Social Innovation

Group leaders

Hannah Timpson, Public Health Institute

Kerry Wilson, Institute of Cultural Capital

About the group

The group brings together researchers from across the university with an interest in creativity and innovation in health and social care, with an emphasis on community-led, preventive agendas and interventions that support our individual and collective wellbeing. This began with a conversation on emerging, shared research interests in social prescribing between group members, and now includes other related key themes including the value and practice of creativity, arts and culture; supporting asset-based community development; and the measurement and promotion of social value.

Shared research interests

Culture and Creativity

• Considering the cultural conditions and environmental factors that enable social innovation to flourish
• Understanding the creative process in social innovation
• Supporting the co-creation of social innovation through cross-sector collaboration

Asset based Community Development

• Using social innovation to enable communities to thrive
• Working with and developing existing community assets and resources
• Creating models of community-led social innovation

The Social Value of Social Innovation

• Exploring the impact of social innovation on community health and wellbeing
• Supporting preventive, healthy community agendas including social prescribing
• Evidencing the social value and return on investment of social innovation to health and social care commissioners

Key objectives

• Via internal training and development activities (for example research method workshops).
• Continuing professional development support for LJMU's Social Innovation researchers
• Knowledge exchange and external promotion of LJMU's Social Innovation research and expertise
• Via external activities and events (for example dedicated webpages; research seminars).

Collaborators