BEPA would like to thank all the participating services for their very useful work and comments, especially reflected in part II of the report, namely DG AGRI,
3. 2. 1. The social economy...37 3. 2. 2. Microfinance...39 3. 2. 3. Incubation...
3. 3. 5. Social innovation and the environment...46 3. 3. 6. Regional strategies...47
3. 4. Social entrepreneurship to revive the social economy...49 4. Conclusion: scanning the future to shape the future...
What will social enterprise look like in Europe by 2020?..54 The way forward...55 Improve governance in relation to social innovation...
Support, encourage and improve the business environment...56 PART II Main developments in EU policies...
1. 3. The environment and resource efficiency...69 a. Making energy an integral part of governance
the Social Investment Package (SIP...71 2. Main programmes, action plans and supporting schemes...75
3. 1. 5. Create an optimised regulatory environment...100 3. 1. 5. 1. Simplification of the European Cooperative Regulation...
3. 1. 5. 4. European Statute for other forms of social enterprises such as nonprofit enterprises...
102 3. 1. 5. 5. Reform of public procurement: enhancement of quality in the award process...
3. 2. 2. Access to venture capital †The European Venture Capital Funds...105 3. 2. 3. The European regulatory framework for social investment funds
the European union Social Entrepreneurship Funds (Eusef...105 3. 2. 4. The development of microcredit/microfinance...
3. 2. 5. Crowdfunding for social entrepreneurs...108 3. 2. 6. The EIF impact investing scheme...
the use of capital accumulated in social enterprises and in particular asset locks...109 7t A b L E O F C O N t E N t S
3. 3. 1. 1. Mapping of the social enterprises sector, business models economic weight, tax regimes, identification of best practices...
3. 3. 1. 2. Database of labels and certifications of social enterprises...110 3. 3. 1. 3. Social innovation prizes...
3. 3. 2. 1. Networks of Incubators for Social Innovation...113 3. 3. 2. 2. Social Innovation Europe (SIE...
3. 3. 2. 6. Multi-stakeholder platform for corporate social responsibility...118 3. 3. 2. 7. Policy innovation design...
focus on financial profit and more on real demands or needs is indeed an attractive premise for reconsidering production and redistribution systems
In this context, social innovations, which are emerging all over the world, are still small in scale,
-rent economic system of redistribution y the 2013 International Labour Organisation report2 notes that, in advanced econ
Inside the European commission, the number of services involved has grown and a †social innovation†culture has spread in support of the Europe 2020
Some of these services have developed strong legal and institutional mechanisms aimed primarily at supporting social innovation.
-es, where the Social Business Initiative (SBI) is supported by a permanent stakeholders group (GECES) and a list of 11 actions to be followed up.
In other policy areas, some services upgraded the policy relevance of social innovation y Transport and mobility are viewed now as areas of potential for innovation with a
innovation to support the uptake of new services (shared electric vehicle fleets and development of new logistics services
y At present, innovation in the humanitarian aid sector is focused almost exclusively on technological innovations. However, when looking at long-term risk and the de
health and consumption, communication or technology The services that have been involved most in this matter from the beginning (Employ
-ment and Social affairs, Enterprise, Regional Policy, Agriculture, and Research and Inno -vation) have increased substantially their contributions
Finally, even internally, the European commission increasingly uses participatory train -ing courses and events for human resources in a more socially innovative way
active participation of all Commission services, reflecting their increasing involvement in supporting social innovation The first part of the report discusses the general context in which these policies and
innovation, based on the contributions of participating services PART I Social innovation a new path 12 S O C i a L I N N O V A t I O N †A d E C a D E O F
economic concepts of capital and investment have become social policy instruments and corporate social responsibility is shifting from being a matter of charity to one of
-agement science to describe the environments where social innovations emerge, grow and thrive. We will explore how this concept can help to defragment mental †silosâ€,
economy organisations, the banking and finance sector and the academic and uni -versity sector play an active part in the consultative multi-stakeholders group set
up by the Commission in 201210 and large groups of citizens all over the world are
developing ethical investment products, including †social and environmental impact financing†y the institutions are also changing:
services to users and involve stakeholders; and y last but not least, ideas, the third corner of the action triangle, have developed also
How business, government and social enterprises are teaming up to solve society†s toughest problems, William D. Eggers and Paul Macmillan (Harvard Business review press, 2013
investment models, development and evaluation methodologies from an empiri -cal as well as a conceptual perspective and the underpinnings of social innovation
systems and services and how they contribute to poverty reduction, combating inequali -ties and changing lifestyles.
and the views of stakeholders. Empirical research has helped to identify where change is happening and needs to be encouraged.
The rise of the collaborative economy †from Airbnb (the social networking service for bed and breakfast) to car sharing
-teristic of the recent period which goes beyond just inventing new business models Digital social innovation is a new kind of innovation enabled by the network effect of the
which radically change the competition and supply and demand equations of traditional business models. On this issue, a study conducted by a consortium of partners15 is cur
-rently building a map of digital social innovation actors and networks In this context, there are some challenges for the EU
y First, in the reconfiguration of the economy which is currently taking place under the influence of network giants, how is Europe to take advantage of open and col
better and more social innovation to engage stakeholders, citizens, geeks and civil society communities in the innovation process cannot be neglected.
accepted their exploitative business models in exchange for free services. This deal not only undermines privacy and weakens data protection,
ensure some basic services at European level, on top of which a whole new open ecosystem of services and appli
and the platform determines which services, products or spin-offs are supported. The aim should be to turn the current passport into an open source mesh-networked device;
collaboration between the public and private sectors, based on a multi-stakeholder model, in order to define the minimum level of sensible regulation allowing fair competition in the emerging areas of big data
17p A r T I †S O C i a L I N N O V A t I O N, A n E w P A t H
idea was to find a renewed impetus for a laissez-faire market-based economy, rejecting the centrally planned
In other words, market economics and social security do not exclude each other but which comes first? Two different schools of thought gave a different meaning to this
economy was the conceptual framework for the †German economic miracle†and deemed critical for ensuring economic †prosperity for all†and social justice.
ideals of freedom, social justice and economic growth are now being revisited. 19 This short history of the term gives some idea of its heuristic but ambiguous mean
as pointed out by The Economist, 20 the †social market economy†broadly refers to the study of the different social institutions
The four freedoms (free circulation of goods, services, capital and people) at the heart of
competition, specialisation and economies of scale, improve the efficiency of the alloca -tion of resources and drive economic integration within the EU. The question is:
this driver be geared solely to economic growth or should it serve the goals of social as well as economic cohesion?
market and the social dimensions of an integrated European economy can be mutually strengthened. â€
Josã Manuel Barroso, inviting former Competition Commissioner, Mario Monti, to prepare a report setting out recommendations for an initiative to relaunch the Single Market
20 http://www. economist. com/economics-a-to-z/s#node-21529660 21 Article 3 of the Treaty on European union states:
for the sustainable development of Europe based on balanced economic growth and price stability, a highly competitive social market economy, aiming at full employment and social progress,
-es (or services of general economic interest) as being at the centre of social concerns
This was a window of opportunity to enable bottom-up creativity, particularly in the way services are delivered
and matching the needs of users The Monti Report raised the need to reinforce the Single Market through a series of
-ing †new emerging business models in which social, ethical or environmental objectives are pursued alongside financial profitâ€,
-proaches and acquired interests in the sphere of the social economy, and different un -derstandings in Europe of what constitutes a social enterprise or business.
As acknowl -edged in an OECD report on social entrepreneurship25 †e ven if social entrepreneurship
as an activity is developing quickly around the world and social innovations are appear -ing everywhere, these are both relatively recent fields of research
A term like social entrepreneurship tends to overlap with terms such as social economy, third sector, nonprofit sector, social enterprise and social
entrepreneur, some of which are also ill-defined and overlapping. Moreover, definitions are context-sensitive, in the sense that the geographical and cultural contexts matterâ€
to an overly narrow definition, social entrepreneurship should be defined on the basis of three main characteristics
y profits were invested mainly in achieving this social objective; and y the organisation and ownership used participatory principles aiming at social justice
y social entrepreneurship should be placed in the main †engine room†of European integration: the Single Market raised social innovation to a new level of recognition
25 SMES, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, contribution of Antonella Noya (OECD, 2010 20 S O C i a L I N N O V A t I O N †A d E C a D E O F
allowing major instruments such as public procurement directives or competition policy to engage with the development of this †emerging†sector;
-logical and economic systems. The concept of an ecosystem †which in biology refers to an environment where different, sometimes competing, species can complement each
other †has been used in particular by Michael Porter, 28 who underlined that the tradi -tional framework of industries made up of competitors,
suppliers and customers does not pay enough attention to the many other actors and environments in an industry:
the organisations making complementary products, the infrastructure on which the organi -sation depends, and the various institutions, people,
An ecosystem†s framework, in contrast, incorporates the broader environment within which organisations operate. It captures the elements of Porter†s economic analysis
their promoters (social entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, etc. must leverage complex sys -tems of interacting players in rapidly evolving political, economic, physical and cultural
environments. Moreover, the more innovative the initiative, the more likely it is to come up against the aversion to change of those who have stakes in the system as it is
-tion-friendly environment where social innovations can grow and to address not only the apparent cause but also the underlying problems.
