This course explores the emerging reality of social innovation, social production and social businesses and their ability to generate social impact efficiently, effectively, and sustainably. We will explore this global phenomenon through international case studies, with an emphasis on local Milanese cases. During this process the city of Milan will unfold itself through its many creative communities and its unique model of social change "all'italiana".
Milano has been for decades a breeding ground for numerous cases of social innovation especially in the fields of housing and food and in recent years it has established its place as a research hub on social
innovation with prominent thinkers like Ezio Manzini, François Jégou and Carlo Vezzoli of the Politecnico
di Milano university.
Prerequisites:
No previous background is necessary. This course is suitable for business students and anyone interested in practical solutions for social and environmental development.
Learning outcomes:
By the end of this course students will be able to:
-Provide a critical view of phenomenon in different fields of society (production, communication, collaboration, housing, food, socializing...) and learn to project contemporary events into the future in order to see if they are sustainable on the long run.
-Identify signals of promising cases of social innovation in society and connect them to bigger trends to create a clear and comprehensive vision of sustainable development.
-Demonstrate understanding of the different terms used to describe various aspects of social innovation
-Critically compare different approaches to social innovation.
By the end of this course students will be able to:
• Demonstrate an understanding of the role of social innovation in sustainable development;
• Understand and apply different terms used to describe various aspects of social innovation;
• Critically compare different approaches to social innovation;
• Examine sustainability from many viewpoints, identifying signals of promising cases of social innovation in contemporary society and projecting them into the future in order to see if they are
sustainable in the long run; and
• Connect these single cases from different fields to larger trends in order to provide a clear and coherent vision of sustainable development.
Method of presentation:
Lectures, discussions, creative sessions, case studies, field studies, student presentations.
Required work and form of assessment:
Active participation (20%); Presentations (20%), final exam (30%); group project and oral presentation
(30%)
Participation and contribution to class discussions: An important part of the learning will be done in class through discussions and presentation of case studies, students are expected to take an active part in these discussions and contribute to the learning from their own experience as well as from the assigned readings and lecture material.
Group Projects: Each group is asked to design a model for promoting a social cause of their choice based on one of the methods studied in class: a viral social media campaign, a social innovation initiative, a social business plan... the Idea is to try and take a working model from one place and apply it in a different context making the necessary adaptations. the project is comprised of two parts:
1. In the first part of the project that will take place on the 23/6 the groups are asked to present their “cause”. This is a social problem the students wish to tackle, it may be something they have noticed during their stay in Italy, a problem they know of back home or in any other area of the world.
2. In the final presentation on the 13/07 students are asked to present how they plan to tackle the social cause of their choice applying one of the models seen in class, focusing on the social and
economical aspects of the solution, the different stakeholders involved and the interaction between them. Presentations will be done in front of the class and should be no longer then 10
minutes.
Presentations: During the course students will be asked to present case studies, visions and critical analysis of phenomena, evaluation be be made based on presentation style, content and critical capacity.
Final exam: The exam is comprised of two open questions based on material considered in class, required readings as well as guest lecturer topics and discussion.
Course Materials: Course reader (will be made available for download on the class blog)
content:
Part 1 Introduction- different ways of looking at the environmental crisis
a) Course introduction + Creative session: Creative session in class exploring the students views of possible sustainable development
Reading and assignments due:
1. bring magazines, colors, scissors and glue for working in class
b) The importance of having a clear, positive vision of the future: A general view of different approaches to dealing with the environmental crisis.
Reading and assignments due:
1. finish your “vision scenario” and prepare to present it in class
2. Read /watch The Shock Doctrine: Naomi Klein on the Rise of Disaster Capitalism
c) Small vs. Big, Culture vs. Technology: Understanding consumer culture and its social and environmental consequences.
Reading and assignments due:
1. Read "Consumerism, self-creation and prospects for a new ecological consciousness" by Clive Hamilton (Article, 5 pages)
2.Read "The Primitivist Critique of Civilization"by Richard Heinberg (Article, 6 pages)
a) Social innovation: background, trends and definitions of social innovation.
