Crossing the boundaries of participation, activism, paradigm change and incubation: On the edge of design for social innovation and sustainability

The discourse on the connection between design and social innovation is today rich and animated: after a decade since its beginning, we can detect signals of maturity that are also widely reflected in several research programs recently funded by the European Commission. This chapter presents a conceptual framework, drawn from diverse applied research projects in design for social innovation, analysed through the lenses of some of the most debated theoretical approaches around design, innovation and social issues in the broadest sense. The research projects here considered come from the experience of the POLIMI DESIS lab, the Politecnico di Milano based design team belonging to the international DESIS Network (Design for Social Innovation and Sustainability). This is a cultural association comprising several design universities and schools dealing with this topic, which has accumulated remarkable knowledge since its foundation in 2008, making it a privileged standing point from which to reflect on the intersection of design and social innovation.