ERUA’s annual conference SOCIN 2025  provides a platform to explore the theory and practice of social innovation. The 2024 conference was focused on “the role that universities play in critiquing, questioning, nurturing and developing social innovations”. The 2025 SOCIN conference, organised under the aegis of ERUA and the Safina-Vitality project, coordinated by the University of Macerata, invites scholars, academics, practitioners, innovators and policymakers to rethink the very idea of innovation for societal benefits and to explore inclusive, interdisciplinary, and critical approaches that move beyond conventional paradigms. We encourage submissions that investigate the many dimensions of (social) innovation; the factors that are shaping the landscape of innovation and social change; the role of education within the field; how research can actively respond to shifting societal needs, foster inclusive benefits, and engage meaningfully with communities. Innovation may be a buzzword, but innovative solutions to complex societal challenges, global crises, and ‘wicked problems’ remain a priority in policy discourse. Starting from this premise, the SOCIN 2025 conference aims to stimulate lively and productive discussions, to showcase good practices, and forge new collaborations around a topic of great relevance to our academic and non-academic communities.”