Reading and assignments due:
1. Read "Small, local, open and connected" by Ezio Manzini (Article, 3 pages)
2. Read from "the open book of social innovation"by Robin Murray, Julie Caulier- Grice and Geoff Mulgan (Page 2-13)
b) Field study (2h) vectorealism @ Politecnico Di Milano - open and distributed creativity
Reading and assignments due:
1. Read "Why is open hardware inherently sustainable" by Michel Bauwens
2. Read from "here comes everybody" by Clay Shirky (Pages 31-54)
c) New forms of Sharing, collaboration and collective action: P2P, wikies, open source... people working together to create information culture and knowledge.
Reading and assignments due:
1. Read from “The long tail” by Chris Anderson (Pages 15-26)
2. Read "Working Wikily" by Scearce, Kasper and McLeod Grant (Article, 9 pages)
d) The power of Social media: The Dragonfly Model, Guest Mina Farrokhi will talk about the role of social media in the 2009 elections in Iran.
Reading and assignments due:
1. Read "Obama and the power of social media and technology" By Jennifer Aaker and Victoria Chang (article 5 pages)
2. Read from "here comes everybody" by Clay Shirky (Pages 81-108)
e) Mid-term exam + group project launch
Reading and assignments due:
1. prepare for the exam- go over all the topics discussed up till now in class.
Part 3 Creative communities
a) Creative communities from Milan and around the world: A selection of cases from the book
"creative communities"
Reading and assignments due:
1. Read "Creative communities, collaborative networks and distributed economies."
by Ezio Manzini (Article, 10 A4)
2. Read Introduction to "Creative communities" (can be downloaded here) by Anna
Meroni and Ezio Manzini
b) Field trip (2h): visit to a collaborative housing project with Liat Rogel
Reading and assignments due:
1. 1.Read "The Real Park Slope Co-op"
2. by Robert Sullivan (Article, 9 A4)
3. 2.Read “Concepts and terminology”
4. by Dick Urban Vestbro
c) Social Innovation in renewable energy: Case studies of Social innovation related to renewable energy:1. Community energy in Denmark 2. Husk power systems in India
Reading and assignments due:
1. 1.Read Introduction to "Creative communities" (can be downloaded here) by
Anna Meroni and Ezio Manzini (creative communities book introduction, Pages 9-
16)
2. Read Introduction to "Cooperatives Principles and practices in the 21st century"
by Kimberly A. Zeuli, Robert Cropp (4 pages)
d) Group presentations of "cause" (what is the cause you will be taking on in your final project)+ Brainstorming session.
Reading and assignments due:
1. 1.Read "Replication of the cases: environmental considerations and technological demands"
2. by Helma Luiten (Creative communities book conclusions, pages 153-156)
3. 2.Read "Storytelling that moves people" (6 pages)
4. 3.Prepare a presentation of cause. (first stage of group project)
Part 4 Food
a) A system in crisis: Problems related to our current food industry
Reading and assignments due:
1. Read; ''Slow food nation" by Carlo Petrini (page 5-28)
b) Slow food and the “Freedom of choice”- different way to eat sustainably in Milano: The slow food movement and a study of its values through case studies of food related social innovation in Milan: CSA, GAS, Mercati della terra.
