From idea to social change. Opportunities and barriers to the development of social innovations in Poland on the example of solutions for people on the autism spectrum

Goal
The aim of this paper is to describe the procedures for introducing social innovations in psychology in Poland on the example of three implemented solutions for people on the autism spectrum: the “Mary and Max” Peer Volunteering Program, Autilius Therapeutic Game, and PEERS® Social Skills Training. These solutions have been developed under the cooperation of three sectors (NGO, public and private) and based on various financing mechanisms. They will serve as examples for identifying the opportunities and barriers to the development of social innovations in Poland. The article proposes a solution that may contribute to the growth of social innovations.

Theses
Social innovations can be defined as all products, services, processes and regulations that are novel in a given context and have an advantage over the existing solutions to social problems. Innovation is a complex process that consists of the following stages: 1) problem identification, 2) generation of ideas and potential solutions, 3) prototyping and testing (including effectiveness assessments), 4) implementation and sustaining, 5) scaling and dissemination, 6) systemic change. The process of creating and implementing social innovations requires a multidisciplinary team of experts, cross-sector cooperation and a long-term financial plan. These elements are discussed in the context of the three described solutions.

Conclusions
Poland lacks well-established procedures for creating and implementing social innovations. Such solutions should include support for team creation, development of financing mechanisms, favourable conditions for cross-sector cooperation and sources of know-how. Academic Incubators of Social Innovation (AIIS) could facilitate the development of social innovations by providing a collaborative platform for stakeholders other than the private sector and the scientific community.