responsible for the Single Market (M. Barnier), Employment and Social affairs (L. Andor) and Enterprise (A Tajani
27 The Social Business Initiative was launched with a Communication on corporate social responsibility and a
building and recognition tools such as incubators, hubs, forums, prizes and research in methodologies, benchmarking and impact measurement are the main components
connections, the administrative, economic and legal environment has to be enabling Where the priority objective is to solve a problem of a social or societal nature, people
Social entrepreneurship (or intrapreneurship), the main vector to channel action in this field is often small,
Communication technologies create very large and open spaces for the self-organisation and mobilisation of society which enlarge the scope of civil
experimental grants to investments in large projects likely to bring substantial social benefits in the medium to long term (e g. investment in the social integration of prison
-ers to eventually reduce crime. As illustrated in the Malmoì example mentioned below this can even include regrouping investments to achieve the same social objective and
involving stakeholders and end users can often double or treble the impact of budgets and or investments
29 cf. for example SOS (http://www. groupe-sos. org 30 http://www. websourd. org/;/http://www. websourd-entreprise. fr
/31 http://codeforamerica. org /32 R. Thaler & C. Sunstein, Yale university Press, 2009 33 https://webgate. ec. europa. eu/socialinnovationeurope/directory/switzerland/event/digital-social-innovation
Incubators to generate the birth and growth as well as tools to exchange, compare and value are other essential components of the social innovation
The fourth ingredient to create a fertile environment for initiating innovative practices of a disruptive nature is to develop evidence of a different nature that is likely to work
and actions aimed at promoting social enterprises and supporting the development of a conducive ecosystem where it exists as well as the current state and dynamics of social
investments markets. This was only done for 11 Member States. 36 It studies the following issues for these countries:
the concept of social enterprise; public support schemes; whether marks and labelling schemes are in use, the social investment markets.
Finally, it assesses the opportunities and barriers for each country. This first exercise shows wide differences amongst Member
States regarding the degree of maturity of the ecosystem. In countries with a long tradi
-tion of social economy like Italy and France, a variety of well-established tools have been
public support systems for social business is still in its infancy but in great demand In itself, this study is a resource for policymakers, social entrepreneurs and stakeholders
in social business in general as it provides timely information on when, where and how social entrepreneurs can find an understanding and friendly environment to initiate, de
-velop and scale up social enterprises 1. 3. 3. Examples of ecosystems for social innovation As mentioned above, the growing importance of social enterprises in the EU social inno
-vation policy framework emphasises the importance of developing an enabling environ -ment made of specific instruments,
a more understanding environment and to develop innovative tools (e g. European Partnerships) to stimulate interaction between actors in
fertile ground. A large number of public or private actors at national and local level can
Local authorities together with welfare services and local economic actors have a vested interest in identifying more efficient solutions to address concrete
-pean economies and societies has been underlined in many EU documents. 39 The Guide to Social Innovation, published in 2013,
a new competitive advantage for European economies, showing that social and environ -mental value creation is central to the human and ecological sustainability of societies
since developments in research and innovation policy, enterprise and industry in particular 40 This is the terminology used by EU institutions (Commission, Parliament, Economic and Social Committee) to
frame the notion of social impact in the Eusef (European Social Entrepreneurship Funds) and Easi (European
post-crisis economy Both micro-level measurement (how successfully a social enterprise is contributing to this goal) and macro-level measurement (social enterprises grow in an ecosystem com
-posed of a favourable governance framework, capacity-building tools and learning pro -cesses) have become necessary
Measures of the success/impact of social innovation is shared the increasingly idea that †economic outcomes have for a long time been the main indicator to measure the
This was followed by a Communication on GDP and Beyond †Measuring progress in a changing world, 48 highlighting the need for new instru
non-tradeable goods and services that contribute to wellbeing Against this background, we examine below the need for social impact measurement
47 http://ec. europa. eu/environment/beyond gdp/index en. html 48 COM (2009) 433 final 49 http://ec. europa. eu/environment/enveco/pdf/SWD 2013 303. pdf
50 www. betterlifeindex. org 25p A r T I †S O C i a L I N N O V A t I O N, A n E w P A t H
emergence of a wider diversity of funding sources for innovative ventures with a so -cial objective from the public and private sectors.
responds, where legislation permits, to calls to †crowdfund†social ventures. This is good news as one of the major barriers to the development of social innovation identified in
charities, foundations and public support, in particular when growth capital is needed to engage in long-term ventures
This aspect has raised considerable attention, in particular at EU level, since the launch of the Social Business Initiative.
The Commission†s Communication on the Single Market Act II56 highlighted the need to develop methods for measuring the social and economic
benefits generated by social enterprises in the implementation of the Eusef57 and the programme for Employment and Social Innovation (Easi.
of the Commission†s consultative multi-stakeholder group on social enterprise (GECES 55 As illustrated in part 2 of this document
57 The Regulation on European social entrepreneurship funds (Eusefs) was published in the Official Journal on
Together with the Regulation on European venture capital funds (Euveca) and the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD), this Regulation aims to make it easier for AIFMD-exempt
venture capitalists and social entrepreneurs to raise funds across Europe without the requirement to comply with the full AIFMD regime.
The range of eligible financing tools/investments under the Eusef Regulation is wider than those available for venture capital funds under the EVCF Regulation
58 The third axis of this programme focuses on microfinance and social entrepreneurship with a fund of EUR
86 million over seven years to provide grants, investments and guarantees to social enterprises which can
demonstrate that they have a †measurable social impact†27p A r T I †S O C i a L I N N O V A t I O N, A n E w P A t H
was tasked with providing the Commission with guidelines on how social enterprise can measure their social impact on the community
In order to meet the needs of social enterprises, funders and policymakers to achieve comparability in reporting and monitoring, to limit the costs of the assessment to the
size and scope of the venture and to allow an approach that respects the diversity of
social enterprises as well as the need to cope with change and improvement, the GECES advocates a process for social impact measurement
2) identify stakeholders; 3) set relevant measurement; 4) measure, validate and value; 5) report, learn and improve
All stages should involve active stakeholder engagement. In particular, the number and range of indicators should be agreed between the social enterprise, beneficiaries or
service users as well as investors, allowing for lighter and cheaper processes for small ventures. The dynamics of involving all stakeholders (from investors to service users
is designed to maintain the balance between the overriding need to deliver measurable social impact and the need for a profitable operation that can meet investor expecta
-tions The report also includes guidance on reporting standards for social impact measurement and indicators,
in particular in raising awareness and facilitating stakeholder engagement. This idea is reinforced by the opinion on social impact measurement of the European Economic and
y guidance to assist social enterprises, funders, fund managers and investors in all EU Member States in complying with the standards proposed
y the development and consolidation of measurement frameworks with stakeholder participation y the development of reporting formats;
In the wake of demands from stakeholders, the issue of social innovation and its econom
the Communication on the social dimension of the EMU, 60 which proposes social indica -tors and actions to complement economic reporting.
funding possibilities, crowdfunding, more access to public procurement, etc. and the ques -tion of social value creation is being discussed widely.
The press has echoed more than usual to the financing of the social economy in general but also to associated financial innovations such as social impact bonds
or crowdfunding. As explained in sub-section 1. 4. 2, several activities have been de -veloped at European level.
investments intended to create a positive impact beyond financial returns. The study noted that the rigour of
of poor people for the sake of profit and system drifts 29p A r T I †S O C i a L I N N O V A t I O N, A n E w P A t H
-ernise European economies and their social model to meet societal expectations. Public sector innovation as a positive way to respond to budget constraints has indeed, for
lic services. For instance, the impact of new technologies researched and tested through large-scale pilot schemes on e-Government, e-Health, e-Inclusion, e-Participation and
to improve the provision and delivery of services In 2012, the Group of Innovation Commissioners spurred renewed interest in this area
-SIS) with a view to improving its ability to benchmark the innovation performance of the public sector in Europe.
