Paper short abstract:

Adopting an approach based on the triple and quadruple helix models of social innovation, this paper analyzes two cases of innovative multi-stakeholder projects promoting inclusive employment of disabled people, the Accessibility Consortium of Enterprises in Japan, and the ILONA project in Finland.

Paper long abstract:

The employment situation of people with disabilities is difficult worldwide, and they face significant barriers in the labour market. Existing research shows that national policy frameworks differ markedly in promoting inclusive employment. Besides state-level policies, many countries have introduced specific innovative projects to help disabled people develop their working capacities. This paper explores such projects in Japan and Finland by adopting the concept of social innovation. Based on the triple and quadruple helix models, social innovation is understood as being developed through the interaction and collaborative efforts among societal stakeholders such as the state, academia, industry, and non-governmental organizations (NGO).

Two research questions guide the study: 1. What kinds of collaborative networks are established to design and implement innovative projects for supporting the employment of disabled people? 2. How are these projects carried out, and do they imply potential for developing best practices internationally? The focus is on multi-stakeholder collaborative targeted projects to enhance the inclusive employment of people with partial work ability. The cases discussed are the Accessibility Consortium of Enterprises (ACE) in Japan and the ILONA project in Finland.

Drawing from personal interviews of seven experts from the collaborative organizations, as well as documents, reports and policy papers, the study finds that both ACE in Japan and ILONA in Finland represent innovative projects to support the employment of disabled people. Here, Japan represents the triple helix model of social innovation as exemplified in the ACE collaboration among universities, companies and government. In comparison, Finland is characterized by the quadruple helix model in projects such as ILONA with collaboration among four stakeholders: universities, companies, government, and NGOs – the latter having a strong initiator role. The results contribute to prior studies by illustrating targeted support projects for disabled people in two advanced countries in Asia and in Europe, respectively, and imply potential for developing best practices internationally as well.