ERNOP Online Series 2024-2025
Creating Work Environments for Social Innovation: How Philanthropic and Nonprofit Organisations Can Assess and Increase Their Capacity to Innovate
June 3, 2025, 10-11am (CET)
Speakers: Reinhard Millner (WU Vienna) & Jurgen Willems (WU Vienna)
Discussant: Priscilla Boiardi (OECD Centre on Philanthropy, NetFWD)
About this seminar:
Social innovation has become a key concept in both academic discussions and policy debates. While its benefits for individuals, organisations, and society are widely acknowledged, there remains a significant gap in understanding how to cultivate an organisational work environment that enables social innovation.
This ERNOP Science and Society webinar will explore how nonprofit and philanthropic organisations can foster work environments that enhance organisational learning and social innovation competency. The session will provide insights from the research project Maturity Assessment of the Social Innovation Work Environment (MAT*SIE) and discuss how organisations can strategically assess and improve their innovation capabilities.
The MAT*SIE framework evaluates an organisation’s innovation environment through a set of dimensions, including work social capital, infrastructure, continuous improvement, autonomy, and outward orientation, to provide organisations with a clear picture of their current capabilities. MAT*SIE identifies strengths and weaknesses in these areas, offering organisations a structured approach to assess and improve their innovation capabilities.
The second part of the webinar will feature a discussion moderated by Priscilla Boiardi from the OECD Centre on Philanthropy, focusing on the practical applications of the MAT*SIE framework for nonprofit and philanthropy practitioners. This interactive part will provide strategies for assessing and strengthening organisational environments to support social innovation, while also offering attendees the opportunity to ask questions, share experiences, and explore how these insights can be applied in their own work.
Register for the webinar here
About Reinhard Millner
Reinhard Millner is Director of the Center for Social Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation and Senior Researcher at the Competence Center for Nonprofit Organizations and Social Entrepreneurship at WU Vienna. His research focuses on Social Entrepreneurship, Social Innovation, Impact Investing, and Social Impact Assessment. He also serves as Academic Director for the Executive Master Programme on Social Innovation and Management at WU Executive Academy.
About the Center for Social Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation
The Center for Social Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation at WU Vienna supports the development of social entrepreneurship by conducting research, organizing knowledge transfer and creating learning designs. Serving as an academic hub, it connects social entrepreneurs, universities, social investors, and public institutions to foster innovative solutions for social challenges.
About Jurgen Willems
Jurgen Willems is Professor of Public Management and Governance at WU Vienna. His research focuses on citizen-state interactions, civic engagement, network governance, and the impact of new technologies on public management. He holds a PhD in Economics and Psychology and has worked at institutions such as the University of Hamburg and Vlerick Business School.
About the Institute for Public Management & Governance
The Institute for Public Management & Governance at WU Vienna focuses on addressing key public sector challenges through interdisciplinary research and practical insights for public managers and policymakers. The institute conducts diverse research projects in collaboration with national and international partners and provides specialized teaching in public and nonprofit management at various academic levels.
About Priscilla Boiardi
Priscilla Boiardi is leading the work on impact in the Private Finance for Sustainable Development team at the OECD. Priscilla is working on a wide range of initiatives, in particular policies and standards that governments can adopt to maximise the impact of their investments made in sustainable development. Priscilla sits on a number of EC project selection committees, on the Methodology Committee of Social Value International (SVI) and on the Advisory Board of the Social Impact Agenda for Italy (SIA). Before joining the OECD, Priscilla was Research and Policy Director at EVPA (the European association of venture philanthropists and impact investors), leading the research, policy, training and dissemination activities, supported by the European Commission. Priscilla has over 15 years of research experience, first as a Research Associate at the Vlerick Business School and then as a PhD candidate at the Catholic University of Leuven.