Unleashing the power of collective social innovation to tackle complex issues around the world

From movements to mutual assistance to building coalitions, people throughout history have initiated and sustained social change through collective approaches. This work can address complex problems that cannot be tackled by individual actors alone. Instead, collective approaches bring together diverse groups to share knowledge, co-create solutions, advocate for evidence-based policies and aggregate data, resources and funding.

But the major transitions the world is facing today – including rapid economic, technological, geopolitical, environmental and social change – call for a rethink of how we do collective work. New ways to address these challenges will go beyond products, services and delivery models to instead focus on transforming the ways in which people collaborate for change.

Collective social innovation lays the foundation for large-scale social impact, which enables groups and organizations to have far-reaching effects. A new report by the Schwab Foundation, The Future is Collective: Advancing Collective Social Innovation to Address Society’s Biggest Challenges, shows how collective social innovators are creating systems that will be more equitable and sustainable for generations to come.

Three key benefits of collective social innovation include:

Collective social innovation unites diverse groups that have not worked together before, developing shared narratives that enable cooperation, role alignment and sustained work over time. These shared narratives provide a way for participants to find common cause while still allowing for flexibility in goals and approaches.

For example, the world’s largest Indigenous conservation alliance, the Amazon Sacred Headwaters Alliance, has brought together 30 Indigenous nations that were previously fragmented. They have developed a Bioregional Plan to help protect 86 million acres of bioculturally-rich rainforests that are critical to maintaining the earth’s hydrological cycle.

Similarly, US-based nonprofit Community Solutions is working in nearly 250 communities worldwide to solve homelessness. Its work aims to shift the dominant belief that homelessness is intractable to a new narrative that homelessness is solvable – when place-based partners come together to implement shared metrics and strategies.

Collective social innovation enables new relationships and engagement among diverse stakeholders, including partners, funders, investors and policy-makers. By encouraging collaboration, particularly between the private and public sectors, this can reduce fragmentation and tap into a wealth of ideas and resources for solving complex problems.

The Financing Alliance for Health brings together governments, donors, private-sector companies and communities to assemble and deploy an unprecedented amount of funding – nearly $660 million – for primary and community healthcare systems in Africa.

German nonprofit, ProjectTogether, also aggregates funding by bringing together governments and private sector organizations to pool funds supporting collective action projects. In 2024, ProjectTogether pooled €4.5 million for initiatives supporting democracy, refugee integration and sustainable nutrition and agriculture.

Collective social innovation emphasizes proximate leadership and the inclusion of grassroot actors in the change process. By tapping into the real-world experiences of the communities they serve and involving them at all stages of the process, collective social innovators can strengthen their agency and drive their own solutions. This approach shifts entrenched power dynamics and nurtures networks of communities to create lasting change.

A notable example is Shikshagraha, a people’s education movement that is dedicated to improving public schools in India. Through multi-stakeholder collectives and district- and community-level sub-collectives, Shikshagraha is able to harness the ideas and participation of tens of thousands of school leaders to deliver micro-improvements across 74 school districts.

The Tamarack Institute for Community Engagement is another example of how collective social innovation can build agency. This network of 180 local collaboratives across 500 municipalities in Canada deploy localized, unique approaches to end poverty across the country.

Collective approaches are not new, but the size and complexity of social challenges have grown immeasurably in recent years. It’s no longer adequate to respond to these challenges through the work of isolated organizations, groups and institutions. Solutions are more likely to be found at the intersections of sectors, disciplines and communities.

In an era of deep fragmentation and polarization, collective social innovation provides a pathway to inclusive and sustainable solutions. It is not merely an alternative approach, it is an essential aspect of working in an interconnected, complex world. By recognizing the power of collaboration and investing in mechanisms that enable collective action, we can create a more equitable, resilient and interconnected world.

The time for isolated efforts is over. The future is collective.

Francois Bonnici, Director, Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, also contributed to this article.