Center for Social Investment and Innovation

The Center for Social Investment and Innovations (CSI) is a central scientific institution of the Ruprecht-Karls-Universität in Heidelberg. The CSI was founded in 2006 when Helmut K. Anheier was appointed to Heidelberg.

The task of the CSI is to expand the understanding of social investments - i.e. all kinds of private contributions to the common good - in both theoretical and practical terms through research, teaching, networking and advice . It acts as a research center and service provider for the non-profit sector in Germany and Europe. In addition to Heidelberg University, the CSI is financed by the Robert Bosch Foundation , the Fritz Thyssen Foundation , the Deutsche Bank Foundation, the non-profit Hertie Foundation , the Manfred Lautenschläger Foundation and over 10 other private third-party donors.

With the CSI, Heidelberg University is implementing an interdisciplinary approach to the research field of social investments by establishing an institutional collaboration between the CSI and the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences, the Law and Theological Faculty and the Center for European Economic Research (ZEW) was created in Mannheim.

International research and excellence initiative

Based on the number of employees, the CSI is now the largest interdisciplinary research center on the non-profit sector in Europe (see Skoll Center of Social Entrepreneurship at Oxford University , Center for Nonprofit Management at Trinity College Dublin, Economic Research Institute at Stockholm University of Economics , Research Institute for Nonprofit Organizations of the Vienna University of Economics and Business ). Institute for Nonprofit Organizations at the Vienna University of Economics and Business.

International research projects (e.g. Feasibility Study on the European Foundation Statute for the EU Commission 2008), editorships (Journal of Civil Society, Global Civil Society Handbook, Civicus, International Encyclopedia of Civil Society) and internationally significant third-party funding (including funds from King Baudouin Foundation, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Stiftelsen Riksbanken Jubileumsfond, Compagnia di San Paolo) underline the international orientation and importance as well as the international standing of the work of the institute.

For the University of Heidelberg, the Center for Social Investments and Innovations is part of the future concept that is funded as part of the third funding line of the Excellence Initiative of the federal and state governments. The aim of this funding line is to support universities and institutions that use innovative measures to sustainably improve the research situation, promote young scientists and contribute to the international competitiveness and visibility of the university.

management

The scientific management of the CSI lies with Helmut Klaus Anheier, who previously conducted research at the London School of Economics and the University of California in Los Angeles. Anheier has published more than 250 publications. His articles include a. published in journals such as the American Journal of Sociology, British Journal of Sociology or International Sociology. He is also the founder and editor of the Journal of Civil Society, the Voluntas, the international journal for research on non-profit organizations, and the "Global Civil Society Yearbook" (Oxford University Press), the Culture and Globalization Series ( Sage) and editor of a series of books on non-profit and civil society studies (Springer). He has received numerous awards for his work, including: a. the "Award for Innovation in Third Sector Research" for the "Global Civil Society Yearbook", the "Johann Hinrich-Wichern Prize" or the "Award for Excellence in Nonprofit Research" from Ben Gurion University, Israel.

The managing director of the CSI has been Volker Then, who previously set up and headed the foundation and civil society division of the Bertelsmann Foundation in Gütersloh. Volker Then is a Senior Fellow of the Center for Civil Society of Public Affairs, UCLA, and a member of numerous boards and committees.

Research program

The central research topic of the CSI is social investments ( foundations , civil society and social economy ). For this purpose, national and international research projects are carried out with an emphasis on the European level. The term social investment describes in a narrower sense the distribution of capital in order to increase the social and economic well-being of people. However, democracy and civil society are not only based on money, but also on values, voluntary work, committed people and networks based on trusting relationships. The concept of social investment also helps to examine cases where the lines between the third sector, government and market are blurred. So-called hybrid organizations such as social enterprises, programs of corporate social responsibility , corporate foundations and public-private partnerships cross the boundaries between the state, the market and the third sector.

Completed research projects

Feasibility study for the introduction of the legal form of a European foundation for the EU Commission, completed in 2008

In 2007-2008, the CSI, together with the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg, carried out a study for the EU Commission, which was supposed to clarify the extent to which foundations in Europe have so far been active across borders and what barriers they face and whether and to what extent these barriers can be reduced. The study has been completed and is published in English on the website of the EU Commission.

The study comes to the conclusion that European foundations operate extensively across the borders of nation states, but that in some cases they encounter considerable legal barriers. The annual costs are estimated at between 90 and 100 million euros. This estimate only includes calculable costs that are primarily incurred for legal advice. The actual costs incurred are likely to be a lot higher. With the introduction of a common European legal form for foundations, the difficulties in cross-border activities could not be completely eliminated, but they could be significantly reduced.