64 http://ec. europa. eu/enterprise/policies/innovation/policy/innovation-scoreboard/index en. htm 65 http://ec. europa. eu/enterprise/policies/innovation/files/epsis-2013 en. pdf
66 http://ec. europa. eu/research/innovation-union/pdf/psi eg. pdf 33p A r T I †S O C i a L I N N O V A t I O N, A n E w P A t H
y Adopting an attitude of experimentation and entrepreneurship (government itself needs to become bolder and more entrepreneurial
and facilitate innovation in the work of the Commission Services y Enabling Innovation: to establish a network of Innovation Single Contact Points in all
to establish an Accelerator for Digital Innovation and a Public sector Angel Fund y Informing Innovation:
and services pose at local level and which many cities or local communities need to
Structural Funds are meant to emulate new ideas and entrepreneurship 71 http://ec. europa. eu/regional policy/sources/docgener/presenta/social innovation/social innovation 2013. pdf
one hand, a factual Europe-wide study on A Map of Social Enterprises and their Eco-sys
of theory building and conceptualisation, local welfare systems and services, poverty reduction, combating inequalities, and changing lifestyles
Identification of social enterprises †to develop an operational definition that can be used to identify, measure
and map social enterprise across Europe and thus pro -vide the basis for carrying out the remaining research tasks
Measurement, characterisation and mapping of social enterprise †to collect through primary and secondary research) and analyse data on the scale, characteristics
and patterns of development of social enterprise in each country studied Task 3: Legal and standards mapping †to map (a) legal †labels†and frameworks de
-signed exclusively for social enterprises where these exist;(b) corporate law aspects of the three legal forms most commonly used by social enterprises in each country stud
-ied;( (c) legal and regulatory barriers to creation and growth of social enterprise; and (d
marks, labels and certification systems designed for social enterprises Task 4: Mapping of public policies and social investment markets †to provide an
overview of national policies, schemes and actions aimed at promoting social entrepre -neurs and social enterprises and supporting the development of a conducive ecosystem
where these exist; and, the current state and dynamics of social investment markets in Europe;
and Task 5: Developing recommendations for EU action †to develop recommendations for future research and policy action to support the growth of social enterprise in Europe
This is the very first time that researchers have carried out such a systematic and broad overview of existing traditions and legal, public policy and investment conditions for the
development of social enterprises 72 http://ec. europa. eu/internal market/social business/docs/expert-group/20131128-sbi-sector-mapping-study
en. pdf 37p A r T I †S O C i a L I N N O V A t I O N, A n E w P A t H
3. 1. 2. Social innovation research in the European union The EU Socioeconomic Sciences and Humanities Programme is the second main source
However, in view of increasing demand from policymakers and practitioners alike for social innovations and the emerging possibili
groups of stakeholders and the broader public in a comprehensive way The point that comes to the fore is that this report is a stocktaking exercise,
where stakeholders can more easily be mobilised on concrete issues. In order to scan the scope of empirical develop
3. 2. 1. The social economy According to the EU Social Business Initiative, the social economy employs over 11 mil
-lion people in the EU, accounting for 6%of total employment. It covers bodies with a
The social economy can clearly play a role in regional development. For instance, the Emilia romagna region has published a study on the importance of the social economy
73 Jane Jenson and Dennis Harrisson in Social innovation research in the European union †Approaches, findings
fruit of the combined contribution of public authorities and social economy organisa -tions in the provision of public utility services, in which the joint participation of both
players is an essential requirement to ensure quality; and that public-private partnership is a tool to deliver more effective and efficient primary social services,
deliver services in new and additional fields. In so doing, new forms of cooperation are
established with civil society and stakeholders The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) supports the development of social
enterprises as it does for other types of businesses. Financial support can be delivered directly to individual companies, through social enterprise intermediaries, such as so
-cial enterprise or cooperative development agencies, and through financial institutions There are increasing numbers of financial institutions that specialise in investing in so
-cial enterprises and many of the new ethical banks specialise in this type of investment The European Social Fund (ESF) also supports 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, through
the integration of social entrepreneurship in the curricula of specific vocations, or the provision of training improving the business skills of social entrepreneurs.
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 of †à conomie sociale et sol
-idaireâ€. They are gearing up with social innovation in its †newer†meaning and initiatives
are linked sprouting, often with the Structural Funds. For example, Avise75 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
Market access for social enterprises is restricted still (even if the provisions of the new directives on public procurement76 adopted by the European parliament and the Coun
compete for public tenders against other small and medium-sized enterprises (SMES because of interpretations of national rules.
framework has opened a space for social enterprises to work directly with the private sector in helping disadvantaged people into employment.
•133 enterprises were mobilised through these works •75%of beneficiaries were accompanied by a local insertion company (a type of training and employment social
enterprise 40 S O C i a L I N N O V A t I O N †A d E C a D E O F
is a joint initiative of the Commission, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Eu -ropean Investment Fund (it is financed out of the ERDF
y The ERDF, which provides support for setting up and growing microfinance y The EU PROGRESS Microfinance facility †a fund managed by the European Invest
Kiã t aims to support Roma to work in the formal economy by starting up a business.
The world of social innovation has a number of incubators and centres which are crucial
economy such as charities and foundations as well as the public sector. Celebrated examples include Google, which allows employees to spend 20%of their time on their
Denokinn 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
Results-based entrepreneurship in The netherlands Results-based entrepreneurship (RBE) aims at stimulating technological and social innovation within SMES
Advisers work with management and staff combining strategic advice with social innovation (improving communication, raising personnel involvement, etc.
and so stimulating technological innovation. The improved teamwork promotes a collective ambition for the company†s success encouraging new ideas, products and
services Business support is given through Social Innovation vouchers. Firms can use these vouchers to hire an expert to help
economy, education, culture Portugal has to restore economic growth, employment, and make long-term structural reforms at all levels, but
especially at institutional and economic levels (public sector, public services, competition, etc To help address this challenge,
and even though its action is limited to Lisbon, the SCML opens up to the world collects best practices
entrepreneurship). ) The BIS also promotes social business by bringing together people who have interests in sustainable
and a creativity competition was held in about 250 schools A social investment fund is being launched,
which is necessary and the main current concern for the BIS. A key obstacle is the lack of Portuguese legislation in this area so far,
since test persons were still able to listen to the environment parallel to receiving instructions via their fingers, a unique human-machine interface
From 2008 the social enterprise I-Cane Social Technology BV continued the work of the I-Cane foundation.
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
enterprises and knowledge institutes can deliver world-class break out solutions Public sector innovation †immigration policy in Portugal
Most cities in Europe have poor communities living in difficult environments. Over the past 20 years, the ERDF has financed integrated approaches to urban regeneration link
by migrant clients by providing various immigration-related services in one space, applying an identical working
because of cultural and linguistic proximity to the service-users and facilitate interaction between state services
and other stakeholders The neighbourhood management offices work on a wide range of tasks which include stimulating networking
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-making; and developing
research and innovation system (notably, under-investment, conditions which are not sufficiently innovation-friendly, and fragmentation and duplication), which considerably
and services, responding to the ageing challenge at both EU and global level, thus creating new opportunities for businesses
This is to be realised in the three areas of prevention and health promotion, care and cure, and active and the independent living of elderly people.
welfare services The Living Lab Testing Process is a systematic and concrete tool, which contributes to
The new cooperation Model improves business opportunities for companies and attracts new companies to the area.
The Living Lab on Wellbeing Services and Technology, a social innovation that produces user-driven innovations
This Living Lab was a finalist of the Regiostars 2013 competition. It is an innovation platform that enables a new
way of producing services for elderly people in a functional Public-Private-People partnership. Users participate
The testing of welfare services and technologies takes 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
3. 3. 5. Social innovation and the environment Social innovation can tackle environmental challenges82 and is proving popular in this
in biodiversity and degradation of ecosystem services, for example, flood protection through wetlands. Although these drivers are environmental,
-tion include wood recycling social enterprises, organic gardening cooperatives, low-im -pact housing developments, farmers†markets, car-sharing schemes, renewable energy
-vited a range of stakeholders to participate in the development of a vision for sus
As such, it suggested that social innovations should be given the opportunity to test small-scale initiatives, which could be scaled up into large-scale sustainable
82 cf. http://ec. europa. eu/environment/integration/research/newsalert/pdf/IR10. pdf 83 cf.
Most of them consider social innovation to be linked to the social economy and /or work organisation,
representatives from three ministries as well as chief executives from leading enterprises in the region Innobasque works at the policy level on many aspects of technological innovation but also brings in the general public
integration social enterprises Examples of the achievements of this public-private partnership include •Lifelong learning via a participatory process with citizens
•Ageing and new in-house services to help people to live in at home as they get older with a good quality of life
and services •Social contract for immigration involving all organisations and institutions to achieve a social contract for coexistence
•Providing opportunities for societal actors, businesses and policymakers to leave their own †comfort zone†and
such as the health sector, to change environments into those facilitating more active and healthy lifestyles
and services established in the postwar welfare traditions or the more recent managerial culture of public and private services are the following
•investing in capabilities rather than spotting deficits •preference for open approaches, avoiding targeting with stigmatising effects
3. 4. Social entrepreneurship to revive the social economy Beyond the priority measures in its short-term action plan, the Social Business Initiative
SBI) has engendered powerful and sustained momentum for social entrepreneurship One of the most iconic stages of this phenomenon was unprecedented an event held
jointly by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), the European Commis -sion and the city of Strasbourg88 on 16 and 17 january 2014.
-trepreneurs and supporters representing the rich diversity of the social economy came together to affirm that social enterprises must play a bigger role in the future of Europe
and to identify new ways of boosting the sector. They called for new, innovative funding sources, business support, networking,
†A call to action to realise the potential of social enterprise Governments and public bodies have started to recognise the power of social entrepreneurship.
Steps are being taken in many Member States and regions to encourage the growth of social enterprises.
At EU level, the SBI has made a positive start in promoting ecosystems for social enterprises
but we must not lose momentum. Therefore 1. The EU must follow through on all the actions in the SBI.
