There is no shortage of case studies on social innovation and social entrepreneurship. Some are quite extensive, while others are short, containing just brief descriptions. There is also a difference in focus: from the ‘heroic’ visionary entrepreneurs, to the business model mechanisms of social enterprises. It is also worth noting that some of the cases are a few years old. This compilation does not claim to be comprehensive, just provide a glimpse of the vast ocean of initiatives that aim to drive social change. Please notify me (fredrik.bjork@mah.se) if there are any broken links – or if there are other great case collections!
[Nobel laureate Muhammed Yunus visiting the social enterprise Yalla Trappan in Malmö. Photo: Sydsvenskan]
Collections of shorter cases/examples of social innovation (or ’sustainability innovations’): c. 1 p each
Camponeschi, Chiara (2010) The enabling city. Place-Based Creative Problem-Solving and the Power of the Everyday. [http://issuu.com/enablingcity/docs/enablingcity?e=0]
Camponeschi, Chiara (2013) Enabling City Volume 2: Enhancing creative community resilience. [http://enablingcity.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/EC-Vol2-Eng-FINAL-WEB.pdf]
Jégou, François. & Manzini, Ezio (2008). Collaborative services. Social innovation and design for sustainability. [http://www.slideshare.net/marinacaponera/collaborative-services-by-franois-jgou-ezio-manzini] p 50-110
Meroni, Anna, ed. (2007) Creative Communities. People inventing sustainable ways of living [www.academia.edu/877752/Creative_Communities._People_inventing_sustainable_ways_of_living] p 18-140
Pulford, Louise & Addarii, Filippo, eds (2010) This is European social innovation [http://www.euclidnetwork.eu/projects/completed-projects/this-is-european-social-innovation.html ] 10 examples, 1p each
Sustainaia 100 [’sustainability innovation’] (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015) [http://www.sustainia.me/solutions/]
More in depth:
Dagerbo, E & Ohm, H (2013) The art of inviting participation. [http://www.publiktentreprenorskap.se/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/CPE-Booklet-English.pdf] Cases from Skåne (Sweden). 9 cases, 3-5 p each
Evers, Adalbert; Ewert, Benjamin & Brandsen, Taco; eds. (2014) Wilco project. Social innovations for social cohesion. Transnational patterns and approaches from 20 European cities. [http://www.wilcoproject.eu/downloads/WILCO-project-eReader.pdf ] c. 3p each.
Nesta, the Design Council & 00 (2011) A compendium for the civil economy. [www.scribd.com/doc/155665115/Compendium-for-Civic-the-Economy] 25 cases/ 5p each
Panama, Karen and Hansen, Michael Wendelboe (2014) Successful Social Enterprises in Africa: Case Studies of Six Social Enterprises in Kenya [openarchive.cbs.dk/bitstream/handle/10398/9002/Panum_and_hansen_2014_2.pdf]
Kernot, Cheryl and McNeill, Joanne (2011) Australian Social Enterprises: Stories of Challenge [http://www.communityeconomies.org/site/assets/media/JoanneMcNeill/PUBLISHED_Australian-Stories-of-Social-Enterprise_Apr11.pdf] 6-7 p each
Leadbetter, Charles (1997). The rise of the social entrepreneur. [www.demos.co.uk/files/theriseofthesocialentrepreneur.pdf] p 27-53, UK focus; 5 examples 3-7 pages each
Articles:
Bayrasli, Elmira (2012) ‘When Business and Social Missions Align. Innovations case commentary. Bareeze and CARE Foundation, Pakistan.’ Innovations: Technology, Governance, Globalization, Volume 7, nr 1, p 35-38
Bendt, Pim et al (2013) ‘Civic greening and environmental learning in public-access community gardens in Berlin.’ Landscape and urban planning, vol:109 nr:1
Datta, Punita Bhatt & Gailey, Robert (2012) ‘Empowering Women Through Social Entrepreneurship: Case Study of a Women’s Cooperative in India.’ Entrepreneurship theory and practice vol:36, nr 3, p 569 -587
Harman, Jessie (2008) ‘Successful social entrepreneurship: The case of the Eaglehawk recycle shop.’ Journal of Services Research, Special Issue February, p 201-216.
Hibbert, Sally A.; Hogg, Gillian and Quinn, Theresa (2002) ‘Consumer response to social entrepreneurship: the case of the Big Issue in Scotland.’ International journal of nonprofit and voluntary sector marketing, vol:7 nr:3 p 288 -301
Perrini, Francesco (2010) ‘A process-based view of social entrepreneurship: From opportunity identification to scaling-up social change in the case of San Patrignano.’ Entrepreneurship & regional development, vol:22 nr:6
Rhodes, Mary (2008) ‘Social entrepreneurship as a performance landscape: the case of ‘Front Line’.’ Emergence, vol:10 nr:3
Books:
Barinaga, Ester (2014) Social entrepreneurship: cases and concepts. Lund: Studentlitteratur; Actually only one case – but 200 pages long!
Bornstein, David (2007) How to change the world. Social entrepreneurs and the power of new ideas. New York: Oxford University Press; 10 cases, about 20 p. each.
Web collections:
European Social Franchise Network [http://www.socialfranchising.coop/case-studies] Case studies of social franchise initiatives; c. 5-8 p each
Innoweave (Canada) social innovation case studies: [www.innoweave.ca/en/modules/social-enterprise/case-studies]
Nesst case studies (https://www.nesst.org/tools-for-entrepreneurs/) South America/Eastern Europe focus; 4 case studies c 10 p each
Oikos case collection (free cases: http://backup.oikos-international.org/academic/case-collection/free-cases.html) Global cases, business-oriented
Social Enterprise mark (certification organization for social enterprises in UK) [www.socialenterprisemark.org.uk/markholder-resources/social-enterprise-case-studies/] UK social enterprises 2-3 p each
EFESEIIS (FP7-project) [http://www.fp7-efeseiis.eu/new-generation-of-social-enterprises/] Brief, European cases. At the moment (2015-12-03) 11 cases, there will be 70 when finished.
CITISPYCE (FP7-project) [http://www.citispyce.eu/citispyce-repository-case-studies] Extensive, European cases. Focus on youth. 20-30 p each, 21 cases