Collaborative process of the third sector of the Basque Country for the definition of a strategy to support and promote innovation in the sector.

(2020-2021)

Commissioned by InnoBasque (Basque Innovation Agency), we collaborated in carrying out a collaborative process in the third sector of the Basque Country for the definition of a strategy to support and promote innovation in the sector. It was intended to start from a shared diagnosis, knowing the logics of innovation processes in the third sector, existing barriers and the general innovation framework; detect innovations made in the sector and make them visible; measure these innovations with indicators appropriate to the specificities of the sector and which in turn are comparable with other sectors; and propose specific initiatives and tools to support innovation in the sector.

The initiative was, on the one hand, within the objective of Innobasque to promote innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises in the Basque Country; and, on the other, within the Basque Government’s Strategy 2010-2020 for the promotion of the third social sector in the Basque Country. The aim was to ensure that the innovation support ecosystem in the Basque Country reaches not only SMEs, but also the non-profit sector, which is made up mainly of medium and small organizations.

We carried out this process in three phases:

1. build a framework;
2. test and socialize; and
3. co-design and pilot.

In the first phase, it was a matter of understanding the logics of innovation in the sector, clarifying the framework and testing and adapting a tool (questionnaire) that allowed measurement and comparison. It consisted of working sessions with directors of organizations representing the third sector of the Basque Country.

In the second phase, an extensive survey was conducted in third sector organizations, according to a questionnaire validated in a participatory manner in the previous phase, and its results were communicated to the entire sector and to the public and private agents involved.

Finally, in the third phase, initiatives to support innovation were designed based on the results of the process, and these were piloted with third sector entities that have participated in the whole process.