3. There must be a stronger engagement at EU, national, regional and local levels with the social enterprise
community in the co-creation of new policies to support social enterprise, suited to the local context
4. The Commission must ensure that its commitment to create an ecosystem for social enterprise is mainstreamed
5. In partnership with the social enterprise sector, Member States, regional and local authorities must fully support
the growth of social enterprises and help them build capacity. For example through legal frameworks, access to
6. The European institutions and Member States should reinforce the role of social enterprises in structural reforms
notably where the social economy is developed less 7. The Commission, the Member States and regions must boost cooperation between social enterprises across
borders and boundaries, to share knowledge and practices. Similarly, all public authorities should cooperate better
between themselves and enhance their capacity to support social enterprise growth 8. Public and private players must develop a full range of suitable financial instruments and intermediaries that
support social enterprises throughout their lifecycle 9. Social enterprise still needs further research and national statistical collection for a better understanding
recognition and visibility of the sector, both among policymakers and the general public 10. In this new Europe, all players need to look at growth and value creation from a wider perspective,
involved in social entrepreneurship through a substantial number of opinions and the Social Enterprise Project.
Pursuing its interest, it has launched Make it happen, a new project designed to keep the Strasbourg Declaration alive by promoting policy directions
involve strengthened cooperation with social enterprise supporters, the participation of the project group members in European events,
various social economy stakeholders and supporters of social enterprise To further unlock the potential of this sector,
environment for social enterprises and for their better integration into all EU policies. It believes that partnerships with regional and local authorities, as well as social entrepre
The main actions points guiding the Social Enterprise Project are therefore as follows 1. Co-creation of new policies to support social enterprise
2. Partnership to support social enterprises 3. Development of a second phase of the SBI
Following an ongoing local strategy, the Social Enterprise Project is also taking part in lo
-cal events spread around Europe to conduct fact-findings missions, collect best practices and investigate policy ideas and recommendations for the EU institutions
responding to social demands societal challenges or engaging systemic change. Going systematically through the bar
public procurement, crowdfunding. Progress is being made through innovative finan -cial schemes, the interest of a large community of financial actors and a wide-ranging
measure the impact of social enterprises on the creation of socioeconomic benefits and their benefit for the community;
-tems and the harnessing of contributions to expansion capital from a variety of sources The Social Business Initiative has addressed also the question of the status of social
enterprises (mapping) and the idea that innovations have †social†roots is progressing among mainstream innovation corporations and public and private stakeholders.
This was particularly clear during the annual EU Innovation Convention 2014.90 As a result, the EU landscape for social innovation is fragmented less today;
working population and social welfare systems, health services and pensions in terms of demand and expenditure Regarding immigration patterns
-ing opportunities for business to thrive: Europe†s economy is expected to continue its decline, and policymakers should focus on a †new growth paradigm†centred on
society, not growth. Instead of focusing efforts on creating wealth, European nations are advised to prioritise the health of societies.
R&d investment, which should continue to increase in advanced economies and to further develop in China.
In Europe, however, R&d expenses will decrease notably because of the increase in China, even if the 2020 objec
2020 Strategy should aim to invest in human capital and avoid sluggish produc -tivity growth, achieved at the expense of social inclusion, public health, education
economy, the report argues that the real challenge for European policymakers will be to break the trend of rising poverty risks, increasing income inequality and long
-term unemployment without relying on economic growth as a panacea. Investing in health and education, preferably as early as possible (e g. through early childhood
/stakeholders on the scene (NGOS, civil society, business associations, etc. and new forms of communication will be necessary
What will social enterprise look like in Europe by 2020 The second of the aforementioned studies is The british Council†s †think pieceâ€, 93 commis
-sioned to contribute to the previously mentioned Strasbourg event. It provides a basis for discussing what will shape social innovation and the growth of social enterprises in
the near future How will social enterprise respond to economic conditions, social and environmental challenges, government policies, technology and investment over the next years?
Social enterprises are on the rise throughout the EU, with governments and investors increas -ingly recognising the sector as a valid alternative to both private and public sector busi
-ness By 2020, associations and charities will be part of the †social enterprise spectrumâ€, gen -erating most of their income through trading activities.
Enterprises from the private sec -tor will have to demonstrate their credentials, and could be better at this than traditional
social enterprises. Public, private and social economy organisations will be encouraged by investors, funders, and governments to produce social value results in the long
93 cf. Mark Richardson, Richard Catherall †What will social enterprise look like in Europe by 2020?
†British Council, January 2014 http://www. britishcouncil. org/sites/britishcouncil. uk2/files/what will social enterprise look like in europe by 2020 0. pdf
55p A r T I †S O C i a L I N N O V A t I O N, A n E w P A t H
term. As a consequence, social impact measurement and comparison (covering eco -nomic, environmental and social issues) will become mainstream in the social economy
From grants to investment: one of the most important drivers will be the development of the social finance sector.
The traditional model of foundations will become out -dated since more and more enterprises will try to maximise their social impact while
delivering a financial return. Hybrid models of social investment (Social Investment Bonds, Social Impact Bonds) will emphasise new tools (†investment readinessâ€, †impact
reportingâ€) with two consequences: pressure on investors to consider social impact in investments and growing involvement of social enterprises on financial services delivery
But the context will also be constraining: new national and EU funding priorities could exclude innovative social investments;
innovative social enterprises will have to make an international impact thanks to social franchising Complex networks:
social enterprises will be concerned more with the importance of their impact (through changing government practices and business, through developing
effective solutions that work. This consciousness will result in highly networked mi -cro-social enterprises.
Social entrepreneurs will be connected with micro-social struc -tures and work with public, charitable, academic and profit-oriented sectors.
Thus, this collaborative approach (crowdsourcing, funding, etc. will be an interesting alternative to traditional political investment.
Indeed, effective social enterprises will be consid -ered as models and will spread more rapidly than classical mechanisms (e g.,
, social franchising). ) And European funding will encourage this kind of collaboration across in -ternational boundaries The way forward
between its different services Focus on knowledge Improvements in recent years to impact measurement and mapping have demonstrated
communication technologies (ICT) in social innovation should be incorporated better in the way we understand and treat this topic
Support, encourage and improve the business environment The Single Market Act (I & II) and the Social Business Initiative have made already
y What is also at stake is the emergence of a different conception of the economy, a
shared economy that is not focused exclusively on growth y Finally, empowering the citizen remains at the very heart of social innovation issues
European commission services involved in integrating the social innovation dimension in the policies for which they are responsible
socially sustainable economy and changes inherent to the digital age. Social innovation found fertile ground in this new context as a public policy concept and as a movement
The Employment and Social Investment packages, which frame and fund a new ap -proach to social policies.
at the national level, the removal of many obstacles to competition and job creation These efforts are combined
these, the European Semester95 is a yearly cycle of economic policy coordination involving EU-level policy guidance by the European commission and Council, reform commitments
-riously tighten their economic policy coordination. The new governance arrangements indirectly impact on social innovation as it becomes part of the solution for the modern
Initiative are designed to address the social economy, whereas the Social Investment Package (SIP) brings fresh impetus to social policy
1. 1. Europe 2020 flagship initiatives96 The Europe 2020 Strategy has identified new drivers to boost growth and jobs in seven
which aim to make the EU economy more efficient (a resource-efficient Europe, an in
making the most of our human capital 1. 1. 1. A resource-efficient Europe The Resource-Efficient Europe flagship initiative,
a resource-efficient and low-carbon economy, provides a long-term framework for embedding the smarter use of resources as a principle to take into account in the
-mation of the European energy system into an almost CO2-emission free economy -80/95%),which the EU aims to achieve by 2050.
four major roadmaps (moving to a competitive low-carbon economy, a Single Europe -an transport area and a resource-efficient transport system,
-source-efficient Europe roadmaps) 97 and a recent Communication A policy framework for climate and energy in the period from 2020 to 2030.98
are first its reliance on the cooperation of stakeholders, starting with consumers, as described in 1. 3. b,
-ly exploit the benefits that an economy can generate. Mutual societies, cooperatives third-sector organisations in general and social business are an integral part of this wid
-er economy and, while this initiative does not explicitly mention social innovation or flag it up as a priority, it entails crucial elements to create a better regulatory and financial
environment for the development of social innovation 97 COM (2011) 112,144, 885,571, 244 98 COM (2014) 15
-alisation, as well as standard setting, streamlining legislation, the Communication on encouraging entrepreneurship throughout the EU100 or the COSME (Competitiveness and
SMES) programme, 101 which has a direct or indirect impact on organisations in the social
economy which may be prime movers on social innovation In addition, the Industrial Policy flagship initiative emphasises workplace innovation
It is important to remember that Europe†s economy represents 500 million people 200 million jobs and 20 million companies and that cooperatives, mutual societies and
-dress the mainstream challenges of demographic ageing and global competition in or -der to unleash digital potential and spread the digital culture across the EU
-ter equipped (infrastructure), more secure (regulatory environment, protection of property) and knowledge-based (digital skills and jobs) digital environment.
It also manages to give the digital economy the necessary political attention. It gave rise to
the cooperation and commitment of various Commission services around a common agenda and contributed to a collaborative approach
importance of fostering digital infrastructure, improving the regulatory environment, promoting digital skills and jobs and ensuring security and the protection of property
package of actions aimed at achieving an innovation-friendly environment within the EU. Innovation is taken in its widest meaning:
on our ability to drive innovation in products, services, business and social processes and modelsâ€.
y the launch of a pilot action on networks of incubators for social innovation, to as
have launched e-government strategies aimed at moving existing services online, and beyond that to develop new internet-enabled services.
