Bottom-Linked Approach to Social Innovation Governance

Social innovation and austerity governance in Athens and Madrid: Rethinking the changing contours of policy and practice

“…In the 'alternative model for local innovation' (ALMOLIN) (Gonzalez et al, 2010;Moulaert et al, 2005) SI is analyzed based on different dimensions of social exclusion experienced in European cities, that is, material, social or political, focusing on the processual consolidation of SI as historically, institutionally, culturally and spatially embedded and negotiated. In a similar vein, the bottom-linked approach (Garcia and Pradel, 2019;Pradel et al, 2013) sees SI in participatory forms of governance and highlights the role of institutions in enabling and sustaining bottom-up initiatives. In this view, SI influences governance by establishing collaborations with external organizations and institutions, providing new solutions to policy problems through resource provision and, eventually, challenging political boundaries, discursive repertoires and power relations (Garcia and Pradel, 2019;Gonzalez and Healey, 2005;Pradel et al, 2013).…”

“…In a similar vein, the bottom-linked approach (Garcia and Pradel, 2019;Pradel et al, 2013) sees SI in participatory forms of governance and highlights the role of institutions in enabling and sustaining bottom-up initiatives. In this view, SI influences governance by establishing collaborations with external organizations and institutions, providing new solutions to policy problems through resource provision and, eventually, challenging political boundaries, discursive repertoires and power relations (Garcia and Pradel, 2019;Gonzalez and Healey, 2005;Pradel et al, 2013). Therefore, SI may serve as a game changer in governance relations, holding a key political dimension vis-a-vis notions of technological innovation that privilege economic competitiveness over social solidarity and empowerment (Galego et al, 2021;Morgan and Martinelli, 2019).…”

“…BEPA, 2014), denoting a range of sociospatial transformations and solutions to societal challenges in times of crises. The seminal contribution of urban studies scholarship provided solid in-depth conceptualizations of SI as a bottom-up and 'bottom-linked' sociospatial practice and process (Garcia and Pradel, 2019). At its political contours, SI was further ascribed the role of a 'game changer' in governance, promoting democratic participation bottom-up (Galego et al, 2021).…”

Uncovering Social Sustainability in Housing Systems through the Lens of Institutional Capital: A Study of Two Housing Alliances in Vienna, Austria

“…This analysis draws on civil society organizations that initiate and lead socially innovative initiatives by utilizing resources and their social capital in novel ways to satisfy human needs and by developing new forms of collaborations among each other and with public authorities. Particular modes of collaboration involve bottom-linked governance configurations [9,10], which turn out to reinforce democratic decision-making needed for the formation of housing and cities for all [11,12]. The ambition of this paper is, thus, to open the boundaries of knowledge on the nexus between social sustainability, institutional capital and bottom-linked governance.…”

“Going out to get in”—Roles of forest conflicts in bottom‐linked environmental governance progressing toward socio‐political innovations

“…In search for sustainability solutions, the concept of bottom‐linked governance has emerged. Bottom‐linked governance is seen as a promising way to balance bottom‐up civil society‐driven social innovation initiatives with top‐down policies (Castro‐Arce & Vanclay, 2020; García & Pradel, 2019; Moulaert et al, 2019). It can be defined as “a trajectory of co‐construction and confrontation moments in which protest and conflict, as well as analysis, co‐learning and negotiation, all have a role, as does the re‐institutionalisation of relationships between state and civil society” (Moulaert et al, 2019: 63).…”