Social Innovation Capacities and Local Development: A Sociological Perspective on Innovation Ecosystems

Abstract

The analysis of the creation of capacities from Sociology is directly related to theories of social change. This work proposed: To design an ecosystem of creation of social innovation capacities that, from an Economic Sociology approach, contributes to the systematization of new and improved socially innovative practices in the context of local socioeconomic development. The research-action- participation methodology was assumed and as techniques were the review of documents and a focus group with specialists to define the social innovation capacities to be developed in the municipality object of study. With the work carried out, it was determined that: the area of ​​study of Sociology that allows for a more complete approach to creation of capacities is the Economic Sociology; that the Talent Development Capacity Model brings together elements from all areas of science from which this study field is addressed and that the generation of new and improved socially innovative practices affects the dynamics of social innovation ecosystems for the local socioeconomic development, determining that innovative practice is part of the organizational culture. To do this, social innovation capacities to work in the selected territory were defined and the corresponding skills were derived. The proposed ecosystem of creation of social innovation capacities allows for the foundation of an emerging and novel proposal for the experimental approach to social innovation in the current scenarios of local socioeconomic development in Cuba.