Socio-economic added value analysis of communal housing projects, degree 2009

The concept of neighborhood-related, communal housing projects has been discussed intensively since the early 1990s. They are linked to the expectation that by activating engagement within the neighborhood they can contribute to increasing the quality of life of older people in need of support and to solving problems in the public welfare system. The analysis of the CSI and the Center for European Economic Research (ZEW) according to the social return on investment approach (SROI) examined for the first time how corresponding model projects affect the specific need for help of people in need of support, to what extent (moderated) joint activities the resident can supplement professional support services, which costs are incurred for the support (or by whom they are borne), and which improvements with regard to the quality of life and housing quality are brought about by the model institutions examined . The findings help to empirically support the debate about alternative forms of living in old age. They make it clear that society can benefit in a wide variety of ways and at all levels from communal housing models if the investments that are essential for social added value are made. - The results of the study are published in the volume "Zukunft Quartier - Habitat for Aging, Volume 3".

Civicus, graduated in 2008

In 2008 the methodology of the international Civicus Civil Society Index was fundamentally revised by the CSI in cooperation with CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation. The new methodology continues to use a combination of participatory and other research methods to provide an assessment of the state of civil society at the national level. In a further step, this assessment will be used to jointly develop goals and means that should strengthen civil society.

Global Civil Society Yearbook, 2009

The Center for Social Investment and Innovation in Heidelberg published the "Global Civil Society Yearbook 2009" in collaboration with the "Tata Institute of Social Sciences" in Mumbai and the "Center for the Study of Global Governance" in London. The 2009 Yearbook focuses on poverty and activism . The “Global Civil Society Yearbook 2009” explores the framework, strategies and effects of various actors in global civil society with regard to poverty and its eradication. The editors are: Ashwani Kumar, Jan Aart Scholte, Mary Kaldor , Marlies Glasius, Hakan Seckinelgin, Helmut Klaus Anheier.

Teaching

Since the winter semester 2008/2009, the CSI has been offering the master's degree "Master of Nonprofit Management and Governance", which provides background knowledge and specifics of management in the third sector. The focus is on the areas of strategy development, legal bases, governance and leadership. In the combination of social sciences and economics, law, theology and educational sciences, the course is consistently interdisciplinary.

In addition, a European training program for managers from the third sector is offered in cooperation with three other European universities: the European Program In Civil Society Leadership (EPICS). The cooperating institutes are the Economic Research Institute ( Stockholm School of Economics ), the Center for Nonprofit Management (Trinity College, Dublin) and the Research Institute for Nonprofit Organizations ( Vienna University of Economics and Business ).

Network, publications, events

In the third sector, the CSI serves as a platform for the development of new ideas, as it brings together executives from practice, experts from politics and scientists at national, European and international level. As part of a fellowship program, foreign researchers spend periods of one to several months at the CSI to take part in the colloquia and discussions and to advance their own research projects on issues relating to the third sector. The previous fellows include internationally renowned researchers such as Prof. Kathleen D. McCarthy, director and founder of the "Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society" in New York and Prof. Benjamin Gidron, director of the "Israeli Center for Third Sector Research and School of Management "at the Ben Gurion University of the Negev, in Beer-Sheva, Israel.

The CSI oversees the publication of the scientific journal "Journal of Civil Society", which was previously published by the Center for Civil Society at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). In addition, the CSI is the publisher of the publication series "Social Innovation", which is published by VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften .

With the biannual series of events in Berlin "Network Politics, Science and Civil Society", the CSI offers interested members and employees of the German Bundestag, academic colleagues and representatives from practice to answer questions about civic engagement, non-profit status and social investments.

The CSI offers a regional forum for discussing practical aspects of its research work with the "Heidelberg Foundation Talks" series of events, which is also held every six months.

Web links

• Official website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from March 2, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original dated November 14, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from May 1, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ http://www.csi.uni-heidelberg.de/anheier.htm
5. ↑ http://www.csi.uni-heidelberg.de/downloads/Award%20GCSYB.pdf
6. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from January 13, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
7. ↑ Andreas Schröer: Inquiry: What are “social investments”? In: CSI report . No. 1 , June 2008, p. 3 ( online [PDF]).
8. ↑ Helmut Anheier, Andreas Schröer: Civil Society: Considerations on new developments and research agendas . In: BBE newsletter . No. 16 , 2008 ( online [PDF]).
9. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original from October 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
10. ↑ Network: Social redesign (ed.), Zukunft Quartier - Living spaces to get older, Volume 3. Social impact and "Social Return" - A socio-economic added value analysis of community housing projects , Gütersloh 2009. ISBN 978-3-86793-047-5 .
11. ↑ http://civilsocietyindex.wordpress.com/csi-in-2008-an-overview/
12. ↑ http://www.uk.sagepub.com/booksProdDesc.nav?prodId=Book233321&currTree=Subjects&level1=J00
13. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from January 30th, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
14. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original dated May 31, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
15. ↑ http://www.csi.uni-heidelberg.de/fellow.htm
16. ↑ http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titles/17448689.asp
17. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from September 7, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
18. ↑ [1]  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
19. ↑ http://www.uni-heidelberg.de/presse/news09/pm290310-1umz.html