15 3. Social entrepreneurship, social enterprises, social economy: what is the difference? 2. Upscale social innovation into public policies 17 1. 1. Evaluating social innovation 17 2. 2. Social policy experimentation 18 3. Examples of social
innovation funded by the Structural Funds 21 1. Social inclusion 22 2. Migration 25 3. Urban regeneration 26 4. The social economy 29 5
the innovation agenda was focused exclusively on enterprises. There was a time in which economic and social issues were seen as separate.
Economy was producing wealth, society was spending. In the 21st century economy, this is not true anymore.
Sectors like health, social services and education have a tendency to grow, in GDP percentage as well as in creating employment,
and Urban Policy and DG Employment, Social affairs and Inclusion, with inputs by various other Directorates General (DG Enterprise and Industry;
On top of that, the ageing of Europe's population, fierce global competition and climate change became burning societal challenges.
the European platform against poverty and social exclusion, the Innovation Union, the Social Business Initiative, the Employment and Social Investment packages, the Digital Agenda, the new industrial policy, the Innovation
services and models) to meet social needs and create new social relationships or collaborations. It represents new responses to pressing social demands,
which affect the process of social interactions. It is aimed at improving human well-being. Social innovations are innovations that are social in both their ends and their means.
They rely on the inventiveness of citizens, civil society organisations, local communities, businesses and public servants and services.
They are an opportunity both for the public sector and for the markets so that the products and services better satisfy individual but also collective aspirations.
Stimulating innovation, entrepreneurship and the knowledge-based society is at the core of the Europe 2020 Strategy.
Social innovation describes the entire process by which new responses to social needs are developed in order to deliver better social outcomes.
Social demand innovations which respond to social demands that are addressed traditionally not by the market
is achieved through a process of organisational development and changes in relations between institutions and stakeholders.
Many EU approaches that involve‘stakeholders'are attempting to move in this direction such as the EQUAL programme (driven by the idea of changing the balance of power between users and providers4) and LEADER5.
Just like not all enterprises are social enterprises, not all innovations are social innovations. Compared to mainstream innovations,
and producing services, and Innovation in service firms, organisations, and industries organisational innovations and the management of innovation processes, within service organisations.
2008). 8 Hans Schlappa and Peter Ramsden http://urbact. eu/fileadmin/general library/URBACT 16 08 11 PRE BAT-3. pdf 8 involve widening the range of stakeholders and deepening their engagement in deliberative
a school, a university, a service centre, a train station, a business park, an ecomuseum, an incubator, a neighbourhood, etc.
They then co-design new proposals with stakeholders and users, in a participatory way. Their programme"La Transfo"has installed already social innovation laboratories in a number of French regions. http://www. la27eregion. fr Citilab is a centre for social and digital innovation in Cornellá de Llobregat,
Barcelona, using design thinking and user-centered creation as main methods. It is a mix between a training center, a research center and an incubator for business and social initiatives.
It sees itself as a center for civic innovation using the Internet as a way to innovate more collaboratively integrating the citizen in the core process. http://www. citilab. eu/en The Danish Business Authority (responsible for managing the Structural Funds),
Demand-led rather than supply-driven; Tailored rather than mass-produced, as most solutions have to be adapted to local circumstances
If successful there is a process of sustaining the new model in the implementation stage perhaps as a new venture or as a new policy within an existing institution.
the projects that should be implemented to become sustainable ventures and the ventures that should be scaled up to achieve systemic changes.
It is important that regional authorities design programmes that stimulate a pipeline of projects at each stage
Today, societal trends are perceived increasingly as opportunities for innovation. What's more, trends in demography, community and social media, poverty, the environment
health and wellbeing, or ethical goods and services are understood more and more as growth markets. Just think of the growing shelf space that green (organic) and fair trade products have conquered.
In addition, 9 Source: Young Foundation, Social Innovation Exchange 10 there is a real excitement around new entrepreneurial answers and solutions to the rapidly changing challenges that these trends raise.
Moreover, we already see a lot of business model experimentation the emergence of hybrid organisational models, horizontal business models designed to create at once economic and social value.
There is also a great need and potential for social innovation in the public sector. As social needs are evolving because of structural trends like demography and ageing,
Europe 2020, the EU's leading strategy, aims at a smart, sustainable and inclusive economy.
Four years into the crisis, Europe is facing unprecedented problems that have put in jeopardy its currency, economy and social model.
