Ecological frameworks as a strategy for social innovation in the built environment

The practice of social innovation, in which collaborative actions are developed as an integrated design approach to sustainable development is an increasingly popular strategy for building community resilience. Within that research context, we find novel approaches to planning in the built environment, informedby an ecology for cities. Emphasised by a trans-disciplinary approach in both analysis and urban design, collaboration among stakeholders can facilitate development resilient frameworks and strategies for sustainable development. Within a community ecosystem, feedback loops and multi-agency working inform approaches to socio-economic and environmental challenges. Hence a renewed interest among researchers in the ecology of an urban commons, with scholars from different disciplines coming together around the science of an ecology for cities. Part of a wider body of research, this study builds on a hypothesis that social innovation develops over phases of the network, framework and architecture –where knowledge transfer can inform more holistic understanding.