Abstract

The research project "Impact assessment and dissemination potential of social innovations for sustainable consumption - FoSInKo" investigated whether it is possible and useful to monitor the impact and dissemination of social innovations for sustainable consumption. Two objectives were pursued:

1) The impact and dissemination of social innovations for sustainable development
better understand consumption.
2) A concept for regular monitoring of social innovations for
sustainable consumption in order to systematically analyse their effects,
distribution and potential.

Monitoring the impact of social innovations is also an important part of the German government's new "National Strategy for Social Innovations and Enterprises for the Common Good "1 . This is the German government's response to numerous stakeholders and initiatives whose ideas have the potential to transform production and consumption patterns. However, their achievements and effects are often not yet visible. This is also due to the fact that the monitoring of social innovations for sustainable consumption is challenging, because:

- Their offers and activities are very diverse.
- Available and comparable data are rare.
- Monitoring should be both detailed and practicable.
- Recording qualitative performance and effects is time-consuming.

The FoSInKo project has developed a monitoring concept that shows the effects of social innovations for sustainable consumption in the three dimensions of social, ecological and economic impact. In addition to analysing the impact, a key component of the concept is a regular stakeholder panel. This records the spread and diffusion of the innovations and asks those involved about their motivations and obstacles. The objectives of the monitoring concept are to visualise the effects as contributions to the socio-ecological transformation, to create a database and to compare the effects achieved by the initiatives with the goals they have set themselves in order to derive impulses for their further development.

This brochure offers a compact introduction to the topic of monitoring and presents the central project results in a clear and application-orientated way for initiatives, associations and interested stakeholders. For a detailed presentation of the conceptual foundations, the development of the survey instruments and the complete set of indicators, please refer to the FoSInKo discussion paper, which is aimed at academic stakeholders and practitioners who wish to explore the topic in greater depth or set up their own monitoring programme.2

Authors
Degel, Melanie; Ludwig, Katrin; Fülling, Julia; Harms, Carlotta; Steiner, Paula; Kraudi, Anne
Fields of research

Energy, climate and infrastructure