It is capable of integrating various stakeholders to tackle this jointly, through new ways of working together and involving users;
For that reason, the forthcoming Communication"Towards Social Investment for Growth and Cohesion-including implementing the European Social F und 2014-2020"(Social Investment Package SIP) emphasizes the importance embedding social policy innovation in policy making
As the regional level is close to the local and regional economy and social tissue with its place-based particularities, it is a good level to start to tackle these social and societal needs,
public authorities responsible for Cohesion Policy can consider the different realities, challenges and opportunities of the following six societal trends:
11 http://www. economist. com/node/16789766 12 Storper, 1997; Malmberg and Maskell, 1997 12 Demography:
the annual damage of climate change to the EU economy in terms of GDP loss is estimated to be between €20 billion for the 2. 5°C scenario and €65 billion for the 5. 4°C
The EU has set itself some ambitions targets to become a low-carbon economy, known as the 20-20-20 targets.
Bridging this digital divide can help members of disadvantaged social groups to participate on a more equal footing in the digital society (including services of direct interest to them such as elearning, egovernment, ehealth) and increase their employability and quality of life (Europe's Digital Agenda.
The trend of ethical goods and services: Fair trade and local production Shoppers spent €4. 36 billion globally on Fairtrade products in 2010, up by 28%from €3. 39 in 2009 (ILO.
which overlap and interplay, present huge challenges but also opportunities for social innovations. An important mind-shift is taking place.
and the specific ambition to become a leading social innovation lab into reality making a difference in the real economy.
/leaderplus/pdf/library/methodology/leader approach en. pdf 15http://ec. europa. eu/bepa/pdf/publications pdf/social innovation. pdf 16http://ec. europa. eu/enterprise
and increasingly social enterprises are moving into this space. This does not mean they replace the state,
Making public finance systems reward the most effective solutions is not easy in these fragmented and multilevel environments.
but also at the level of policy making. 3. Social entrepreneurship, social enterprises, social economy: what is the difference?
Social innovations can come from both the public and the private sector. When they come from social enterprises or the social economy,
it is most helpful to think of them as overlapping but distinct concepts. It is worth adding that one important,
but certainly not sole agent type spearheading Europe 2020 social innovations is the social enterprise.
Social enterprises are ventures in the business of creating significant social value, and do so in an entrepreneurial, market-oriented way, that is,
In this way, for example, population-representative 16 data on social enterprises in Hungary Romania, Spain, Sweden,
and the UK22 tell us that 75%of these ventures work on challenges relating to training and education (smart growth), economic, social and community development and social service delivery (inclusive growth),
and the environment (sustainable growth). Moreover, we observe that these ventures are introducing many more new-tothe-market innovations than mainstream businesses.
This suggests that social enterprises in particular, even though small in numbers (marginal or niche), nevertheless hold valuable insights and intelligence regarding social innovation for Europe.
The term social entrepreneurship is used to describe the behaviours and attitudes of individuals involved in creating new ventures for social purposes,
including the willingness to take risks and find creative ways of using underused assets. Social enterprises are driven not solely by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners.
The Commission uses the term'social enterprise'to cover‘an enterprise whose primary objective is to achieve social impact rather than generating profit for owners and shareholders;
which operates in the market through the production of goods and services in an entrepreneurial and innovative way;
which uses surpluses mainly to achieve these social goals and which is managed by social entrepreneurs in an accountable and transparent way,
in particular by involving workers, customers and stakeholders affected by its business activity.''23 Basically, this covers enterprises for which the social or societal objective of the common good is the reason for the commercial activity, often in the form of a high level of social innovation,
where profits are reinvested mainly with a view to achieving this social objective and where the method of organisation or ownership system reflects their mission.
The definition of social enterprise in national level varies across Europe. This is because social enterprises can take numerous forms,
are engaged in multiple spheres of activity and because legal structures vary from country to country.
In Finland for example, until recently the law only recognised social enterprises focusing on work inclusion.
Finally, there are frequent confusions between the terms social enterprise and social economy. Social enterprises are part of the social economy,
which also includes foundations, charities and cooperatives. Social enterprises are businesses trading for social purposes, within the (social) economy.
In a discussion on social innovation it is worth summing up by saying that not all social enterprises are innovative,
not all social enterprises are led by social entrepreneurs, and not all social entrepreneurs lead social enterprises.
No sector has a monopoly on new ideas and perhaps the most fruitful areas are where boundaries are crossed. 22 http://www. selusi. eu;
By social enterprises here, we mean ventures whose primary goal is to create significant social change,
and who do so in a market-oriented way, through generating own revenues, through selling services or products in the market.
The debate on the definition of social enterprises is also ongoing, just like for social innovation, see also the chapter on Social Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation in the OECD study"SMES, entrepreneurship and Innovation,
"http://www. oecd. org/cfe/smesentrepreneurshipandinnovation. htm 23 http://ec. europa. eu/internal market/social business/index en. htm 17 2. Upscale social
innovation into public policies Social protection schemes and policies in the Member States are at a turning point as they face a double challenge:
addressing immediate needs as a consequence of the crisis and in a context of severe budgetary constraints;
responding to emerging needs as a consequence of renewed social preferences and structural changes (demography, technological innovations, international competition.