At EU level it is important to de -velop a better understanding of public sector innovation, to give visibility to successful
initiatives, and benchmark progress. Much will depend on creating a critical mass of public sector leaders who have the skills to manage innovation.
as well as opportunities to exchange good practice This commitment has been translated into the following actions y piloting a European Public sector Innovation Scoreboard as a basis for further
work to benchmark public sector innovation and explore with Member States wheth -er it is appropriate to bring together new learning experiences and networks for
y involving the social partners in examining how the knowledge economy can be spread to all occupational levels and all sectors and in particular for proposals on
socially innovative processes to foster the cooperation of all the stakeholders on a par -ticular issue at different levels of government. 107
issues and the stakeholders This initiative, through its focus on young people, has brought together a set of EU
opportunities, continued education, apprenticeship or a traineeship within a period of four months of becoming unemployed or leaving formal education
opportunities to learn later in life and early school leavers have focused a lot of attention and youth unemployment is also being tackled
enterprises and social innovation initiatives. Moreover, youth creativity is seen now as a crucial source of competitiveness in the fastest growing innovative sector of the global
economy. Social business is where it is developed most often 1. 1. 6. The agenda for new skills and jobs
All these elements can apply to the development of social entrepreneurship and jobs in the social economy as well as in other purely commercial sectors.
In par -ticular, developing specific skills for the third sector, hybrid organisations management and the ability to co-create
This aspect has been developed in the Communication Rethinking Education-Investing in skills for better socioeconomic outcomes, adopted in November 2012, which looks
the opportunities for skills acquired outside formal education and training systems to be recognised and validated, and for establishing national systems for the validation of
facilitate a partnership approach between stakeholders (civil society, social partners Member States This flagship initiative identified commitments for the Commission in five areas, two of
Communication and awareness raising about ongoing social innovation A †high-level steering committee†which will provide advice and guidance on developing actions
Promoting a partnership approach to the social economy Actions under the European Platform against Poverty for Working in partnership
social economy are l Measures to improve the quality of the legal structures relating to foundations, mutual societies and co
The social economy is addressed in the Innovation Union flagship initiative, 113 in the Sin -gle Market Act I114 and II, 115 in the Employment Package Towards a job-rich recovery116
labour demand and job creation through promoting and supporting self employment social enterprises and business start-ups The Single Market Act I, adopted in April 2011,
defined twelve projects to facilitate the deepening of the Single Market to re-launch Europe†s growth and social progress by
-works, as well as social entrepreneurship As a response to the wide interest shown in the consultation process for the Single Mar
-side financial profitâ€. †Social entrepreneurship is deemed to represent a real source of jobs and greater social inclusionâ€.
113 Communication Europe 2020 Flagship Initiative Innovation Union-COM (2010) 546,6. 10.2010 114 Communication Single Market Act:
Twelve levers to boost growth and strengthen confidence: Working together to create new growth-COM (2011) 206/4, 13.4.2011
115 Communication Single Market Act II †Together for new growth-COM (2012) 573,3. 10.2012
116 Communication Towards a job-rich recovery-COM (2012) 173,18. 4. 2012 117 Communication Social Business Initiative-COM (2011) 682 25.10.2011
68 S O C i a L I N N O V A t I O N †A d E C a D E O F
-nounced a Communication, the Social Business Initiative (SBI), 118 which was adopted by the Commission on 25 Octo
-able environment for the development of social business in Europe, and of the social economy at large.
Social enterprises seek to serve the community†s interest (social societal, environmental objectives) rather than profit maximisation (see box.
They are often innovative, through the goods or services they offer, and through the organ
-isation or production methods they use They often employ society†s most vulner -able members (socially excluded persons
They thus contribute to social cohesion employment and the reduction of inequal -ities The Social Business Initiative proposes
of social enterprises, database of labels support for local and national authorities to build integrated strategies for social
enterprises, information and exchange platform y Create a simplified regulatory environment (including a proposal for a European
Foundation Statute, revision of the public procurement rules and state aid measures for social and local services
Since then, a lot has been achieved. The EU institutions have delivered in all three areas The 11 key actions of the Social Business Initiative119 can be monitored through the initia
to measure the socioeconomic benefits created by social enterprises 118 Communication Social Business Initiative-COM (2011) 682,25. 10.2011
119 More information can be found on the 11 key actions on http://ec. europa. eu/internal market/social business
Definition of social enterprise in the SBI •The Commission uses the term †social enterprise†to
•Those where profits are mainly invested with a view to achieving this social objective, and where the method of
services to vulnerable persons (access to housing healthcare, assistance for elderly or disabled persons inclusion of vulnerable groups, child care, access to em
services with a social objective (social and professional integration via access to employment for disadvantaged
realm of the provision of social goods or services 69p A r T I I †M A i N d E V E L O P m E N t S i N e U P O
of Strasbourg hosted a large European interactive event on social entrepreneurship and the social economy121 which ended with the Strasbourg Declaration, 122
1. 3. The environment and resource efficiency Socioeconomic issues and the participation of consumers to energy-saving objectives
with exceptions) be limited to products, services and buildings with high energy efficiency performance. Enterprises must also play their part in improving energy efficiency with an
energy audit every four years (energy audits are not compulsory for SMES The Vulnerable Consumer Working group, organised in the context of the Citizens†En
offering consumers services that allow them to save energy and to control their con -sumption.
e g. by way of demand response) and from emerging technologies (such as home auto -mation), and reduce the costs of the operation and maintenance of energy distribution
-ed services will ensure that innovative services (such as effective support of demand response) will be available to consumers,
-gy efficiency criteria and do not hamper demand response In Horizon 2020 the smart grids research project and projects addressing non-techni
services c. The emergence of the energy-literate prosumer The EU€ s ambitious targets and research support schemes for renewable sources of
Social Investment Package (SIP The adoption by the Commission, in February 2013, of a new approach to social policy
The SIP provides a strategic social and health investment approach to the mod -ernisation of these policies.
activating policies, focusing on simple, targeted and conditional social investment and a systematic approach to the role of social protection throughout the different stages
-tural and Investment funds (in particular the ESF) can make to social investment in the next financing period. 127
-icies around strategic social investment; to address gender challenges in a more coher -ent manner, to support people in lifelong learning,
reorganisation of last support mechanisms and services to avoid poverty and exclusion a social investment approach will be monitored during the semester
and this would in -clude how the Member State has benefited from social innovation in this regard
The SIP Communication urges Member States to pursue active and enabling policies oriented towards social investment, in order to
y prioritise social policy innovation in the implementation of relevant CSRS and re -port through NRPS
using the opportunities of the Euro -pean Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing y ensure adequate and predictable financial support for these strategies,
y fully take advantage of funding opportunities provided by the ESF and ERDF as well as other European Structural and Investment funds (ESIF) and the new
social investment 73p A r T I I †M A i N d E V E L O P m E N t S i N e U P O
supporting investment •How to ensure a better use of European instruments available for social innovation to facilitate the necessary
in order to reduce differences in investment in social policies The findings of this conference provided an input for the meeting of the Employment, Social policy, Health and Con
-sumer Affairs Council (EPSCO) which adopted a specific set of conclusions on the SIP †Towards social investment for
been disseminated to national stakeholders. The framework also requires the tested approaches to be scaled up. The
and makes the case for social innovation through investment under the Structural Funds. Furthermore, the Ad hoc Group on Trans-nationality and Social Innovation offers a forum for discussion
y funding opportunities through PROGRESS/Easi (cf. 2. 3) and ESIF (i) to test new ap
as Social Impact Bonds (SIBS) and (iv) to provide support services for social policy experimentation in the EU (communication, training tools,
and tailor-made advice on social policy experimentation 2. Main programmes action plans and supporting schemes Since 2010, the European union has continued to open its funding pro
the European Regional Development Fund and on specific provisions concerning the Investment for growth and jobs goal and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1080/2006;
The commitment ceiling amounts to 1. 00%of EU Gross National income (GNI) compared to 1. 12
EUR 351.8 billion to invest in Europe†s regions, cities and the real economy. It is the EU€ s principle investment tool
for delivering the Europe 2020 goals: creating growth and jobs, tackling climate change and energy dependence
innovation in the programming of their investments We will first review the three main funding schemes in the field of social innovation
Taking into account the financial and economic crisis which has accentuated the gap be -tween the important long-term returns on human capital and social investments on the
one hand and the necessity of keeping public budgets in balance on the other hand, the new generation of ESF funds will support the implementation of the policy orientations
set out in the Social Investment Package Communication, 129 including through social innovation, the social economy and social entrepreneurship
With a view to that challenge, the Social Investment Package (SIP) has encouraged Member States to use European funding, most notably the European Social Fund (ESF
more extensively, and the Commission advocates allocating at least 25%of cohesion policy resources to the ESF to support human capital investment and social reform.
