Engaging universities in social innovation research for understanding sustainability issues

Karine Oganisjana (1) , Anna Svirina (2) , Svetlana Surikova (3) , Gunta Grīnberga-Zālīte (4) , Konstantins Kozlovskis (1)

1 Riga Technical University
2 Kazan National Research Technical University
3 LU - University of Latvia
4 LLU - Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies

The paper presents the analysis of a three-stage research conducted by the authors within a social innovation project in collaboration with international master students of Riga Technical University for determining the factors, which motivate people to be involved in the solution of social problems. The authors not only analyse and use the outcomes of the students’ research but also provide feasibility study of using the potential of study research at the university, for implementing serious research projects. Data collection from Africa, Asia, America and Europe was organised jointly by all the students via web-based survey for creating an original data base for the collaborative use. The qualitative and quantitative content analysis of the respondents’ texts revealed three groups of factors: intrapersonal, interpersonal and external factors which motivate people to be involved in the solution of social problems. Having conducted content analysis of the same texts and comparing the outcomes of the students’ and their own research, the authors concluded that study research is worth being used for research projects.

Mots clés: social innovation; social problems; study research; learning research by doing research; qualitative content analysis

Domaines: Economies et finances; Méthodes et statistiques; Ingénierie, finance et science [cs.CE]; Finance [q-fin.GN]; Econométrie de la finance [q-fin.ST]

Karine Oganisjana, Anna Svirina, Svetlana Surikova, Gunta Grīnberga-Zālīte, Konstantins Kozlovskis. Engaging universities in social innovation research for understanding sustainability issues. Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, 2017, 5 (1), pp.9 - 22. ⟨10.9770/jesi.2017.5.1(1)⟩. ⟨hal-01708963⟩