Under the patronage of Prince Faisal bin Bandar bin Abdulaziz, governor of Riyadh, the forum aims to create positive influence, support social entrepreneurship and promote the concept of social creativity.

In its second edition, SIF will bring together leaders of social entities, projects and practitioners from around the world to communicate and exchange ideas on social innovation.

SIF first launched in Madinah in the western region of the Kingdom.

Al-Harthi told Arab News: “In this past year since the first launch, we concluded agreements that allowed us and our partners to collaborate with eight universities, all of which are convinced that they introduce the culture of social innovation into educational materials and into semester activities.”

The universities include Taibah University, the University of Prince Mugrin and Qassim University.

The forum seeks to stimulate a global movement in social entrepreneurship, provide a platform for learning and knowledge exchange, and promote partnerships between regional and global entrepreneurs.

Al-Harthi added: “Social innovation can be profitable while reflecting positively on people’s lives. Social innovation can be profitable, nonprofit, or even both.”

The forum’s agenda includes more than 20 sessions, lectures and workshops, where experts and specialists in the fields of social innovation and social entrepreneurship will take part.

The sessions will host more than 200 local, Arab, and international speakers from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait, the UAE, Lebanon, Vietnam, South Africa, Denmark, Sweden, UK, US, the Netherlands and Italy.

This year, SIF will announce and honor the winners of the 2023 Sindyan Award for Social Innovation.

The award is the first of its kind in the Kingdom and will be given to five winners on the opening day.