The social innovation concept is increasingly core in the debate about the welfare systems in Europe. This word does not consider every innovation of social policies, but it proposes a new paradigm. The focus is, at the same time, both on the capacity to give answers to new social needs and on the development of new social relations. This paper will try to use this concept for analyzing the current changes of the welfare systems.
Keywords: Social innovation, social capital, empowerment, participation, governance