Promoting social innovation within European societies and, more specifically, inside social policies, entails: -adopting a prospective view of needs/expectations/possibilities (instead of sticking to
what is obvious and consensual), consistently with a logics of investment; -mobilising a wide range of actors whose (non-)action has an impact on protection/inclusion/cohesion/well-being (instead of focussing only on the social professions;
-combining skills/backgrounds and cultures/business and public services to offer innovative responses (instead of focussing only on business products or, at the contrary, ignoring them.
Organisations that have experience of backing successful social ventures emphasise the importance of looking at the carrier of the project as well as the idea that they pitch. 24 European commission report on assessment and metrics of social innovation:
ec. europa. eu/enterprise/policies/innovation/files/socialinnovation/strengthening-social-innovation en. pdf 18 This means that the assessment has to look at the track record
Over time the innovative project idea itself may change as prototypes are tested and rejected, but by focusing on individuals and organisation with the drive to succeed,
These new approaches to measuring social impact such as social return on investment and social audit are explored in the report‘Strengthening social innovation in Europe:
, such as welfare-to-work programmes, provision of health services, education, early child development, access to public utilities, active retirement, etc.
They represent a unique opportunity to reconcile the analysis of societal expectations with the efficiency of social public finance.
'The European commission defines the overall strategic guidelines of investment and then agrees seven year investment programmes with the Member States which focus the resources on agreed objectives.
A Managing Authority for each programme, normally located within a national or regional ministry, is then responsible for launching the calls for proposals,
European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) The ERDF finances direct aid to investments in companies-in particular small and medium sized entreprises (SMES)- to create sustainable jobs as well as infrastructures linked notably to research and innovation telecommunications
, environment, energy and transport, but also social infrastructures like hospitals, schools and nurseries. The ERDF also provides financial instruments (capital risk funds,
It provides many opportunities for regional authorities to tap into to gain funds for social innovation.
Joint European Resources for Micro to Medium Enterprises-promotes the use of financial instruments to improve access to finance for SMES.
Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas-supports sustainable urban development and regeneration through financial mechanisms.
The Structural Fund regulations for 2014-20 offer new opportunities for social innovation. The following examples illustrate how cohesion policy has supported social innovations in the past,
1. Social inclusion 2. Migration 3. Urban regeneration 4. The social economy 5. Microfinance 6. Health and ageing 7. Incubation 8. Workplace
since the test person was still able to listen to the environment parallel to receiving instructions via his fingers,
From 2008 the social enterprise I-Cane Social Technology BV continued the works of the I-Cane foundation.
but is unattractive for those who seek a quick return on investment. Via support from the Social Economy network in The netherlands
Belgium and Germany the funds were raised to meet the matching requirements of EU ERDF (OP Zuid) and national grant arrangements.
close user interaction and cooperation between social enterprises and knowledge institutes can deliver world-class break out solutions. 36 www
or the low level of IT skills is a particular form of social exclusion resulting in serious barriers to having access to services, low participation in lifelong learning,
In this way, it links well to the Digital Agenda, another flagship initiative of the Europe 2020 strategy37. 21st century society increasingly demands digital literacy
and services and thus often face difficulties in finding solutions to their social, cultural educational, health or labour market related problems.
and their services are offered to local authorities. 25 2. Migration Public sector innovation immigration policy in Portugal Scaling up stage Portugal became an immigration country in the end of the 20th century.
The centres were to respond to a number of challenges identified by the immigrant clients including the range of institutions involved in the integration process, the lack of cooperation between Government services and their dispersed locations, the diversity of procedures, complex
bureaucracy, communication difficulties as a result of a cultural and linguistic diversity and the need to promote immigrant participation in decision-making.
Therefore, the CNAI Centres respond to these needs by providing various services related to immigration in one space with an identical working philosophy,
and support services under one roof, involving various Governmental and Non-governmental organisations. Intercultural mediators with immigrant backgrounds were recruited also and trained,
and facilitate interaction between State services and the immigrant population by forming an integral part of the procedures of Office of the High commissioner for Immigration and Intercultural Dialogue (ACIDI) the services
of which are financed co by ESF. Intercultural mediators usually come from immigrant communities themselves, speaking fluent Portuguese as well as at least one other language.
with only public servants. 3. Urban regeneration Most cities in Europe have problems of poor communities living in difficult environments.
and retail companies involved as well as foundations, welfare organisations and other stakeholders. Funding comes out of the EU funded Competitiveness programme for 2007-13 under a specific priority for sustainable urban and regional development, from federal government and federal state budgets and from the municipalities.
setting up communication structures; informing the population and administration; organising offers of cultural activities; promoting the local economy;
forming a link between the neighbourhood, city and other levels of decision-aking; and developing projects.
