Understanding supportive networks for social-ecological innovation

Technologies and innovations have fueld economic growth for centuries, but it is evident that they have also degraded the ecosystem services on which we all ultimately depend. The challenges that social systems face on a global scale have also reached a scale where the concequences could become very serious. It has become increasingly clear that in the future, innovations must be developed and implemented so that they contribute to reinforce the resilience of social as well as ecological systems (Olsson & Galaz 2011). The approach of social innovation highlights new cross-sector relationships, and bring active citizens and civil society organizations to the heart of the innovation process. For social-ecological innovation, this is just as important, to bridge the gap between citizens, reasearchers and policy makers, not least to link the social entrepreneurship process to institutional entreprenurship in order to reconfigure governance structures (Westley et al 2011). Today, much attention is directed towards the streamlining and professionalizing the social innovation process, highlighting organizational and managerial tools. But less attention has been directed towards the innovation system or supportive network where social-ecological innovation takes place. If it is based on different values, aims and approaches than conventional innovation, what facilities, competencies and resources do we need to see in this system? In this paper, we turn our attention to the Biosphere Reserve Vänern Archipelago, and the process to develop a Biosphere Innovation System, focusing on social-ecological innovaition, building on social-ecological resilience. (Bergstrans, Björk & Molnar 2011). Challenges here include how to create interactive innovation spaces and keeping the social-ecological focus while scaling innovations