This week social innovation moves from the margins to the mainstream with the launch of President Obama's new Office of Social Innovation and a new push in Europe from President Barroso to link innovation strategy to social goals

Over the last few years a movement has been taking shape globally that's advocated a radical shift in how society organizes innovation. The social innovation movement has argued that societies should invest not just in hard science and R&D but also in experimenting with new social solutions, from microcredit to low carbon living. It's argued that the best way to manage change is not just through implementing new policies on whole populations but through testing and experiment on a small scale, often involving civil society and social entrepreneurs.

This week marks a major breakthrough. In Washington President Obama has announced that he will have an Office of Social Innovation in the White House. In Europe President Barroso and several of his commissioners are taking part in a two-day event to rethink how Europe supports and accelerates social innovation.

Around the world the field is rapidly becoming established. Denmark has been integrating innovation into the work of its main government departments, from tax and social affairs to industry. Italy has set up a bank for social enterprise (Banca Prossima). Australia and New Zealand are both setting up centres for social innovation; Spain is setting up a ‘Social Silicon valley'; Korea's Hope Institute has been at the forefront of using the web to link citizen ideas to government. Foundations in the US have been experimenting with new forms of social investment, as well as using online collaboration to speed up problem solving.

Geoff Mulgan, director of the Young Foundation, said: ‘The economic crisis has helped to move social innovation from the margins to the mainstream. While the bulk of resources have gone into bailing out the banks and big industries, there's growing recognition that societies need to speed up testing and diffusion of programmes that can really deliver results for less money and alleviate the worst harm of the recession. On both sides of the Atlantic attention has turned to investing systematically in social creativity, whether in relation to climate change, ageing, or the challenges of hyperdiverse cities. Few dispute the need to invest in technological innovation. But more are now recognizing the need for much broader strategies for ‘recovery through innovation'.