The neighbourhoods work with a wide range of stakeholders but the strongest emphasis is on citizen participation described as a‘red thread'.
The Local Support Group has a wide range of stakeholders including the municipality and municipal companies, local schools, police, childcare and social services,
Community programmes, trainings and events. 4. The social economy Social enterprises can play a unique role in identifying unmet needs and in developing new types of service.
According to the EU Social Business Initiative, the social economy employs over 11 million people in the EU, accounting for 6%of total employment.
The social economy can clearly play a role in regional development. The Emilia romagna region recently published a study on the importance of the social economy for territorial and social cohesion.
Its main conclusions are that public policies are the fruit of the combined contribution of public authorities and social economy organisations in the provision of public utility services, in
which the joint participation of both players is an essential requirement to ensure quality; and that publicprivate partnership is a tool to deliver more effective and efficient primary social services,
and deliver services in new and additional fields. In so doing, new forms of co-operation are established with the civil society
and stakeholders. 42 The social economy and social entrepreneurship are also a tool for social inclusion.
or provide social services and/or goods and services to persons in risk of poverty or exclusion.
Social enterprises are positioned between the traditional private and public sectors Although there is no universally accepted definition of a social enterprise,
their key distinguishing characteristics are their social and societal purpose combined with the entrepreneurial spirit of the private sector.
Social enterprises devote their activities and reinvest their surpluses to achieve a wider social or community objective either in their members'or in a wider interest. 43 However,
it constitutes a misnomer to refer to them as‘not for profit'(as is customary in the United states) as any enterprise needs to make a surplus
Many social enterprises operate a relatively complex‘hybrid'funding model. They do this by mixing income from grants
contracts and other revenue-generating activity such as the sales of goods or services. Some make sufficient income from their revenue generating activity to finance their whole operation (e g. social enterprise shops, pubs, restaurants etc..
Others use assets such as property to 41 Recent data tobe found on CIRIEC 2012.42 http://www. euclidnetwork. eu/news
Definition from DG Enterprise and Industry: http://ec. europa. eu/enterprise/policies/sme/promoting-entrepreneurship/socialeconomy/social-enterprises/index en. htm 30 generate rental income that cross subsidises their other operations
(e g. local development trusts and incubators. Community transport social enterprises often use some commercially run bus contracts to cross subsidise services for the disabled.
There is no single financing model and this can cause difficulties when social enterprises approach banks and public funding agencies for support as they are perceived as being either complex or inexplicable.
ERDF can support the development of social enterprise in a number of ways similar to the ways in
which it supports other types of businesses. These include finance for: business advice and guidance (business planning, coaching and mentoring, support with marketing) premises for start-up centres, incubators and single enterprise business premises innovation to develop new products,
services or ways of working helping to open up new markets for social enterprises by improving the commissioning
and procurement process (e g. through the inclusion of social clauses in public works and services contracts) Financial support can be delivered directly to individual companies, through social enterprise intermediaries,
such as social enterprise or cooperative development agencies, and through financial institutions. There are increasing numbers of financial institutions that specialise in investing in social enterprises and many of the new ethical banks specialise in this type of investment.
The UK's recently announced‘Big Society Bank'will be capitalised from the interest on dormant bank accounts
and will invest only in social enterprises. 44 The European Social Fund can also support social enterprises.
Firstly, it can strengthen administrative capacities and support structures which promote social enterprises. This can be carried out in particular through education and training, for example, by the integration of social enterpreneurship in the curricula of specific vocations,
or the provision of training improving the business skills of social enterpreneurs. Networking and the development of partnerships,
as well as the setting up of business development services for social enterprises can be supported too. Secondly
the ESF can mobilise extra funds targeted at the development of the social economy and the promotion of social entrepreneurship and easily accessible for social enterprises.
The social economy has different traditions in different parts and Member States of Europe. Some countries, like France, have a strong tradition in"économie sociale et solidaire,
"the social and solidary economy as they call it. They are gearing up with social innovation in its"newer"meaning
and initiatives are linked sprouting, often with the structural funds. For example, Avise, an official ESF intermediary, has launched a call for proposals with the aim to accelerate social innovation in the social economy
and thus help to find new answers to unmet needs in fields like employment, housing, ageing, childcare,
etc. 45 Market access for social enterprise is restricted still. Sometimes they are unable to compete for the award of public tenders against other SMES because of interpretations of national rules.
