October 2006 Social Innovation International Conference

As a first milestone of China-UK Social Innovation project, a first-ever Social Innovation International Conference has been successfully held on 16-17 October 2006 in Beijing. The conference brought together representatives from over 15 countries including Brazil, India, Italy, Denmark, USA and Mexico as well as leading politicians from China and the UK at national, regional and municipal level, alongside the world leading experts and practitioners in this field. Representatives from leading multinational businesses involved in practical innovation and academics specialising in social innovation were also represented. More than 200 people attended the conference. The conference achieved big media coverage, being reported by 40 media, including many authoritative media, such as China Central TV, Beijing TV, China Daily, People's Daily and China Government Net.

Present were senior officials from China and UK, including Luo Haocai, Vice President of China Political Consultative Conference; Yuan Guiren, China's Vice Minister of Education; Zheng Guoan, Deputy Secretary of Ministry of Science & Technology; Mr. William Ehrman, the Ambassador of the United Kingdom in China; Mr. Richard McCarthy, Director General, Places Planning & Communities, Department for Communities and Local Government (formerly) Office of the Deputy Prime Minister; Mr. Gerard Lemos, Deputy Chair of British Council  and Mr. Geoff Mulgan, the Director of the Young Foundation.

During the two-day conference, participants from China and other countries shared their academic achievements and practical experience on social innovation around four themes-Overview of history, concepts, theory and contextualization of social innovation, Cases of Social Innovation in China and UK, Problem solving-Methods and practice, and Priorities for the next ten years'. They also had in-depth discussions on how to advance social innovation to a new level. In the discussions, the participants discussed many specific issues, e.g. aging, health, education, employment, climate change, sustainable Development, migration, housing, the role of government, the role of business, the role of NGOs as well as the role of Media. The participants were very active to air their opinions, which combined the situation of their own countries and the trend of international development.