Abstract:

Across Europe, education is increasingly expected to address complex societal challenges such as social inequality, sustainability transitions, digital transformation, and community well-being. In this context, social innovation has gained prominence as an approach that mobilizes new ideas, practices, and collaborations to respond to societal needs. Teachers play a crucial role in enabling such innovation, yet the competencies required for fostering social innovation in educational settings remain insufficiently defined.

This presentation reports on the results of research conducted within the Erasmus+ Teacher Academies project European Social Innovation and Democratic Education (EU-SIDE). The study aims to explore how social innovation is conceptualized in education and to identify the competencies teachers need to foster socially innovative practices in schools and communities.

The research is based on a systematic review of academic literature, European policy documents, and existing competence frameworks, complemented by national reports and examples of educational initiatives from partner countries involved in the EU-SIDE project. The analysis examines how social innovation is linked to current educational priorities such as democratic participation, inclusion, sustainability, and digital transformation. In addition, the study investigates how existing European competence frameworks including EntreComp, DigComp, and GreenComp address elements relevant to social innovation.

The findings show that competencies for social innovation in education are multidimensional and combine cognitive, social, and action-oriented elements. Key competencies identified in the review include systems thinking, creativity and problem-solving, collaboration and networking, ethical and democratic awareness, and the capacity to translate ideas into socially meaningful action. The analysis also highlights the importance of pedagogical approaches that enable experiential and participatory learning, such as project-based learning, problem-based learning, design thinking, and collaboration with community actors.

Based on these insights, the desk research provides a conceptual foundation for the development of a competence framework for social innovation in teacher education. This framework describes both the observable behavior we can expect from students (four levels) and the expected teacher behavior and competencies. Such a framework can support teacher educators and policymakers in embedding social innovation more systematically in teacher education programmes.

By mapping relevant competencies and connecting them to pedagogical practices and policy frameworks, this study contributes to ongoing European discussions on how education systems can empower teachers and learners to actively engage with societal challenges and contribute to inclusive and sustainable societal transformation.

Keywords:

Social innovation, democratic education, teacher education.