The concept of social innovation gained new meaning at the beginning of the 21st century, when Geoff Mulgan and his colleagues (The Young Foundation, NESTA) developed a comprehensive model to describe the life cycle of social innovations.
The “six-step model” developed by Murray–Caulier-Grice–Mulgan (2010) interprets innovation not as an isolated event, but as an iterative, learning process that follows the path from the birth of an idea to its social embedding.

The model distinguishes six main phases:

1. Problem identification and inspiration: deeper understanding of social challenges, data collection, stakeholder analysis.
2. Idea generation: development of new solution directions, often in collaboration with several sectors (e.g. state–civil–business).
3. Prototype development: creation of experimental models, testing feasibility in a real environment.
4. Implementation: introduction of a successful prototype, establishment of an institutional background.
5. Diffusion: the adaptation of working solutions by other organizations and communities.
6. Embedding and sustaining: the long-term stabilization of innovation, when the new practice becomes the norm.

One of the main lessons of the model is that social innovation is not linear, but a cycle full of feedback, in which experience and adaptation play a key role.

This logic is particularly suitable for interpreting urban pilot programs and community innovations, because it pays attention not only to creation, but also to the learning and sustaining dimensions.