The example from the City of Nantes below illustrates how a procurement framework has opened a space for social enterprises to work directly with the private sector in helping disadvantaged people into employment.
Similar examples exist in other parts of the EU. The social enterprise Fusion 21 in the UK46 places apprentices
There are also social enterprises and cooperatives whose aim it is to save energy and reach a more sustainable society.
An example is http://www. rescoop. eu/.Supporting social enterprise at regional level: Yorkshire Key Fund and Social Enterprise Support Centre Pilot stage The Yorkshire Key Fund started out under the ERDF's South yorkshire Objective 1 programme in the 2000-2006 period.
It used the ERDF to finance social enterprises and entrepreneurs. Now, a decade later, the Key Fund covers all of Yorkshire and has also become the fund manager for a range of social investment funds in four neighbouring regions and sub regions (North West, Cumbria, North
East and North Midlands. With ERDF backing of £3million, the total fund size is £6m (about €7m at current exchange rates.
The Start and Grow Fund backs small start-up social enterprise projects with loans of up to €25,
The Grow and Prosper Fund backs new and existing social enterprises with loans of between €5000 and €50, 000.
For established social enterprises the loan size may go up to €150, 000. It can also take equity shares of up to 10%between €5000 and €25
Other funds have raised money for specific types of investment. For example, the Asset based development fund enables communities to raise money to buy public assets such as redundant schools or health buildings.
Social enterprises in Yorkshire also benefit from the Social Enterprise Support Centre (SESC) which provides nonfinancial support in business planning and strategic development;
and social return on investment. SESC helps social enterprises to become financially sustainable, deliver quality services,
and, where appropriate, supports them to gain and deliver public service contracts. 46 http://www. fusion21. co. uk 32 Using public procurement in an innovative way:
The City of Nantes Scaling up Stage The city of Nantes in North West France has been known for nearly 15 years as a leading innovator in using social clauses in public procurement to provide entry level jobs for the long term unemployed.
133 enterprises were mobilised through these works of which 39 are in public works and 66 in building construction;
75%of beneficiaries were accompanied by a local insertion company (a type of training and employment social enterprise.
as well as jobs for excluded people. 33 New forms of community based services The STEP Migrant one stop shop Pilot stage STEP is based in the small town of Dungannon, Northern ireland.
and gradually expanded its services using a combination of EU funding, contracts won in the province and grants.
To meet interpretation demands, STEP started a social enterprise and now offers 250 part-time interpreters across a wide range of languages.
They often work under contract for public bodies throughout Northern ireland. They also set up a subsidiary, Step Training Ltd (STL), providing training services.
In addition, they act as an incubator for new community organisations in the rural areas. They host the migrant children project‘BELONG
'and have plans to do future work on setting up a human rights centre. The centre employs 25 people
It has become the model for new services being delivered in Belfast. 34 5. Microfinance Microfinance
and to give opportunities for poor people to create businesses. In 2006 Mohammad Yunus and Grameen Bank were awarded jointly the Nobel Peace Prize for their work in developing
Crowdfunding is a new tool to finance projects or startup companies which is becoming increasingly popular.
supported by a Fisheries Local Action Group, in Charente-Maritime (France) Pilot stage The french Fisheries Local Action Group Marennes Oléron supported a project presented by the social enterprise
and organise the needs that the enterprise could satisfy. The Axis 4 of the European Fisheries Fund supported the investment needed to improve
and adapt the physical working conditions to make them accessible to people with disabilities. Employing injured or disabled fishermen the Atelier de Gens de Mer offers services such as net mending, maintenance of fishing boats and other harbour work.
The total Project Cost is €89 271.43, of which the EFF Axis 4 provided €19 994.98.1 1. https://webgate. ec. europa. eu/fpfis/cms/farnet/jobs-injured-fishermen-flag-marennes-ol%C3
They form the bottom of the enterprise pyramid and are the seeds from which most SMES and even large companies grow.
and managed by the European Investment Fund with a total fund of €160 million. It invests in microcredit providers
self employment and microcredit for Roma in Hungary Piloting Stage Kiút aims to support Roma to work in the formal economy by starting up a business.
loans and capital to budding entrepreneurs from ethnic minority backgrounds who are‘un-bankable'.'Through this support, they have set up micro enterprises and built up a successful credit record.
Women make up 75%of the client group. The project operates in Sweden's Katrineholm, Flen and Vingåkers municipalities.
and capital to clients but has helped already to raise the profile of microfinance in Sweden.
'Fejér enterprise agency: Innovating in microfinance by developing electronic credit assessment Implementation stage Fejér Enterprise Agency (FEA) 50 started its microfinance activities in 1992 with project funding from the EU Phare enterprise development programme.
