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; and to help implement and scale more personalised, community-based and cost-effective social services. We work with government, philanthropy, service providers and service users where there are significant gaps between government policy and practices on the ground. Our experience tells us that the main obstacle to systems-level reform is not usually a lack of innovation, but a lack of engagement with the real and complex challenges of bringing about systems change.

Drawing on international best practice, Genio has developed a method which combines:

• Supporting innovation that puts people at the heart of service design.
• Helping to build capacity of leaders within systems and organisations and embed long-term change.  
• Using an action research approach to solve complex problems in real time.
• Managing reform funding for cost-effective innovation and service reform.

Ireland and Europe

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 (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 2020 we launched the European Social Catalyst Fund (ESCF), an initiative designed to have significant impact on some of Europe’s most pressing social challenges. The ESCF was 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).