Reading and assignments due:
1. 1.Read the "manifesto on the future of food" by the slow food movement. (13 pages)
2. Read the "politics of urban gardening" by Michel Bauwens (3 pages)
c) Expo 2015, “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life”: How is the city of Milan preparing itself for the expo of 2015
Reading and assignments due:
1. 1.Read; ''Landscape architecture for the third millennium" by Michael Rosenzweig,
Winwin ecology (page 11-25)
2. Start Reading ''Big Organic" by Michael Pollan, The omnivore’s dilemma (page
134-184)
d) Field trip (4h): Visit to a local organic farm: "Cascina Santa Brera"
Reading and assignments due:
1. Read; ''Big Organic" by Michael Pollan, The omnivore’s dilemma (page 134-184)
Part 5 Social businesses and Social enterprises
a) The emergence of social businesses and new models of philanthropy: Case studies: Grameen
Bank, Kiva,
Reading and assignments due:
1. Read"creating a world without poverty" by Muhammad Yunus (Part 1.2 Social business: what it is and what it is not page 21-42)
2. Read from “Social enterprise and social innovation:Strategies for the next ten years” by Charles Leadbeater (15 Pages)
b) Corporate social responsibility + Group work in class and feedback session: Case studies of CSR : Ikea and the natural step
Reading and assignments due:
1. Read "Good news for a change" by David Suzuki and Holly Dressel (Pages 9-25)
Part 6 Final exam and project
Group project presentation and Final Exam
*please note that guest lectures and field studies are subject to change based on availability of lecturers or guides.
*Page count refers to A4 size pages
Required readings:
Course Reader will be made available on the class blog, consisting of articles and excerpts from:
• Anna Meroni, Creative communities, Edizioni POLIdesign 2007
• Carlo Petrini, Slow Food Nation: Why Our Food Should Be Good, Clean, And Fair, Rizzoli Ex Libris
(May 8, 2007)
• Clay Shirky, Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations, Penguin
(Non-Classics); Reprint edition (February 24, 2009)
• Chris Anderson, The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More, Hiperion e
Book (2006)
• David Suzuki and Holly Dressel, Good News for a Change: How Everyday People are Helping the
Planet, Greystone Books (August 7, 2003)
• Diana Scearce, Gabriel Kasper, & Heather McLeod Grant, Working Wikily, Stanford Social
Innovation Review Summer 2010
• E.F Schumacher, Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered, Harper & Row; First Thus edition (August 1975)
• Michael Pollan, Omnivore’s Dilemma, Penguin Books; (2006)
• Michael Rosenzweig, Winwin ecology: How the earth’s species can survive in the midst of Human
Enterprise, Oxford university press; (2003)
• Muhammad Yunus, Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of
Capitalism, PublicAffairs; Reprint edition (January 6, 2009)
Recommended readings:
• Yochai Benkler, The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and
Freedom,Yale University Press (October 23, 2007)
• Vandana Shiva, Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply, South End Press
(January 1, 2000)
• Jégou, F. and Manzini, E. Collaborative services. Social innovation and design for sustainability.
Milan: Edizioni Polidesign 2008., available at: www.sustainable-everyday.net
Other Resources:
Guest Speakers:
In addition to the people we will meet in our field trips we will have two international guest lecturers coming to class, both stayed in Milan after completing their studies here. Having international guests will introduce new points of view and will allow us to further broaden our perspective on the subjects
discuses in class.
Our guests will be:
Mina Farrokhi is a strategic designer from Iran, currently living and working in Milan
Liat Rogel is a PhD candidate at “Politecnico di Milano” researching the field of collaborative housing.
Notes:
This course is offered during the regular semester and in the summer. For summer sections, the course schedule is condensed, but the content, learning outcomes, and contact hours are the same.
Brief Biography of Instructor:
Daniel Metcalfe earned his M.Sc degree from the international course in "Product Service System Design" (PSSD) at The Politecnico di Milano where he also earned his B.A in Industrial Design. His thesis project studied possible applications of P2P and distributed network models in biodiversity conservation.
He held an internship in the department of "System and Design innovation for Sustainability" under the supervision of Prof. Carlo Vezzoli, author and director of DIS (Research Unit on Design and Innovation for the Environmental Sustainability).
He is currently working as a Teaching assistant at Politecnico di Milano in a course on “user and social innovation” and as a guest lecturer at Politecnico di Torino in a course on “marketing and communication of renewable energy”. In addition to teaching, he is working as a freelance designer, conducting research
and consulting on design for social change and sustainability.
