMEs when it comes to public procurement.

But speaking to Horizon on the sidelines of the summit, Armelle Ledan from the European Association for Information on Local Development, who presented the report to the Commissioner, said that it’s not just about funding.

‘Resources, support, legitimacy and having policymakers giving support symbolically … is really important because it can prove that social good is at the heart of society.’

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