This book provides a comprehensive discussion of economic space for social innovation, addressing in particular marginalized populations, long-term projects, programmes and policies that have emerged within and across Europe. Even the title of the book arouses curiosity.

The reader may ask what social innovation and economics have in common. The rise of social innovation in policy discourse across Europe, at least since the financial crisis of 2008–9, signals a growing dissatisfaction with mainstream ways of thinking about innovation and its role in economic development. Although social innovation is not a new phenomenon, policymakers and academia increasingly perceive it as a way to cope with grand challenges. Accelerated by the recent normative turn in research and innovation policy, which has made way for what has been labelled ‘mission-oriented’ or ‘challenge-oriented’ innovation policy, social innovation has become a central element on policy agendas at all governance levels. The forthcoming Horizon Europe programme, for example, defines five missions and clear targets, intending to maximize the impact of research and development, to sustain global competitiveness and to improve peoples’ daily life. Likewise, the German High-Tech Strategy 2025, launched by the Federal Ministry for Education and Research, claims to promote research into issues relevant to the German economy and society while emphasizing the role of social innovation. The country-wide Portugal Social Innovation support programme, with its corresponding social impact bond, is a further example.