Processos de design estratégico e seeding para a evolução das inovações sociais

Abstract

In the face of global social problems that encounter similar locations, spontaneous dissemination movements are identified, generating networks of initiatives that share project ideas and strengthen each other. The subjects' skills to design develop the emergence of more initiatives that develop local solutions with global impact. This research aims to understand how these dynamics occur, combining them with the concept of seeding, a concept that is still little explored in its potential for articulation with social innovations, but that, in the specialized literature in the areas of design and computing, is related to innovation dissemination processes. In this sense, the study seeks to propose methodological inputs that improve the methodology of strategic design, so that it considers seeding processes for the creation and enhancement of the dissemination of innovations. Since no single definition for the concept is found in complex social systems, a systematic review is used to propose a conceptualization and central characteristics of seeding. The investigation goes through the food ecosystem for the sustainability of Porto Alegre, the material object chosen by this research, carrying out its mapping, collection of project cases and interviews, in order to identify the existence of seeding and seeds. The material object chosen is characterized by the visible growth in the city, with the presence that propose alternatives to the traditional food system, guided by more sustainable ways of producing and inspire new consumption and life habits. As a result, there is the creation of a concept of seeding for social innovation, which is a process of evolution of social innovations that highlights three processes, complementary to each other: creation of a seed, communication and appropriation. Characteristics of each process are outlined, with strategy proposals for them, in order to guide project action towards seeding.