Jürgen Howaldt

As sociologist, Jürgen Howaldt is mainly known for his conceptual work on social innovation. Together with Michael Schwarz, he developed a concept of social innovation based on social theory, which describes social innovation as a new combination and/or new configuration of social practices with the goal of better satisfying needs and answering problems than is possible on the basis of established practices. He refined this perspective, which regards social innovation as part of a new innovation paradigm, in a series of national and international research projects. From 2014-2017, he was scientific coordinator of the international research project SI-DRIVE. He has been chair of the European School of Social Innovation, since 2017, and represents the TU Dortmund University at the EU-SPRI-Forum since 2019. He has been member of the expert group “Transfer and Cooperation“ of the German Rector’s Conference since 2017 and has been member of the advisory board of the Project “WISIH: Paths and indicators of social innovations driven by higher education institutions in the field of Nursing Science and Occupational, Organisational and Business Psychology“. Since 2021 he is member of the Advisory Board of the Social Innovation-Hub ERA-Chair, Nova School of Business and Economics and member of the Programme Jury “Society of Ideas”, German Ministry of Research and Education. Jürgen Howaldt is co-editor of the Atlas of Social Innovation.

After his studies in Social Sciences, Howaldt became a researcher at the Social Research Centre Dortmund (Sozialforschungsstelle Dortmund) in 1990. In 1993, he became the coordinator of the research unit “organisational development, -consulting, and industrial relations” and in 2002, he was appointed as managing director. He was adjunct professor at the faculty of human and health sciences at University Bremen from 2003 to 2005. In 2005, he became honorary professor at the faculty of social sciences and economics at TU Dortmund University. After the integration of the Social Research Centre into the TU Dortmund University, in 2007, Jürgen Howaldt was appointed as professor of organisational sociology and work, in 2009. Since 2020, he is professor of social innovation and work at the newly established faculty of social sciences

In 1982, Jürgen Howaldt began his studies of sociology at Bielefeld University and concluded them in Duisburg (Social Sciences) in 1989. Having successfully graduated in Social Sciences at Gerhard-Mercator-University of Duisburg, he completed his PhD on the role of sociology in processes of organisational development at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Economics, TU Dortmund University in 1996. In 2005, he successfully defended his habilitation at the faculty of human and health sciences of the University Bremen. In his habilitation thesis, Howaldt focussed on new forms of knowledge production from a sociological perspective

Jürgen Howaldt (born 1960 in Duisburg) is a German sociologist. He is professor of Social Innovation and Work at the Faculty of Social Science, TU Dortmund University. and director of Social Research Centre Dortmund, TU Dortmund University. Jürgen Howaldt is mainly known for his conceptual work on social innovation.