Social Innovation Linkages for Knowledge Exchange Network – Vietnam (SILKEN-VIETNAM)

SILKEN-VIETNAM will take the lessons learnt from the SILKEN project seeking to embed some of its initiatives at an institutional level within Vietnamese and partner UK universities. The project will establish ‘social innovation support units’ within six Vietnamese universities, partnering with similar units already operating within their UK counterpart institutions. The Units will offer five areas of activity:
Objectives
Curriculum development: to develop Social Innovation (SI) postgraduate programmes and embed undergraduate SI modules within the existing curriculum; create a virtual learning platform for remote training and international collaboration. These activities will aim to create a social innovation mindset among students, teach them new skills and enhance their employability. We will also provide training for academics in teaching SI and ‘place-based’ learning.
Research: the creation of an international peer review college, leading to the development of joint papers; a programme of seminars and training workshops focusing on specific thematic areas leading to a mini conference. The research programme will particularly focus on the development of ‘pracademics’ as well as opportunities for international publications and how to publish workshops.
Knowledge Exchange: specialized Social Innovation Support Units (SISUs) established for training and consultancy with external stakeholders, advocacy with policymakers and community engagement, as well as impact evaluation; through these activities, the units will strengthen the wider ecosystem and help drive policy toward greater social value creation. There will also be a focus on ensuring KE between HEI leaders in the UK and Vietnam, to ensure top-down buy-in at institutions for social innovation.
Internationalisation: using existing networks (SILKEN/GLOCAL) as well as a dedicate website, the units will identify and exploit international funding opportunities (e.g. Erasmus+ CBHE) as well as developing joint programmes and mobility exchanges. The resulting funded sustained collaborations will lead to greater intercultural competence and global citizenship among participants. We will link into our wider work across the world - HE in Hong Kong (which is developing a stronger impact focus) and other regional partners as well as further afield, such as Latin America.
Incubation: the units established will also support the development of new social enterprises and values-led companies through the establishment of co-working spaces, workshops in ideation and acceleration and international mentoring. This will lead to direct social impact through the creation and nurturing of new companies.