Enabling co-creation for social innovation: The Parada do Sol Project

This article reports a social innovation project coordinated by the Tecnopuc Creativity Laboratory from PUCRS (Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul) that impacted Morro da Cruz, a neighborhood in the peripheral region of the city of Porto Alegre, in southern Brazil. The main objective of the project was to positively impact the environment and the residents of the neighborhood in question, which led to the development of a technological installation using renewable energy. The method combined the stages of the 'Social Innovation Process' with Tecnopuc Crialab's authorial user-centered exploratory research approach. Using the quadruple helix model for innovation as a framework, diverse stakeholders were involved. The execution of the project followed a participatory process based on co-creation, which is one of the important characteristics of designing for social innovation. The participatory aspect was fundamental to creating an outcome capable of impacting and to bringing real benefits to the territory and its community. Besides the development of a technological installation, the project had a significant impact on the lives of young people, as an opportunity was identified to train and educate the young participants providing practical learning opportunities that amplified the results and assured the continuity of the project. This article reports the Parada do Sol as a study case, which results show the relevance of involving stakeholders in a participatory design process to create an innovative solution