This chapter lays out the objectives, background and conceptual framing of the report. It first introduces the discursive and policy changes or innovations that characterize the contemporary "social turn", a shift in ideas and policies that has reasserted social dimensions in development agendas since the World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen in 1995, but often failed to support more transformative social change that addresses root causes of poverty, inequality and unsustainable practices. Section 2 presents the conceptual framework used in the report and identifies types of innovations that are potential drivers of change processes, and potential pitfalls in these processes.