Policy constellations as ecosystems of design actions: Exploring three cases of social innovation policies in Italy

Authors

  • Daniela Selloni Politecnico di Milano
  • Ezio Manzini Politecnico di Milano, DESIS Network, University of the Arts London

Abstract

The article considers social innovation in an eco-systemic perspective, focusing on policies able to foster it and discussing design’s role within them in terms of professional skills and a widespread capability among all social actors involved. To be expressions of an innovative governance, social innovation policies must themselves be innovative and form policy constellations: clusters of initiatives able to interact positively with the socio-technical system on which they seek to impact. The article is specifically devoted to illustrating the notion of policy constellation, discussing three social innovation policies in Italy: ‘Bologna Regulation’, ‘Milan Smart City’ and ‘Bollenti Spiriti’ in Apulia. All three case studies refer to project strategies that lead to the creation of ecosystems of independent (but mutually synergic) initiatives. Until now, expert design has had a sometimes significant, but generally marginal, presence in this field (mostly as strategic design and, to a lesser extent, as service and communication design). This article suggests that this could and should increase in the future. The authors conclude by posing a new question: what holds together the constituent projects in a social innovation policy? A possible hypothesis is that this something is a cultural frame: a vision of the world shared by all the actors involved.

Keywords: policy constellation, social innovation, design for social innovation, strategic design, design for services, co-design.

Author Biographies

Daniela Selloni, Politecnico di Milano

Service designer, PhD, researcher and contract professor in product service system design at the Politecnico di Milano – School of Design. She is member of POLIMI DESIS Lab (part of the international network DESIS – Design for Social Innovation and Sustainability) within the Department of Design. Her research interests cover service design and design for social innovation, focusing on collaborative services, public services, methods and tools for co-design, sharing economy, design for policy.

Ezio Manzini, Politecnico di Milano, DESIS Network, University of the Arts London

Ezio Manzini is a leading thinker in design for sustainability. Recently, he focussed his interests on social innovation and started DESIS: an international network on design for social innovation and sustainability (http://www.desis-network.org ). He has been professor at the Politecnico di Milano and, currently, he is guest professor at Tongji University (Shanghai), Jiangnan University (Wuxi) and University of the Arts London (London).

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Published

2016-06-21

Issue

Vol. 9 No. 2 (2016): May/Aug

Section

Special Issue: Exploring Participatory Design as a Strategy to Act within the City

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