Abstract

Over the past decade, research on social innovation has grown substantially, yet much of it remains fragmented and lacks a robust systems perspective. Existing approaches often focus on micro or meso level analyses and typically either overlook broader systemic dynamics or rely on frameworks originally designed for technological innovation. This paper addresses these limitations by proposing a novel conceptual framework for social innovation ecosystems through the integration of the helical models of innovation and with insights from the social innovation. In the meanwhile, based on the conceptual framework established in this research, through empirical research further investigates the multilayered dynamic interactions among the government, university, enterprise and civil society, and the element of social context is also being considered.
This study is qualitative research and adopts case study research based on China’s rural revitalization strategy as the background. The study adopts semi-structured interviews, conducts in-depth research on multi-actors (the government, university, enterprise and civil society) in Dashigai village and Guyan Painting village, Zhejiang Province, and uses thematic analysis and manual coding to systematically sort out, interpret and sublimate the first-hand data. It is found that the social innovation ecosystem is an integrated dynamic evolution system with interconnection and co-evolution attributes, and the application of the helical models of innovation in social innovation ecosystems shows different system mechanism characteristics.
This study illustrates its significance in social innovation area which has long lacked systematic mechanisms and integrated comprehensive frameworks. Due to the lack of paradigm guidance of social innovation ecosystem, most existing practices are trapped in fragmented case narratives, resulting in serious misalignment between theoretical construction and practical evolution. The development of social innovation ecosystems is of great significance to drive the institutionalized embedding of social innovation in multiple scenarios, especially to strengthen its position in national innovation systems and organizational strategies. Besides, it is helpful to enhance the inevitability of future social innovation actions, efficient diffusion and sustainable development.
This research contributes to proposes and constructs a forward-looking system framework. Besides, through empirical research, the helical mechanism is truly internalized in the social innovation ecosystem, and the ambiguity of cross-domain paradigm application is resolved. Furthermore, it strengthens and expands the theoretical cornerstone of social innovation and provides a clear theoretical guide for the practical action of multi-actor collaborative of social innovation development. Finally, through the in-depth reflection on the synergy of the system mechanism in the two fields, it provides profound conceptual insights for the balanced development and shortcomings of the overall innovation ecosystem in the future.