The Relationship Between Social Innovation and Sustainable Development: The Italian Case of the Innovation Fund

The paper proposes a reflection on the relationship between social and institutional innovation and the concepts of economic sustainability and social sustainability. In this regard, a complex theoretical framework is presented in which the differences between social and institutional innovation with respect to traditional technological produce and/or process innovation and organizational innovation, the fundamental conditions that explain the genesis of innovation and the main subjects involved. For example, the conditions underlying the genesis, the necessary evolution in the architecture of local development processes (from the Triple Helix to the Quadruple Helix to get to the Quintuple Helix) required by social innovation will be illustrated. The applicational part of the work consists of an analysis of the objectives, structure, types of financed programs, and stakeholders involved in the Social Innovation Fund, which is part of the Three-Year Program for Social Innovation. In this part, an evaluation of the progress of the project will be carried out, highlighting above all the success factors of the funded programs and the critical issues. Particular attention will be paid to linking the initiatives of this fund with the achievement of the 17 sustainable development goals envisaged by the 2030 Agenda.