Background
In the last decade, social innovation practices grew rapidly around the globe with the increasing number of sector practitioners developing new ideas, emergence of government policy support and enhanced interest in academic research and practice.
We commissioned University of the Philippines-Manila and the University of Northampton to conduct a study and find out how higher education institutions (HEIs) in the country are collaborating with communities to contribute to the sustainable development goals. With this study, we want to understand the existing social innovation and entrepreneurship research and teaching landscape in HEIs in the Philippines.
The Social Innovation and Higher Education Landscape (SIHE) Country Report – Philippines drew the following information from survey data and a series of in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with academics, social innovation practitioners and policymakers:
- assessment of social innovation ecosystem in the country
- identification of knowledge and capacity gaps in delivering vibrant social innovation research and teaching
- recommendations for research agendas and HEIs policymakers.
Highlights of the findings
- Social innovation is the subject of growing interest in academic research in the fields of business, economics, management, science and engineering, community development and the social sciences. However, private HEIs are more likely to understand and respond to the opportunities provided by social innovation compared with public HEIs.
- Funding for collaborations came from higher education institutions, government, non-government organisations and foundations. There is a need to seek out other innovative funding streams that would focus on more impactful collaborations.
- Recommendations for change in government, funding, communities and non-governmental organisations at the practice, institutional and systemic levels.
