The study of theoretical foundations of social innovation activity becomes a popular issue since in the scientific environment the issues related to the definition of concepts “social innovation”, “social innovation activity” are still debatable, and the aspects related to the methodology of managing social innovation activity remain understudied. The purpose of the research is to study the theoretical aspects of social innovation activity. The article presents the evolution of the concept “social innovation” and its characteristic features. The approaches to the interpretation of the above concepts are structured, in contrast to the existing position in the scientific literature both in the first and in the second case, it is concluded that it is necessary to use an integrated approach. According to this, social innovation is defined from the standpoint of taking into account not only its focus on the best solution of social issues, but also aspects related to its institutionalization. The results of monitoring the quality of labor potential of the population in the Vologda Oblast conducted by the team of the Federal State Budgetary Institution of Science “Vologda Research Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences” in 2016 and 2018, expert survey in 2018, data from the sociological research of the Russian Public Opinion Research Center and the Public Opinion Fund are used as an informational framework. It is demonstrated that social aspects of innovation activity are manifested in the qualities of innovators themselves. Among the latter are the wish to benefit the society through their work, the desire to help others, personal experience in innovation and acquaintances in this sphere, willingness to build partnership, participation in social and political activities and other social processes. It is revealed that implementation of innovative transformations is prevented by low level of claims, economic passivity, unpreparedness to social and technological innovation and behavioral conservatism of the population. The study evidences that the nature of activity, the degree of readiness for the implementation of new technologies and social practices can affect the results obtained in the course of social innovation activity and, as a consequence, the emergence the state of satisfaction. The areas of further research are related to identifying the drivers and barriers that contribute to and hinder the development of social innovation, as well as the development of a conceptual model for the implementation of social innovation in the region
Keywords
social partnership, innovation activity, social innovation, social innovation activity