At the same time, the SIP has also called for more effective and efficient spending in social
Technology and innovation are crucial factors in developing the products and services that need to be brought to the market to serve the fast-developing needs of society.
and services, the second in strengthening the use of existing applications in a num -ber of relevant settings, such as ehealth
-opment of social enterprises by develop -ing new business models and innovative solutions to address societal challenges
In particular, the ERDF can be used where the actions have a regional or urban de -velopment focus or where the actions aim
to develop new business models for social enterprises ERDF support can be carried out in a num -ber of ways that are similar to those used
for supporting other types of SMES. In ad -dition to innovations to develop new prod
-ucts, services or ways of working, this can include finance for business advice and guidance (business planning, coaching
incubators and single enterprise business premises The bulk of ERDF finance is allocated either at national or regional level.
instance, support for social issues can be programmed together with other investment priorities at the level of functional regions or at the urban level.
opportunities to support innovation and has a great potential to boost social innovation. As one of the crosscutting objectives of the
economy in rural areas. They should strengthen the links between agriculture, food production, forestry and research and innovation
advisory activities, farm management and farm relief services, investments in physical as -sets (e g. investments in new technology to improve the farm†s efficiency), and farm and
business development. The so-called †Community-Led Local Development†(CLLD), towards which the LEADER approach has evolved in the 2014-20 programming period,
community, including those on the margins of economic growth. LEADER also encourages interregional and cross-border cooperation and joint action between rural areas
of national rural networks in each Member State in order to increase the involvement of stakeholders, improve the
-nologies, pilots of new services with end users, where social innovation can have an important place, and projects that will validate
-vative products and services that improve people†s daily lives and create business opportunities The take-up of social innovation in Horizon 2020 is across all areas where appropriate
Specific actions supporting social innovation are included also under the †new forms of innovation†call under Societal challenge 6:
another five projects on social policy experimentation supporting social investment were funded under the 2013 call (budget of EUR 4. 2 million.
relevant to shaping social policies and services For instance, the empirical knowledge built by projects such as HOPE in stations,
to strengthen the integration of services delivered to homeless persons in and around train stations; †Models of mentoring for inclusion and mentoring†(UK), which promotes
-bilitation services) to the open labour market; or Housing First Europe (DK, see box which calls for a shift from using shelters
of policies and services at EU and national level since it offers effective solutions to
-tation of the Social Investment Strategy 133 See Annex IV to the first BEPA report on social innovation
-fective than traditional services and can also be more cost-effec -tive: achieving better outcomes for the investment made and in
some cases generating cost offsets and even savings 83p A r T I I †M A i N d E V E L O P m E N t S i N e U P O
Social Investment Package (SIP; explore the role of public-private partnerships in welfare reforms and investment in human capital;
and test innovations in social policies to support key SIP policy orientations. For example, one-stop-shop approaches to services design, or
home-based strategies for long-term care, independent living and active ageing Social policy innovation plays a key role in the process of adaptation and reform of
with the social investment approach. The SIP stresses the need to embed social policy innovation in policymaking and to connect it to social priorities
Social services represent a smart and sustainable investment as they do not only assist people but also have a preventive, activating and enabling func
Social services are fundamental for the social investment approach and for the social protection systems as they,
services in developing people†s skills and capabilities, in improving their opportunities and in helping them make the most of their potential throughout their life course.
services are likely to reduce the administra -tive burden of delivering support as multi -ple visits, duplication of services, and costly
The situation of health and social services The special supplement on Health and Social services of the EU
that the social and health services continued to generate a third of the new jobs created in the EU between 2000 and 2011 and
Integrated services also facilitate information and knowledge sharing between professionals. Furthermore, an integrated approach would also better
serve the citizens, especially the populations in need of priority services such as the homeless Developing innovative approaches in the provision of social services could also boost
The opportunities for job creation in the social services sector are important due to the development of new needs driven
Services can be provided by public as well as private organisations, especially social enterprises and NGOS. Social enterprises and NGOS, generally strongly embedded in the
local territories, offer specific services to local communities. Other actors, such as the work integration social enterprises (WISE), have a double function of providing social
services to the community and of integrating low-skilled workers into the labour market Building partnerships, especially at local level, with these actors enhances the coherence
of the social service delivery and improves complementarities. For that reason, building partnerships of a broader nature between public authorities, civil society organisations
and the private sector will be encouraged in the Easi call under preparation c. The Programme for Employment and
Social Innovation (Easi The new Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (Easi) was adopted in De
social entrepreneurship axis of the Employment and Social Inno -vation (Easi) represented the first EU-wide initiative specifically
-mission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) and operates as a guarantee instrument to microcredit organisations and a fund
y explore the role of public-private partnerships in welfare reforms and investment in human capital
y consider award schemes for social entrepreneurs; and y focus on social policy experimentation in support of SIP actions, for example †hous
COSME136 is the EU programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMES) running from 2014 to 2020.
COSME will support SMES in the following areas y improving access to finance for SMES through funding guarantees and counter-guar
and by investing in funds that provide venture capital and mezzanine finance to expansion and growth-stage SMES
y improving access to markets, particularly inside the EU but also at global level, e g via the Enterprise Europe Network137 (600 partner organisations in 54 countries
y improving framework conditions for the companies, e g. by reducing administrative burdens in the EU;
y promoting entrepreneurship and an entrepreneurial culture The promotion of social innovation in this programme can be carried out in the four
135 http://ec. europa. eu/enterprise/initiatives/cosme/index en. htm 136 More information on http://ec. europa. eu/enterprise/initiatives/cosme/index en. htm
137 http://een. ec. europa. eu /86 S O C i a L I N N O V A t I O N †A d E C a D E O F
Erasmus+will provide opportunities for young Europeans to study, train, gain work experience and volunteer abroad.
-tive measures and paving the way to their scalability through European Structural and Investment funds (ESIF.
It will also support innovative business models relying on digital technologies which contribute to empowering artists,
exchanges of experience and know-how about new business models, peer-learning ac -tivities or testing of new and cross-sectoral business approaches to funding, distributing
crowdfunding †looking at related concepts of social payments, social money and social banking. This will, inter alia, inform the Commission†s follow-up work to the Communica
-tion Unleashing the potential of Crowdfunding in the European Union141 2. 4. 5. Innovation for a Sustainable Future †The Eco-innovation
-atives to drive the development and uptake of innovations that benefit the environment and relieve pressure on increasingly scarce natural resources.
resource-efficient circular economy. It includes innovations in terms of products, technol -ogies, business models but also social innovations.
Ecoap targets those drivers of and barriers to eco-innovation that fall outside the scope of more general policies such as
http://ec. europa. eu/environment/ecoap 88 S O C i a L I N N O V A t I O N †A d E C a D E O F
y mobilising financial instruments and support services for SMES (Action 4 y promoting international cooperation (Action 5
-ciently to pressing social demands, to address societal concerns, and to engage systemic change †feature in mainstream policy documents
the Commission†s services, the presentation adopted here reflects the four categories of issues that hamper the growth of social innovation in
an optimised regulatory environment 90 S O C i a L I N N O V A t I O N †A d E C a D E O F
event on social entrepreneurship and the social economy. During this two-day event attended about 2000 participants, a collaborative,
way forward for the social entrepreneurship sector in a final declaration (The Strasbourg Declaration) summarising the outcome of the discussions and making ten precise rec
-ommendations for the sustainable development of the social economy. This declaration represents the views of stakeholders from the social enterprise sector.
At the time of writing, it had been signed by more than 800 people. 144 Open days for regional policy145
-ernments and stakeholders together to network on regional policies issues, create part -nerships and learn to work together.
Social innovations and social entrepreneurship fea -ture either in specific workshops or as an issue in workshops on local development.
investment for people. The event will involve over 200 regional partner and cities in 100 Brussels-based workshops spanning a week.
about each region†s priorities for 2014-20, with opportunities to look into new instru -ments such as Integrated Territorial Investments and Community-led Local Develop
-ment, financial instruments, etc An annual event on innovation and social and employment policy: Social innovation and
The event provided an opportunity for a detailed discussion on the contribution of social innovation to increasing the effective
the Social Investment Package 143 For a fully representative list of social innovation events, the reader should also refer to the hearings and
//ec. europa. eu/digital-agenda/en/collective-awareness-platforms) provide rich opportunities to share new
On 20 february 2013, in the Social Investment Package, the European commission drew attention to the importance of social policy innovation as a catalyst for social policy
and private stakeholders (policymakers, NGOS, social entrepreneurs, academics) and contributed to in depth discussions on the role of social policy innovation and social in
the Social Investment Package, social policy innovation must be embedded in policy -making and connected to social priorities.
efficiency and effectiveness of social protection systems and services to the benefit of citizens The annual Poverty Convention provides another opportunity to share social innovation
solutions to challenge exclusion. In 2012 for instance a specific workshop was devoted to social innovation issues (e g. how digital technologies can enable active inclusion, the
social†while a fringe event was organised by social innovation stakeholders to discuss social innovation and the social economy as a solid response to the need for job creation
The culture forum Every two years, cultural policymakers, stakeholders, artists, cultural professions and citizens meet at this forum in a variety of formats:
plenary panels, short flash sessions and a new format called †Vox pops†in which citizens contribute their ideas on culture
and more effective creative new ways to deliver services that are tailored to the increasing needs and demands of individuals.
