Позитивные изменения. Том 3, № 3 (2023). Positive changes. Volume 3, Issue 3 (2023)

INTRODUCTION

Advancing social innovation is a pivotal component of the universities’ third mission. Many of the existing definitions of the term third mission focus on its linkage to the creation of public goods. This emphasizes the significance of the focus on engaging the broader public and local community members in university activities. Some scholars propose viewing the third mission exclusively as an endeavor that yields benefits to the surrounding community or region, contributing significantly to regional growth and development (Schnurbus, V. & Edvardsson, I. R., 2020).

With this study[142] we endeavored to gather and analyze the most prominent practices, from a scholarly perspective, of universities participating in the development of social innovation as part of the third mission implementation. Our primary focus was on identifying potential institutional approaches to realizing this mission, primarily through systemic projects entailing coordination across all three missions and engagement with the local community, alongside networked collaborations.

Drawing upon our research into social innovation development practices, we have identified six key models for advancing social innovation within universities. In the following sections, we will consider each model in detail and illustrate its implementation through case studies by specific universities.