It is based in Székesfehérvár, about 60 km to the west of Budapest, and takes its name from the Fejér County in the Transdanubian region.
advisory and training services in the region to start-ups and existing micro and small enterprises so as to improve their financial and social standing and living standards.
The most important activity of the agency is microfinance although the foundation also deals with training
and provides economic and financial advice. FEA has developed an Internet-based electronic service and a credit assessment management system to handle microcredit.
The system provides electronic services for both MFIS and their clients. This Internet-based system was selected as one of the five best practices by the scientific committee in the Microfinance Good Practices‘Europe Award'2009 announced by the Giordano Dell'Amore Foundation
Loans are provided to micro-enterprises, and to families to fulfil education and housing needs. With training support through the ERDF's JASMINE and investment from the European Investment Fund, its scale and reach has increased year on year.
Permicro now operates in 10 locations in northern Italy and has provided 1500 loans to‘un-bankable'people.
Permicro's has enabled 500 previously unemployed people to become economically active with micro-enterprises. http://permicro. it/38 6. Health
and ageing Health is a major sector of the economy in its own right and one of the fastest growing sectors.
New types of services are being developed to deal with an ageing population. These tend to be based more community
Finland has used the ERDF to co-finance a living lab focused on health and welfare services.
It combines technological advances with social innovations involving the user group plus all relevant stakeholders
bringing together public services and private enterprises. The Living Lab on Wellbeing Services and Technology, a social innovation producing user-driven innovations (Western Finland) 52 Piloting stage This Living Lab is a finalist or the Regiostars 2013 competition53.
It is an innovation platform that enables a new way of producing services for elderly people in a functional Public-Private-People partnership.
Users are participating actively in the product development, service design and usability testing processes. The testing of welfare services and technologies have taken place in real life contexts, in elderly people's homes and service homes.
The new collaborative structure consists of different stakeholders such as municipalities suppliers, citizens, the third sector, universities, regional developers, specialists, financiers and regional, national and international networks.
The created concept has increased trust between the actors. The Living Lab Testing Process is a systematic and concrete tool,
The new Cooperation Model improves business opportunities for companies and attracts new companies to the area.
It enhances innovation and economic development strategies in a concrete way. 51 See also the proposals of the"Towards a job-rich recovery"communication and accompanying staff working papers:
Companies that tested products in the Living Lab environment: Safera Ltd's cooking guards ensure the safe use of a cooker54;
As a result of this cooperation, a prototype of the intelligent mattress was developed and tested in the Living Lab Environment59.
and autonomy. http://www. alcotra-innovation. eu/progetto. shtml 41 7. Incubation The world of social innovation has a number of incubators and centres.
o an incubator for social enterprises and social innovation, owned by the City of Milan o the Hub Milan:
http://milan. the-hub. net/,a private initiative o Co-working and an incubator specialised in sustainable innovation, http://www. avanzi. org/english Antropia (http
://antropia. essec. fr/)is an incubator for social enterprises run by the Institute of Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship of the ESSEC business school in Île-de-France60.
the enterprises created through Alter'Incub will receive both physical space to operate and tailor-made business support.
Mars (CA)( http://www. marsdd. com/)is a social incubator which helps create successful global businesses from Canada's science, technology and social innovation.
Enviu (NL)( http://enviu. org/)is a foundation that was created to contribute to a better society through provision of advisory services
and promotion of projects promoting a sustainable economy driven by innovative entrepreneurship, which creates value for people and planet.
i-propeller. com/innovation-action-lab) is a centre for excellence on social business innovation and a trusted environment for open innovation.
Launchpad (http://launchpad. youngfoundation. org/about/about-launchpad) is a platform that develops promising ideas into new ventures by providing funding, social capital and entrepreneurial expertise.
The Australian Centre for Social Innovation-TACSI63 is focused an incubator on producing innovations by combining multi-disciplinary teams. 60 Financed by ERDF, http://iies. essec. edu/61 Financed
It has acted as an incubator to many projects and ventures some of which are located co at its London headquarters.
which formal incubation services are provided versus‘hosting',regular events and networking opportunities. 64 http://www. lcsi. smu. edu. sg/65 http://www. youngfoundation. org/66 http://www. mind-lab. dk/en
67 http://www. zsi. at 68 http://www. kennisland. nl/en 69 http://idea. gov. uk 70 http://www. openlivinglabs. eu
It was set up to support the area's move from heavy industry to an information and knowledge based economy.
Large scale implementation Denokinn72 brings together social enterprises, public authorities and the private sector to scale up successful innovations after they have been piloted.
which the cars could be put together in work inclusion social enterprises by those excluded from the labour market.