This course explores the emerging reality of social innovation, social production and social businesses and their ability to generate social impact efficiently, effectively, and sustainably. We will explore this global phenomenon through international case studies, with an emphasis on local Milanese cases. During this process the city of Milan will unfold itself through its many creative communities and its unique model of social change "all'italiana".
Milano has been for decades a breeding ground for numerous cases of social innovation especially in the fields of housing and food and in recent years it has established its place as a research hub on social
innovation with prominent thinkers like Ezio Manzini, François Jégou and Carlo Vezzoli of the Politecnico
di Milano university.
No previous background is necessary. This course is suitable for business students and anyone interested in practical solutions for social and environmental development.
By the end of this course students will be able to:
-Provide a critical view of phenomenon in different fields of society (production, communication, collaboration, housing, food, socializing...) and learn to project contemporary events into the future in order to see if they are sustainable on the long run.
-Identify signals of promising cases of social innovation in society and connect them to bigger trends to create a clear and comprehensive vision of sustainable development.
-Demonstrate understanding of the different terms used to describe various aspects of social innovation
-Critically compare different approaches to social innovation.
By the end of this course students will be able to:
• Demonstrate an understanding of the role of social innovation in sustainable development;
• Understand and apply different terms used to describe various aspects of social innovation;
• Critically compare different approaches to social innovation;
• Examine sustainability from many viewpoints, identifying signals of promising cases of social innovation in contemporary society and projecting them into the future in order to see if they are
sustainable in the long run; and
• Connect these single cases from different fields to larger trends in order to provide a clear and coherent vision of sustainable development.
Lectures, discussions, creative sessions, case studies, field studies, student presentations.
Active participation (20%); Presentations (20%), final exam (30%); group project and oral presentation
(30%)
Participation and contribution to class discussions: An important part of the learning will be done in class through discussions and presentation of case studies, students are expected to take an active part in these discussions and contribute to the learning from their own experience as well as from the assigned readings and lecture material.
Group Projects: Each group is asked to design a model for promoting a social cause of their choice based on one of the methods studied in class: a viral social media campaign, a social innovation initiative, a social business plan... the Idea is to try and take a working model from one place and apply it in a different context making the necessary adaptations. the project is comprised of two parts:
1. In the first part of the project that will take place on the 23/6 the groups are asked to present their “cause”. This is a social problem the students wish to tackle, it may be something they have noticed during their stay in Italy, a problem they know of back home or in any other area of the world.
2. In the final presentation on the 13/07 students are asked to present how they plan to tackle the social cause of their choice applying one of the models seen in class, focusing on the social and
economical aspects of the solution, the different stakeholders involved and the interaction between them. Presentations will be done in front of the class and should be no longer then 10
minutes.
Presentations: During the course students will be asked to present case studies, visions and critical analysis of phenomena, evaluation be be made based on presentation style, content and critical capacity.
Final exam: The exam is comprised of two open questions based on material considered in class, required readings as well as guest lecturer topics and discussion.
Course Materials: Course reader (will be made available for download on the class blog)
Part 1 Introduction- different ways of looking at the environmental crisis
a) Course introduction + Creative session: Creative session in class exploring the students views of possible sustainable development
Reading and assignments due:
1. bring magazines, colors, scissors and glue for working in class
b) The importance of having a clear, positive vision of the future: A general view of different approaches to dealing with the environmental crisis.
Reading and assignments due:
1. finish your “vision scenario” and prepare to present it in class
2. Read /watch The Shock Doctrine: Naomi Klein on the Rise of Disaster Capitalism
c) Small vs. Big, Culture vs. Technology: Understanding consumer culture and its social and environmental consequences.
Reading and assignments due:
1. Read "Consumerism, self-creation and prospects for a new ecological consciousness" by Clive Hamilton (Article, 5 pages)
2.Read "The Primitivist Critique of Civilization"by Richard Heinberg (Article, 6 pages)
d) Field study (2h) http://www.galleriacarlasozzani.org/#/location/
Reading and assignments due:
1. Read “Buddhist economics” chapter from Small is beautiful by E. F. Schumacher
(9 pages)
Part 2 The new possibilities created by ICT
a) Social innovation: background, trends and definitions of social innovation.
