Civil society organisations and social innovation

Civil society organisations are often described as flexible providers that step in where public services are absent or insufficient. That description is incomplete. In many welfare contexts, especially those experiencing transition or institutional fragmentation, civil society organisations also identify emerging needs, connect communities with institutions, introduce new service models and produce knowledge that public systems later adopt.

Research on social-service organisations in Bosnia and Herzegovina shows that civil society’s innovative role develops within a three-part relationship among public institutions, local organisations and international donors. This relationship can provide funding, legitimacy and access to global ideas. It can also create dependency, unequal power and pressure to reproduce donor-defined models.

Five roles civil society organisations can play

1. Needs interpreter

Community-based organisations are often close to groups whose needs are poorly represented in formal statistics or administrative categories. They can translate lived experience into a service problem that institutions recognise. This role is strongest when organisations have stable community relationships rather than contact limited to a short project cycle.

2. Connector and convenor

Complex social problems cross the boundaries of health, education, social welfare, employment and community life. Civil society organisations can convene actors who do not routinely work together and create a practical bridge between residents, professionals and decision-makers.

3. Adapter of external ideas

NGOs frequently encounter international models through donor programmes, transnational networks and professional training. Research describes “transcopy” as the active process of copying and adapting an idea to a different environment. The organisation is not a passive recipient. It interprets which elements fit, modifies delivery and negotiates the model with local actors.

4. Practice innovator

“Coactive novelty” refers to new solutions created through relationships and joint action. Civil society organisations can test ways of working that are difficult to introduce immediately within large bureaucracies. Their relative flexibility is valuable, but innovation still requires ethical standards, user participation and evidence—not novelty for its own sake.

5. Knowledge producer

When an organisation evaluates a programme, documents a method, trains professionals or contributes to policy debate, it turns practical experience into knowledge. This knowledge-construction role is essential for scaling and institutional learning. A service that exists only in the experience of a few staff members is vulnerable when funding or personnel change.

What public institutions and donors should do differently

Partnerships should recognise civil society organisations as knowledge and development partners, not only subcontractors. This means involving them in problem definition, allowing adaptation, supporting organisational learning and creating realistic routes to service continuity.

Donors can reduce project dependency by funding evaluation, documentation, partnership development and transition planning—not only direct activities. Public institutions can create transparent collaboration arrangements, clarify responsibilities, share relevant data within legal boundaries and consider how successful practices can be integrated into regular services.

Civil society organisations are not automatically innovative, and public organisations are not automatically resistant to change. The important issue is the relationship between actors. Social innovation emerges when their different resources—community trust, statutory authority, professional knowledge, funding and implementation capacity—are combined without erasing local ownership.

Dr. Aleksandar Bozic

Associate Professor at the University of Stavanger. His work focuses on social innovation, collaboration, civil society, migration and psychosocial services. Available for selected research, evaluation and advisory engagements.

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