Workplace innovation concerns not only the private sector but also large parts of the social economy such as charities and foundations as well as the the public sector. Celebrated examples include Google,
Results based entrepreneurship in The netherlands Implementation stage Results Based Entrepreneurship (RBE) aims at stimulating technological and social innovation within SMES.
Advisors work with management and staff combining strategic advice with social innovation (improving communication, raising personnel involvement etc.
The improved teamwork promotes a collective ambition for the company's success encouraging new ideas, products and services.
Communication processes and information flows between and within teams have also been revised. As a result, participants have expressed that their autonomy
as a recent inquiry from Avise (Ingénierie et services pour entreprendre autrement) and the ARF (Association des Régions de France) shows.
Most of them see social innovation linked to the social economy and/or work organisation,
with a focus on human capital. It combines technological and social innovation. More than 3 000 people were involved in consultations which included surveys of citizens, interviews with experts, consultation committees and talks with organisations such as trade unions and business representatives.
the chief executive of the cooperative group Mondragon, representatives from three ministries as well as chief executives from leading enterprises in the region.
They are also exploring strategies to support the creation of new social firms (work integration social enterprises.
Ageing and new in-house services to help people age at home with a good quality of life and services.
they integrate workplace innovation, social dialogue and support to the social economy as key elements. 79 78 OECD Reviews of Regional Innovation:
and monitoring instruments regarding social investment. The forthcoming Social Investment Package (SIP) will reinforce the necessity of reexamining existing social policies in order to optimise their effectiveness and efficiency.
In doing so, it will translate a social investment approach as a framework for redirecting Member States policies towards greater investment throughout the life-cycle.
It is important to recall that progress made by Member States in implementing SIP will be assessed by the Commission as part of the European Semester.
and negotiation of Partnership contracts and Operational Programmes to take full advantage of the Social Investment Approach by early 2013.
which is capable to integrate various stakeholders to address social needs and societal challenges. Similarly, growing social problems more often have to be solved with fewer funding:
Guidance on programming social innovation in the Structural Funds 49 enterprises, etc. -on how this framework can be used for implementing social innovation in favour of policies
In a cohesion policy context, decisions on financing have to be in concert with the scope, the thematic objectives and investment priorities of the funds.
According to this, projects which integrate hard infrastructural investments, business support measures, investment into human resources and others are feasible.
In case one part of the envisaged actions fall under the scope of one fund and another part under the other,
which social innovation is addressed through an investment priority. The ERDF also specifically includes social enterprises under the investment priority for social inlcusion
and combatting poverty. At the same time, the European Social Fund foresees social innovation in all the policy fields which belong to its scope,
which means that it is supposed to take place through all investment priorities of the employment, education, social inclusion and administrative capacity building priorities or address the areas of these thematic objectives through a separate priority axis on social innovation.
the different types of investments will be made conditional to ex-ante requirements (ex-ante conditionalities. These are linked to the investment priorities.
Corresponding to the two, explicit and horizontal thematic approaches to social innovation described above, ex-ante conditionality differs according to investment priority.
A specific requirement linked to innovation strategies applies to the relevant investment priority under the research, technological development and innovation thematic objective in ERDF.
At the same time, conditionality sets are in place for specific investment priorities of the employment, education, social inclusion and institutional capacity building thematic objectives.
These ex-ante conditionality requirements, e g. the elaboration of national or regional strategies covering the respective policy areas
)).This provision demands Member States complement the 2017 and 2019 annual implementation reports of their operational programmes with specific information on actions in the field of social innovation.
Effective partnership means that all stakeholders national or regional authorities, social partners, civil society-can influence
setting up an implementation framework which enhances the involvement of the stakeholders with the best competences to address a specific need,
When enhanced partnership shall ensure a constructive institutional context necessary for accessing funds by all stakeholders,
which is meant to provide simpler funding for investments which address multidimensional needs. Social innovation is conceived often to address complex social problems which call for investment into human capital, skills, institutions, organisational structures, technology, equipment, infrastructure etc. at the same time.
The provisions of the new regulatory environment favourable to integrated responses with simultaneous interventions of more funds, are beneficial to programming
and implementing socially innovative projects. These provisions include harmonisation of rules applied to the CSF Funds (CPR Article 2:
means that social innovation can take place in all policy fields of the ESF investment priorities.
In terms of programming, the provision translates into the possibility to design social innovation programmes through every ESF investment priority.
