ABSTRACT
The increasing demand for innovative approaches to solve complex environmental, social and economic challenges is being met by individuals and organisations from all walks of life across the planet. A wealth of support mechanisms has emerged to accompany the growing activity of social innovators: these include diverse sources of funding, international sharing platforms, incubators, research programmes and networks. There are a number of stakeholders who already use a series of mechanisms to evaluate social innovation, most with a focus on a given initiative's potential for growth and long-term viability. The chapter describes them in the following four categories: investors, foundations and organisations, academic centres, and governments. It offers the five variables to cover both a results-oriented and a process-oriented perspective to provide a more holistic lens through which to observe different social innovations and better understand their potential. These five variables are: social transformation and impact, cross-sector collaboration, economic sustainability and long-term viability, innovation type, and scalability and replicability.