New information and communication technologies are one way to help to achieve this; another is experimen
-tation with new institutional models based on social innovation. This is essential to boost the economy while safeguarding Europe†s social model
In July 2013 the Bureau of European Policy Advisers held a high-level seminar on pub
and estimated that the collective investment at EUR 5 billion over five years would be
needed for the implementation of the recommendations, an investment which would pay off with quantifiable benefits reaching EUR 50 billion by 2020
for the European capital of Innovation will enhance the role of cities as ecosystems driving innovation.
148 http://ec. europa. eu/enterprise/policies/innovation/policy/public-sector-innovation/index en. htm#h2-1. http
//ec. europa. eu/enterprise/policies/innovation/policy/public-sector-innovation/index en. htm 94 S O C i a L I N N O V A t I O N †A d E C a D E O F
-tion of a favourable environment for fostering and up-scaling social innovation at local level.
stakeholders in a focused way through expert groups and networks or else they adopt a wider as well as more experimental approach to using new participatory tools of a digi
offers a particularly rich and complex environment which gives an exemplary value to what is a common quest in modern politics:
-perts de la Commission sur l†Entrepreneuriat Social)- This multi-stakeholder group was set up for six years (2012-18) to advise
-pean stakeholders and representatives from all the Member States and EU Institutions plus observers from other European countries.
to the development of social entrepreneurship in the EU. Its work can be followed on -line151.
The Enterprise Policy Group bringing together decision-makers from Member States and the European commission on SME policy, industrial policy or competitiveness and
barriers to growth, job creation and investment, and ultimately propose new policy or legislative approaches. The main target being a new policy initiative on growth & jobs
The Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs154 is a leading multi-stakeholder partnership launched in March 2013 to tackle the lack of ICT skills and the several hundred unfilled
-lished as a pilot partnership between all the stakeholders concerned, to increase the av -erage healthy lifespan in the EU by two years by 2020 and at the same time to pro
it is driven a stakeholder approach to research and innovation that aims to break down silos, bringing together
More than 3000 stakeholders who share the goal of improving people†s health delivering high quality and sustainable care to older people and helping EU industry to
and have developed Action Plans, in line with the Commission Communication of Febru -97p A r T I I †M A i N d E V E L O P m E N t S i N e U P O
Scaling up innovation and creating a critical mass for stakeholders has been a guiding principle of the EIP
and demand side to facilitate the entire innovation pro -cess from research to market and large-scale deployment.
the agenda of the relevant public stakeholders (Ministries of Health, Ministries of Social affairs, Health Regional Authorities, etc.
agriculture and forestry that works in harmony with the environment. This objective and the general EIP conception were established in the Commission Communication
of 29 february 2012 and were endorsed subsequently in the Agriculture and Fisheries Council Conclusions of 18 june 2012.
innovations that can achieve more with less while respecting the environment Social innovation stresses the need for social and political changes in the context of
solutions and approaches that contribute to economic growth, solve societal challenges create jobs and enhance Europe†s competitiveness.
as well as demand-side interventions e g. standards, public procurement, regulatory measures. For this reason, the EIP brings
that actively involves broad sets of stakeholders Open innovation in this context is an innovation model based on extensive networking
-tion experiments where new services, products and processes are designed and tested through users A Living Lab is an open innovation ecosystem in a real-life setting where user-driven
innovation is the co-creation process for new services, products and societal infrastruc -tures. Living Labs encompass societal and technological dimensions simultaneously in a
of society on long-term visions, anticipate possible challenges and opportunities and generate ideas to inform policy thinking, in the first instance in 2014, around
a wider number of stakeholders in the co-creation of the futures that we all want, but
two-day event in Strasbourg, the Commissioner for internal market and services, Michel Barnier, made the following statement during the closing ceremony
3. 1. 5. Create an optimised regulatory environment The third strand of action of the Social Business Initiative is to improve the situation on
the ground for social enterprises. The aim is twofold: to offer legal forms that can cater
for the specific needs of social enterprises and improve the way public authorities take into account the needs of social enterprises, namely through public procurement and
state aid regulations 3. 1. 5. 1. Simplification of the European Cooperative Regulation The Commission†s policy concerning cooperatives is to guarantee that enterprises of this
type, independently of their size, can continue to operate in the market by preserving their social role, particular style of functioning and ethics.
discusses the themes of enterprise education, access to finance and business devel -opment support. Furthermore, in cooperation with the Commission, it will produce a
This will include, inter alia, expanding existing entrepreneurship education activities and developing new ones; taking advantage of innovative financing
better use of the Enterprise Europe Network; and sharing the best practices of success -ful cooperatives already operating in the Member States
that are important for European citizens and the European economy, for instance, re -163 http://ec. europa. eu/enterprise/policies/sme/files/craft/social economy/doc/coop-communication-en en. pdf
164 http://ec. europa. eu/enterprise/newsroom/cf/itemdetail. cfm? item id=5876 to celebrate the UN 2012
International Year of Cooperatives in Brussels in April 2012 and in Nicosia in September 2012
165 http://ec. europa. eu/enterprise/policies/sme/files/sce final study part i. pdf 166 http://ec. europa. eu/enterprise/newsroom/cf/itemdetail. cfm?
item id=487 167 http://ec. europa. eu/enterprise/policies/sme/public-consultation/past-consultations/index en. htm
168 http://ec. europa. eu/enterprise/policies/sme/files/smes/1 en act part1 v7 en. pdf and http://ec. europa. eu
/enterprise/newsroom/cf/itemdetail. cfm? item id=3318 169 http://ec. europa. eu/enterprise/policies/sme/files/public-consultation-files/summary replies en. pdf
http://ec. europa. eu/enterprise/newsroom/cf/itemdetail. cfm? item id=5876 170 http://ec. europa. eu/internal market/company/societas-europeae
/102 S O C i a L I N N O V A t I O N †A d E C a D E O F
C H A n G E s search, social and health services, culture or the environment. However, they often find
it costly and difficult to operate outside national borders due to the diversity of national civil and tax laws.
The Commission services are currently in the process of producing all the documents required to move forward quickly with drafting
3. 1. 5. 4. European Statute for other forms of social enterprises such as nonprofit enterprises
Various stakeholders†organisations have requested the adoption of a new proposal for a European Association, following the withdrawal of a similar proposal in 2006.
for a greener, more social, innovative and inclusive economy y As far as the award criteria are concerned,
services or supplies to be purchased such as the inclusion of vulnerable and disadvantaged people or the use of nontoxic
y To favour social inclusion and support social entrepreneurship, the current contracts†reservation in favour of sheltered workshops has been extended to economic op
services in question. Furthermore, Member States may also eliminate the price as sole award criterion for such services
104 S O C i a L I N N O V A t I O N †A d E C a D E O F
-thorities with regard to the procurement of works and services 3. 1. 5. 6. Increasing and including new aid categories in the revision of the General Block
Furthermore, since employees are long-term shareholders, broadening employee shareholding would also stabilise capital markets. ESO is of particular impor
-tance for SMES (financing and business succession Despite their positive effects, as acknowledged in numerous EU reports, opinions and
available to support the development of the social investment market and facilitate access to finance for social enterprises through quasi-bond instruments from 2014-20
For the same period, the Structural Funds have been reformed to enable Member States to earmark Structural Funds to finance social enterprises
3. 2. 2. Access to venture capital †The European Venture capital Funds174 Small start-up businesses often have difficulty getting funding.
This is an issue for the European economy as small businesses are among the most important drivers for
growth and employment. European Venture capital Funds (Euveca), which along with Eusef175 became available on 22 july 2013.
Euveca invest in unlisted companies with limited access to capital, which employ fewer than 250 people
and have an annual turn -over of less than EUR 50 million or are worth less than EUR 43 million.
to make an investment of at least EUR 100 000 3. 2. 3. The European regulatory framework for social investment funds
the European union Social Entrepreneurship Funds (Eusef On 22 july 2013, a new European investment fund specifically designed to enable in
-vestment in social businesses became available. The European Social Entrepreneurship Funds (Eusef) can be marketed to investors who are able to make a minimum invest
-ment of EUR 100 000 across the EU, provided a clear set of criteria are met.
goods and services to vulnerable, marginalised, disadvantaged or excluded people; use a method of production of goods and services that embodies its social objective;
or provide financial support only to social businesses that are trying to achieve those ends Managers running Eusef will have to measure the social impact achieved by their funds
distribute profits to investors but only if the payment does not in any way undermine the primary objectives of the social businesses where the funds had been invested
and are granted typically to micro and social economy en -terprises or to others which are considered not bankable
microfinance and social entrepreneurship axis of the Easi programme176, which will support the development of the social investment market,
facilitate access to finance for social enterprises, extend the support given to microcredit providers under the current
European Progress Microfinance Facility and provide funding for the capacity-building of microfinance institutions. The total proposed budget for the microfinance and social
entrepreneurship axis is around EUR 193 million for the 2014-20 period. This budget will
be evenly spread between microfinance and social entrepreneurship, with a minimum of 45%going to each.
period by the European commission, the European Investment Bank Group and other financial institutions. They will continue as from 2014 and beyond
European Investment Bank Offers technical assistance to the 12 Member States that joined the EU in 2004
European Investment Bank, and the Council of Europe Development Bank Supports sustainable urban development and
European Investment Bank Seeks to improve access to finance for small business â 200 million
Moreover, the evaluation demonstrates that the services of JASMINE are highly relevant for enhancing the performance, professionalism and capacity of the sector.
is still a growing demand for JASMINE€ s technical assistance. One of the important con -tributions within the JASMINE initiative has been to develop a set of standards or code
In close collaboration with many actors and stakeholders from the sector, best practices in the field of microcredit were identified in the European Code of Good Conduct for
operating environment. It was deemed necessary to ensure more consistency and to recognise best practices in this emerging and growing sector.
