Social innovations as a basis for sustainable development of the industrial region

Lipetsk State Technical University, Lipetsk, Russia

^* Corresponding author: zaumka84@mail.ru

Abstract

The aim of the work is to study the relationship between the sustainable development of an industrial region and social innovations. The paper highlights its features high-quality economic growth, the pace of socio-economic development, lean manufacturing, the introduction of high technologies, ensuring economic security, social innovations, considering the studied theoretical ideas about the essence and content of sustainable development of the industrial region. The author’s interpretation of the economic content of the concept of “social innovations» is justified. They represent qualitative changes in the areas of continuous reproduction of human and social capital to eliminate contradictions in economic interests and improve personal and public well-being. The features of social innovations (anthropocentrism, strategic nature, inertia, specificity, synergy, creativity, high degree of risk), reflecting their qualitative certainty, are revealed. The author argues that social innovations are a multi-faceted and rather complex economic category, the content of which should be considered through its types and forms of implementation. Using the example of an industrial region, the Lipetsk region, the authors studied such types of social innovations as the social contract and social entrepreneurship. As a result of the research, it is established that the social contract can be one of the sources of social entrepreneurship, which in turn determines the reproductive function of social innovations. Also, social innovations are an effective tool for improving the level of personal and public well-being by reducing contradictions in society and reducing social tension.