The provisions on thematic concentration at least 60,70 or 80%of funding to be concentrated on maximum 4 investment priorities in each ESF OP
the 20%earmarking to social inclusion and the concentration on 4 investment priorities, social innovation will be linked closely to the policies contributing to Europe 2020 and supported by ESF.
langid=en&catid=327 83 Add reference to the call for tender on supporting services for social policy experimentation in the EU Call for Tenders VT/2012/081:
Support Services for Social policy Experimentation in the EU (http://ec. europa. eu/social/main. jsp?
and comprise one or more investment priorities (CPR Article 87.1). ) By derogation from this rule, social innovation interventions do not necessarily have to take place under specific thematic objectives and investment priorities.
Depending on the number of themes which have been selected for social innovation, the amount of funding allocated
Nevertheless, a systematic approach is ensured in those programmes too where social innovation takes place through the investment priorities under the thematic objectives by the obligation to explicitly set out the contribution of ESF actions to social innovation (Article 11.3 (b)).ERDF provisions
and one for social enterprises. Article 5 of the ERDF Regulation sets out the investment priorities under each thematic objective for this fund.
Thematic objective 1 on strengthening research, technological development and innovation, includes the following investment priority (b:"
"promoting business R&i investment, product and service development, technology transfer, social innovation and public service applications,
demand stimulation, networking, clusters and open innovation through smart specialisation"."This shows that social innovation is part of the wider concept of innovation,
moving away from'just'technology-based innovation. As investment in innovation, together with investment in energy efficiency and supporting SME's competitiveness, will be the main orientation for ERDF in the coming financing period,
this is a key investment priority. It is linked to the ex-ante conditionality on smart specialisation,
meaning that if regions/member states want to use ERDF funding for innovation, they need to present a research and innovation strategy for smart specialisation first.
and combating poverty includes the specific possibility for the ERDF to support social enterprises (9 (c))
. But there are more possiblities to include social innovation in ERDF investments under other priorities: Under thematic objective (2) enhancing access to and use and quality of ICT,(c)" strengthening ICT applications for e-government, e-learning,
there are already some existing examples in the current period like in the living labs. SME support measures could also apply to social enterprises:
thematic objective (3) on enhancing the competitiveness of SMES mentions the investment priorities (a) promoting entrepreneurship,
in particular by facilitating the economic exploitation of new ideas and fostering the creation of new firms and (b) developing new business models for SMES, in particular for internationalisation.
Thematic objective (4) supporting the shift towards a low-carbon economy in all sectors:(a) promoting the production and distribution of renewable energy sources;(
6) protecting the environment and promoting resource efficiency:(c) protecting, promoting and developing cultural heritage;(
and promoting ecosystem services including NATURA 2000 and green infrastructures;(e) action to improve the urban environment,
including regeneration of brownfield sites and reduction of air pollution. In thematic objective (8) promoting employment and supporting labour mobility,
the possible support for the development of business incubators and investment support for self employment and business creation can be very relevant for socially innovative start-ups.
and aid for structures providing neighbourhood services to create new jobs, where such actions are outside the scope of the ESF Regulation.
Apart from support to social enterprises, thematic objective (9) on promoting social inclusion and combating poverty also mentions:
and transition from institutional to community-based services;(b) support for physical and economic regeneration of deprived urban and rural communities;
It is very important that ERDF support to these investment priorities is coordinated with ESF investments.
such as Financial Instruments or Integrated Territorial Investments, which offer both new possibilities and wider flexibility to adapt to the specific nature of social innovation processes.
result indicators (option 2) Description of how Technical assistance resources will be used to support innovative activities (nature of support services envisaged;
the Social Investment Package (SIP) will provide a strategic approach for implementing social policy reforms. Social policies are as complex as the needs of the target groups they address.
http://www. pakte. at/attach/200606-reflection-note-inno en. pdf 87 Idem. 57 health care by e g. improving the accessibility of these services, the training of teachers and mentors, the development of curricula and the labour market
Therefore it is important that adequate funding is provided to all types of investment needs of the policies,
be it human capital investment or infrastructure, and this aspect has to be taken into account during the design of operational programmes.
Also, ERDF investment in health or education infrastructures, are impossible without compliance with the corresponding health and education strategies and reform plans,
also involving ESF investment. Joint planning is necessary. There needs to be complementarity between ESF and ERDF investments.
ERDF funding for productive investment in SMES can be coupled by ESF funding for retraining personnel, for example.
ERDF funding for networking, cooperation and exchange of experience between regions, towns and the relevant social,
when planning investments for innovation. Its aim is to boost the innovation potential of the region or member state,
it is necessary to ensure that social policy interventions with an infrastructure investment need are covered either by cross-financing
Is there a strong involvement of stakeholders and users? Up-scaling. Is the impact of the project or programme measured?
which is addressed, positive external effects, experimentation and risk taking and involvement of stakeholders. 88 BEPA definition:
bring various stakeholders together, put forward strategic thinking and support the generation of fresh ideas to overcome societal and social challenges.
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