ERUA’s Fourth Annual Summit 2024 stands at the forefront of exploring the significant role of social innovations in the face of global transformation. This Summit represents a distinctive assembly of thought leaders, academics, policymakers, and innovators, all uniting with a shared objective: to thoroughly explore the pressing needs of social innovations in addressing contemporary challenges.

At the heart of this summit is a conference designed to explore the role that universities play in critiquing, questioning, nurturing and developing social innovations, not to be confused with business innovations or reduced to social entrepreneurship. The event aims to highlight their role in sculpting a resilient and adaptive society, recognizing that institutions of higher learning are not just centres of knowledge, but pivotal agents of societal change.

The Conference will place a strong emphasis on examining the methodologies and challenges involved in measuring the societal impact of scientific research, with a special focus on the ambiguities of social innovations, their potential shortcomings or adverse effects as well as their potential for transformation. This critical discourse is designed to bridge the gap between academic pursuits and tangible societal benefits, highlighting the importance of accountability and the impact of research in the real world.

The conference will address the development of social innovations within the framework of open science. To what extent can open science contribute to ERUA’s third mission? This approach encompasses a broad range of practices including, but not limited to the accessibility of scientific knowledge and the democratization of scientific information. By embracing these principles, the conference advocates for a shift towards more inclusive, transparent, and collaborative scientific endeavours in keeping with responsible research practices.

The event is designed to showcase exemplary practices in developing social innovations and to elucidate what social innovations entail. It seeks to provide insights into effective strategies and methodologies for nurturing ecosystems for social innovations, particularly within the academic context.

The conference will address the need and role of social innovations in specific thematic fields, with a series of focused parallel workshops:
• “Navigating the Complexities of Migration, Exile, and Refugees”
• “Democracy, Human Rights, Inclusion and Gender Equality”
• “Leveraging Social Innovations for Sustainable Environmental Transition”
• “Embracing Interculturality and Multilingualism”
• “Arts and Edges: Unconventional Approaches to Social Change”

Participants are invited to contribute to a dialogue that not only understands but also shapes the trajectory of social innovation in our societies.

The topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
1. Open Science and Accessibility
2. Measuring societal impact of research
3. Nurturing ecosystems for social innovations
4. Implications of migration on research sustainability