As a global society, we are increasingly exposed to social and ecological stress. Climate change, pollution, poverty, terrorism, health issues, fundamental lacks in the organization of education and conscious evolution are just a few of the burning issues that we, so far, have not been able to effectively address. If this does not change, it seems to be a matter of conceivable time that the private and the public sector will be swamped by costs and challenges that will cause further crises on the micro- and the macro-level.

We have mainly co-created the burning issues ourselves. ­Obviously, many organizational and social formats, as well as individual consciousness, are not aligned towards societal ­renewal. Social innovation in contrast designs new social and organizational formats and reflects consciousness that addresses the challenges we face today.   In our corporate context, we see many opportunities to co-create a healthier society and, at the same time, increase the value of our business. This enables us to plant seeds for an organic transformation of our individual, organizational, and social systems.

The societal challenge

We live in times of transition. Today, the ecological footprint of Europe is -2.4 meaning Europe uses 2.4 planets in ­order to live its current lifestyle (Marc Luyckx Ghisi, The Knowledge Society – A Breakthrough toward genuine Sustainability). The US footprint looks even darker. ­Obviously humankind will not be able to continue its lifestyle as it is. Natural or human-driven catastrophes due to ­resource-issues and societal misbalances such as war or terrorism are ­possibly multiplying. We have to find ways to move towards a more sustainable lifestyle – on the individual, the organizational, and the societal level.

Our modern industrial paradigm does not work sustainably, neither from a social nor ecological perspective. ­Obviously, ­there is a link between the corporation‘s inability to act ­sustainably and the predominance of short-term financial targets. In the long term, we can assume that the organization will be swamped with costs due to social and ecological misbalances. For ­example, the link between carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions and climate change is widely accepted by politicians and mainstream media in developed economies. Therefore, policies are emerging that will penalize companies for CO₂ emissions. These penalties could easily range of between $10 and $50 per ton of CO₂ emitted (Gartner Top End User Predictions for 2010: Coping with the NewBalance of Power).