Reading and assignments due:
1. Read "Small, local, open and connected" by Ezio Manzini (Article, 3 pages)
2. Read from "the open book of social innovation"by Robin Murray, Julie Caulier- Grice and Geoff Mulgan (Page 2-13)
b) Field study (2h) vectorealism @ Politecnico Di Milano - open and distributed creativity
Reading and assignments due:
1. Read "Why is open hardware inherently sustainable" by Michel Bauwens
2. Read from "here comes everybody" by Clay Shirky (Pages 31-54)
c) New forms of Sharing, collaboration and collective action: P2P, wikies, open source... people working together to create information culture and knowledge.
Reading and assignments due:
1. Read from “The long tail” by Chris Anderson (Pages 15-26)
2. Read "Working Wikily" by Scearce, Kasper and McLeod Grant (Article, 9 pages)
d) The power of Social media: The Dragonfly Model, Guest Mina Farrokhi will talk about the role of social media in the 2009 elections in Iran.
Reading and assignments due:
1. Read "Obama and the power of social media and technology" By Jennifer Aaker and Victoria Chang (article 5 pages)
2. Read from "here comes everybody" by Clay Shirky (Pages 81-108)
e) Mid-term exam + group project launch
Reading and assignments due:
1. prepare for the exam- go over all the topics discussed up till now in class.
Part 3 Creative communities
a) Creative communities from Milan and around the world: A selection of cases from the book
"creative communities"
Reading and assignments due:
1. Read "Creative communities, collaborative networks and distributed economies."
by Ezio Manzini (Article, 10 A4)
2. Read Introduction to "Creative communities" (can be downloaded here) by Anna
Meroni and Ezio Manzini
b) Field trip (2h): visit to a collaborative housing project with Liat Rogel
Reading and assignments due:
1. 1.Read "The Real Park Slope Co-op"
2. by Robert Sullivan (Article, 9 A4)
3. 2.Read “Concepts and terminology”
4. by Dick Urban Vestbro
c) Social Innovation in renewable energy: Case studies of Social innovation related to renewable energy:1. Community energy in Denmark 2. Husk power systems in India
Reading and assignments due:
1. 1.Read Introduction to "Creative communities" (can be downloaded here) by
Anna Meroni and Ezio Manzini (creative communities book introduction, Pages 9-
16)
2. Read Introduction to "Cooperatives Principles and practices in the 21st century"
by Kimberly A. Zeuli, Robert Cropp (4 pages)
d) Group presentations of "cause" (what is the cause you will be taking on in your final project)+ Brainstorming session.
Reading and assignments due:
1. 1.Read "Replication of the cases: environmental considerations and technological demands"
2. by Helma Luiten (Creative communities book conclusions, pages 153-156)
3. 2.Read "Storytelling that moves people" (6 pages)
4. 3.Prepare a presentation of cause. (first stage of group project)
Part 4 Food
a) A system in crisis: Problems related to our current food industry
Reading and assignments due:
1. Read; ''Slow food nation" by Carlo Petrini (page 5-28)
b) Slow food and the “Freedom of choice”- different way to eat sustainably in Milano: The slow food movement and a study of its values through case studies of food related social innovation in Milan: CSA, GAS, Mercati della terra.
