International Social Innovation Research Conference 2025
We invite you to attend the 17th International Social Innovation Research Conference (ISIRC) in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. ISIRC is organized by the Social Innovation Initiative within the Office of the Vice-President (Research) Office and held at the University of Calgary from September 3-5, 2025.
ISIRC brings together academic researchers, policy makers, and practitioners from diverse fields interested in advancing social innovation and entrepreneurship from across disciplines. Join us to share learnings, best-practice, and to initiate new discussions to develop solutions to the multiple grand challenges we face.
Who should attend?
Keynote Speakers
Topic: Shaping Society with Social Innovation
Dr. Jurgen Howaldt
Prof. Dr. Howaldt is an internationally renowned expert in the field of social innovation and co-founder and chair of the European School of Social Innovation. Dr. Howaldt has co-edited the Encyclopedia of Social Innovation and the Atlas of Social Innovation. His research focuses on social sciences-based innovation research and social innovation.
Topic: Building a Complexity Informed Pedagogy
Dr. Katharine McGowan
Dr. McGowan is an Associate Professor in Social Innovation at Mount Royal University's Bissett School of Business. Her research focuses on social innovation, complexity, systems change, particularly through history, which includes resiliency and unjust transitions. She was also a post-doctoral fellow at the Waterloo Institute for Social Innovation and Complexity.
Topic: Circular Cooperatives - Prism for SI
Dr. Rafael Ziegler
Dr. Zeigler is the Director of the Alphonse and Dorimene Desjardins International Institute for Cooperatives and Associate Professor, Department of Management at HEC Montreal. His work is inspired by social innovations not only as a source of empirical materials, but as a spring of new ideas and concepts.
Topic: Creating Ethical Space in Social Innovation
Latasha Calf Robe
How might we meaningfully engage Indigenous peoples and hold space for Indigenous practice and worldviews in social innovation? Explore best practices in creating ethical space within social innovation research and practice.
Topic: Improving Societal Outcomes with SI
Dr. Filipe Almeida
Dr. Almeida is the president of Portugal Social Innovation, a pioneering government initiative that mobilizes European funds to promote social innovation and entrepreneurship. He is a professor and researcher at the Centre of Social Studies (CES/FUEC) and Centre of Cooperative and Social Economy Studies.
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ISIRC 2025 Activities
Cody Coates
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Hosted by the University of Calgary's Social Innovation Initiative within the Office of the Vice-President (Research) in collaboration with the Hunter Hub for Entrepreneurial Thinking, the Social Innovation Hub, Knowledge to Impact, and others.
The University of Calgary, located in the heart of Southern Alberta, both acknowledges and pays tribute to the traditional territories of the peoples of Treaty 7, which include the Blackfoot Confederacy (comprised of the Siksika, the Piikani, and the Kainai First Nations), the Tsuut’ina First Nation, and the Stoney Nakoda (including Chiniki, Bearspaw, and Goodstoney First Nations). The City of Calgary is also home to the Métis Nation of Alberta (Districts 5 and 6).
The University of Calgary is situated on land Northwest of where the Bow River meets the Elbow River, a site traditionally known as Moh’kins’tsis to the Blackfoot, Wîchîspa to the Stoney Nakoda, and Guts’ists’i to the Tsuut’ina. On this land and in this place we strive to learn together, walk together, and grow together “in a good way.”