Transformative Social Innovation Theory project

TRANSIT (TRANsformative Social Innovation Theory) is research project that will develop a theory of transformative social innovation, by studying how (networks of) social innovation contribute to systemic societal change. Examples of case-studies include Living Knowledge science shops, time banks, Makerspaces and FabLabs, Transition Towns, eco-villages and energy cooperatives. TRANSIT studies how these phenomena operate through 20+ transnational networks across Europe and Latin America. A main research question is how people are (dis)empowered in contributing to systemic change in the context of a rapidly changing world that faces ‘game changing’ developments such as e.g. economic crises, climate change and the ICT-revolution.
The aim is to build a theory of transformative social innovation that is useful not only to academics, but also to practitioners. TRANSIT aspires to create an iterative interplay between interdisciplinary theory formation, empirical research through in-depth fieldwork and statistical analysis, and a transdisciplinary translation to practical insights and capacity building tools.
TRANSIT is an EC-funded FP7 research project coordinated by DRIFT (Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands), and involves twelve research institutes from across Europe and Latin-America.