Reading and assignments due:
1. 1.Read the "manifesto on the future of food" by the slow food movement. (13 pages)
2. Read the "politics of urban gardening" by Michel Bauwens (3 pages)
c) Expo 2015, “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life”: How is the city of Milan preparing itself for the expo of 2015
Reading and assignments due:
1. 1.Read; ''Landscape architecture for the third millennium" by Michael Rosenzweig,
Winwin ecology (page 11-25)
2. Start Reading ''Big Organic" by Michael Pollan, The omnivore’s dilemma (page
134-184)
d) Field trip (4h): Visit to a local organic farm: "Cascina Santa Brera"
Reading and assignments due:
1. Read; ''Big Organic" by Michael Pollan, The omnivore’s dilemma (page 134-184)
Part 5 Social businesses and Social enterprises
a) The emergence of social businesses and new models of philanthropy: Case studies: Grameen
Bank, Kiva,
Reading and assignments due:
1. Read"creating a world without poverty" by Muhammad Yunus (Part 1.2 Social business: what it is and what it is not page 21-42)
2. Read from “Social enterprise and social innovation:Strategies for the next ten years” by Charles Leadbeater (15 Pages)
b) Corporate social responsibility + Group work in class and feedback session: Case studies of CSR : Ikea and the natural step
Reading and assignments due:
1. Read "Good news for a change" by David Suzuki and Holly Dressel (Pages 9-25)
Part 6 Final exam and project
Group project presentation and Final Exam
*please note that guest lectures and field studies are subject to change based on availability of lecturers or guides.
*Page count refers to A4 size pages
Course Reader will be made available on the class blog, consisting of articles and excerpts from:
• Anna Meroni, Creative communities, Edizioni POLIdesign 2007
• Carlo Petrini, Slow Food Nation: Why Our Food Should Be Good, Clean, And Fair, Rizzoli Ex Libris
(May 8, 2007)
• Clay Shirky, Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organizing Without Organizations, Penguin
(Non-Classics); Reprint edition (February 24, 2009)
• Chris Anderson, The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business Is Selling Less of More, Hiperion e
Book (2006)
• David Suzuki and Holly Dressel, Good News for a Change: How Everyday People are Helping the
Planet, Greystone Books (August 7, 2003)
• Diana Scearce, Gabriel Kasper, & Heather McLeod Grant, Working Wikily, Stanford Social
Innovation Review Summer 2010
• E.F Schumacher, Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered, Harper & Row; First Thus edition (August 1975)
• Michael Pollan, Omnivore’s Dilemma, Penguin Books; (2006)
• Michael Rosenzweig, Winwin ecology: How the earth’s species can survive in the midst of Human
Enterprise, Oxford university press; (2003)
• Muhammad Yunus, Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of
Capitalism, PublicAffairs; Reprint edition (January 6, 2009)
• Yochai Benkler, The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and
Freedom,Yale University Press (October 23, 2007)
• Vandana Shiva, Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply, South End Press
(January 1, 2000)
• Jégou, F. and Manzini, E. Collaborative services. Social innovation and design for sustainability.
Milan: Edizioni Polidesign 2008., available at: www.sustainable-everyday.net
Guest Speakers:
In addition to the people we will meet in our field trips we will have two international guest lecturers coming to class, both stayed in Milan after completing their studies here. Having international guests will introduce new points of view and will allow us to further broaden our perspective on the subjects
discuses in class.
Our guests will be:
Mina Farrokhi is a strategic designer from Iran, currently living and working in Milan
Liat Rogel is a PhD candidate at “Politecnico di Milano” researching the field of collaborative housing.
This course is offered during the regular semester and in the summer. For summer sections, the course schedule is condensed, but the content, learning outcomes, and contact hours are the same.
Daniel Metcalfe earned his M.Sc degree from the international course in "Product Service System Design" (PSSD) at The Politecnico di Milano where he also earned his B.A in Industrial Design. His thesis project studied possible applications of P2P and distributed network models in biodiversity conservation.
He held an internship in the department of "System and Design innovation for Sustainability" under the supervision of Prof. Carlo Vezzoli, author and director of DIS (Research Unit on Design and Innovation for the Environmental Sustainability).
He is currently working as a Teaching assistant at Politecnico di Milano in a course on “user and social innovation” and as a guest lecturer at Politecnico di Torino in a course on “marketing and communication of renewable energy”. In addition to teaching, he is working as a freelance designer, conducting research
and consulting on design for social change and sustainability.