Genio Trust
Genio’s expertise is in scaling social innovations to solve complex problems. We do this by helping to bring stakeholders together to navigate the pathway through the challenges of system reform. We are particularly interested in the scaling of citizen-centred, community-based, cost-effective innovations. We work with the public sector in Ireland and the EU, philanthropy, service providers and end-beneficiaries. Key to our approach is that the intended beneficiaries are at the heart of the design to ensure reform is grounded in the real world of people’s lives. Evidence resulting from studies in Ireland illustrates the benefits of person-centred approaches in terms of both quality of life, cost savings and cost avoidance. Genio applies an action research approach to informing the rollout of complex change efforts where there are strong, differing views across stakeholders about the nature of the problem and the ways in which it should be addressed. Action research uses a cyclical method to promote shared problem-solving and focuses on resolving implementation challenges in ‘real-time’ as they emerge.
In Ireland, Genio is currently working in the areas of disability, mental health, homelessness and addiction. We work closely with our programme partners to reform services to adopt and implement proven innovations (e.g. the Department of Health, the Health Service Executive, the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government, the Dublin Region Homeless Executive and Local Authorities), in many cases underpinning national reform programmes.
In Europe, we lead the European Social Catalyst Fund (ESCF) consortium. This is a new initiative designed to have significant impact on some of Europe’s most pressing social challenges. The ESCF has been established and co-funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, Genio (Ireland), the Robert Bosch Stiftung (Germany) and the King Baudouin Foundation (Belgium).