Editorial
Editorial

Summary/Abstract: For this edition of the Social Work Review we have invited social work academics and practitioners to submit articles focusing on innovative approaches to social work practice, research, and education that highlight the unique contributions that social work can bring to social innovation. Innovation is a generic term with a wide range of meanings that are still under scrutiny. The most enduring question is if innovation in any given field should be understood strictly as new, state-of-the-art approaches, bound to replace the old with new, more efficient ways of doing and thinking things, or if it should embrace an extensive meaning that includes adaptations of traditional ideas and processes that form a bridge between past and novel developments. Whether the function of innovation is to completely (re)invent or to facilitate the transition from an established way of doing things to an improved one, the expectation of a positive change is implicit to any proposal that strives to be innovative. Thus, rather than framing innovation within a narrative of competition between “the old” and “the new”, there is perhaps more value in seeing it as the pinnacle of the ground-breaking ideas resulted from incremental progress attained during time. Thus, the mix between acquired knowledge and skills and the orientation toward positive change within a creative mindset becomes central to an extended definition of innovation, that can include both inter- and trans-disciplinary approaches.

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