新作坊 Humanity Innovation and Social Practice

Surmountable Chasms: Networks and Social Innovation for Resilient Systems (不可跨越的鴻溝：網絡與韌性理論的社會創新)

摘要：

Complex challenges demand complex solutions. By their very nature, these problems are difficult to define and are often the result of rigid social structures that effectively act as “traps”. However, resilience theory and the adaptive cycle can serve as a useful framework for understanding how humans may move beyond these traps and towards the social innovation that is required to address many complex problems. This paper explores the critical question of whether networks help facilitate innovations to bridge the seemingly insurmountable chasms of complex problems to create change across scales, thereby increasing resilience. The argument is made that research has not yet adequately articulated the strategic agency that must be present within the network in order for cross scale interactions to occur. By examining institutional entrepreneurship through case studies and examples, this paper proposes that agency within networks requires specific skills from entrepreneurs, including ones that enable pattern generation, relationship building and brokering, knowledge and resource brokering, and network recharging. Ultimately, this begins to build a more complete understanding of how networks may improve human capacity to respond to complex problems and heighten overall resilience.

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複雜的挑戰需要複雜的解決方案。從本質上來看，問題往往難以被定義，且多為僵化社會結構所造成的「陷阱」。然而，韌性理論和適應的循環提供有用的框架，來理解人們如何跨越這些「陷阱」、走向社會創新來解決這些複雜的問題。本文在此探討此一關鍵問題：網絡是否能幫助推動創新、以彌合看似無法克服的複雜問題，從而在規模上創造變化、增強韌性。目前的研究，尚未能充分顯示策略的能動性一定要存在於網絡中才能發生跨範疇的互動，本文透過個案研究和實例，提出網絡內的能動性需要某些創業的技巧，包括能進行模式整合、建立或仲介關係、資源和知識的仲介、以及網絡的再加值。最後，這些使我們對網絡如何促進人們回應複雜問題、增進韌性有了更完整的了解。