-tance and business development services of JASMINE help (non-bank) microcredit insti -tutions to provide small loans to those who lack access to traditional capital (like social
entrepreneurs). ) New ideas (products, services and models) to address pressing social demands can be financed better through these initiatives
178 ICF CHK, Evaluation of the JASMINE Technical assistance Pilot Phase, Final Report, 14 november 2013 108 S O C i a L I N N O V A t I O N †A d E C a D E O F
C H A n G E s The European Commission†s support for microcredit institutions that provide microloans
3. 2. 5. Crowdfunding for social entrepreneurs The European commission recognises the potential in crowdfunding to help bridge the
finance gap for projects such as social enterprises, which otherwise would not find ad -equate sources of finance.
The European commission conducted a public consultation exercise on crowdfunding in late 2013 to explore the benefits and risks of this newly
emerging form of funding and to explore the added value in potential EU action. The
consultation revealed that stakeholders believe that crowdfunding offers numerous im -portant benefits to a wide range of actors,
concerning the rules applicable to crowdfunding, potential risks, such as the risk of fraud or misleading advertising,
or investment risks related to financial-return crowdfunding as well as the high cost of cross-border operation for crowdfunding platforms that host
campaigns offering financial returns The European commission adopted a Communication Unleashing the potential of Crowd -funding in the European Union179 on 27 march 2014.
This Communication sets out the policy approach of the Commission to crowdfunding and a set of measures to promote
the growth of this form of finance, while addressing the above challenges. During the course of 2014, the Commission set up an expert group, the European Crowdfunding
Stakeholder Forum, in order to help it to raise awareness, promote education and train -ing for users of crowdfunding,
and assess the existing self-regulatory frameworks in terms of improving transparency and reducing the risks of fraud.
The Commission will also hold regulatory workshops with Member States to discuss any obstacles related
to cross-border activities. Finally, the Commission will keep this emerging sector under close monitoring with the support of the Forum,
results of the studies, the work of various stakeholders and the regulatory workshops †the state of EU and domestic regulatory frameworks applicable to crowdfunding, and
consider whether further EU action is necessary 179 COM (2014) 172 final ï Technical assistance ï Business Development
Entrepreneurship Social Innovation Microcredits loans 109p A r T I I †M A i N d E V E L O P m E N t S i N e U P O
In May 2013, the European Investment Fund (EIF), with the collaboration of private sector investors, launched the Social Impact Accelerator (SIA), a pilot initiative which
aims to address the growing need for availability of equity finance to support social enterprises
The SIA operates as a fund of funds managed by European Investment Bank with fund
-ing from the EIB, the Crã dit Coopã ratif and Deutsche bank. It invests in social impact
funds which strategically target social enterprises across Europe. Beyond simple finan -cial return targets, these social impact funds seek to trigger positive societal change
as part of their investment activity. The SIA will also ensure that knowledge-sharing between private sector actors committed to social impact investing
are potentially available as a potential source of funding for social enterprises 3. 2. 8. Best practice sharing between Member States regarding
the use of capital accumulated in social enterprises and in particular asset locks The Commission was planning to finance a study on the question of asset locks in order
or appropriate to impose it on social enterprises The locking of assets is a provision that exists in the legislation of some Member States
which prevents the members of a social enterprise, whatever its business form, from distributing reserves and surpluses amongst themselves at the time of winding up and
the objectives of the enterprise. However, this rule is related to issues of ownership rights that exist in a number of Member States with respect to the assets of the legal
i e. the conversion of a social enterprise into a company limited by shares, matched with the distribution to members of reserves accumulated
180 http://ec. europa. eu/enterprise/policies/sme/files/mutuals/prospects mutuals fin en. pdf; Public Consultation on Mutual Societies;
The synthesis report of the replies was published at http://ec. europa. eu/enterprise/policies/sme
/promoting-entrepreneurship/files/mutual/mutual-sy-rep-11-10-13 en. pdf 110 S O C i a L I N N O V A t I O N †A d E C a D E O F
about the sector, its characteristics, needs and contribution to the economy and wellbe -ing. While deeper and keener knowledge is addressed by research from a variety of an
of capacity building tools like incubators, networks and skills. Starting with the mapping study currently in progress,
3. 3. 1. 1. Mapping of the social enterprises sector, business models, economic weight, tax regimes, identification of best practices
y to identify social enterprises y to specify the characteristics, business models and economic weight of social enter
-prises, and assess barriers to starting, developing and expanding social enterprises y to map the legal frameworks and labels,
and identify legal/regulatory barriers y to map public policies and social investment markets that impact on the start, de
-velopment and growth of social enterprises; and y to identify issues in the emerging ecosystems for social enterprises that are of rele
-vance across the EU and suitable and feasible actions to be carried out at EU level to
enhance national and regional policies and actions towards social entrepreneurship This is the first time this research has been conducted at European level.
It should pro -vide a unique source of information for social innovators, and policymakers to operate
3. 3. 1. 2. Database of labels and certifications of social enterprises Key Action 6 of the SBI has to be implemented by the European commission after the
labelling could be one efficient way to †recognise†social enterprises throughout change without a uniform legal form.
The European Social Innovation Competition was launched on 1 october 2012 in memory of Diogo Vasconcelos182. In full complementarity with the Social Innovation
Europe Platform, the Competition meets five objectives at the same time y It directly supports some projects with prize money, mentoring support and network
-ing/exposure opportunities y It enlarges the social innovation community and, by following up the projects select
-ed throughout the Competition, it provides concrete evidence that social innovation works y It creates greater awareness of the opportunities that social innovation can bring
to develop new solutions to problems in Europe among politicians, media, investors and EU citizens
The first edition of the competition proved to be a success. Europeans were invited to develop ideas for creating new and better job opportunities.
As a result, over 600 entries were received from 35 countries, out of which three were awarded a prize of
183 More information on http://ec. europa. eu/enterprise/policies/innovation/policy/social-innovation/competition
In addition to the three financial rewards for the winners, the competition also offers visibility, networking and mentoring for the 30 semifinalists.
The second edition of the European Social Innovation Competition was launched in Milan on 11 october 2013.
Like the first edition, the competition focused on the †job challengeâ€. This time, more than 1 200 ideas were received,
184 More information and the projects of the ten finalists of the 2014 Social innovation Competition can be found
competition winners receive their awards from European commission President Barroso 113p A r T I I †M A i N d E V E L O P m E N t S i N e U P O
The Social Innovation Tournament, established by the EIB Institute in 2012, encourages entrepreneurship and new
social and health care, the environment and education through new systems, technologies, processes The first two editions of the tournament attracted a lot of interest,
groups, environment and access to affordable and good quality health and education. In 2013,16 finalists out
or natural environment also compete for the Special Category Prize of EUR 25 000. Further awards include vouchers entitling a number of projects and their teams to benefit from subsequent
coaching/mentoring services This initiative is open to European individuals or teams with not-for-profit and for-profit business models from (or
residing in) the EU Member States, candidate and potential candidate countries or the EFTA countries for projects
3. 3. 2. 1. Networks of Incubators for Social Innovation As part of the Innovation Union flagship initiative†s social innovation commitments, a
pilot action on networks of incubators for social innovation supports two European net -works in order to assess,
For the purposes of this action, incubators include any organisation that acts as an incubator at local or regional level, including universities and business networks.
The two networks have a broad geographical coverage across the EU and are designed to assess, provide support
-TION185 and BENISI186 networks are two examples of such incubators 3. 3. 2. 2. Social Innovation Europe (SIE
group of stakeholders, working top-down and bottom-up. It is a space where innovative thinkers from all EU Member States can come together to create a streamlined, vigorous
agreement between the different Commission†s services to run the next phase under the new Financial Perspective 2014-20.
188 See the report on funding opportunities for social innovation (http://ec. europa. eu/enterprise/policies/innovation
/files/funding-social-innovation en. pdf), the report on social innovation metrics (http://ec. europa. eu/enterprise
innovation (http://ec. europa. eu/enterprise/policies/innovation/files/social-innovation/systemic-innovation -report en. pdf
-cial media, distributed knowledge creation and data from real environments (†Internet of Thingsâ€) in order to create new forms of social innovation.
reinforcing competition and economic interests (especially at industrial level and stimulating collaboration among citizens and creating social value (also in relation
two use cases will contrast the effectiveness of competition-based and coop -erative approaches in a grassroots experiment to measure energy consumption (Energy Quest) and a large-scale
knowledge for a wide range of stakeholders. Associate partners including the European Environment Agency, Na
-tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Association and the World bank will provide a rich stream of input data and amplify
y demonstrating scalability, reusability of results and general applicability of the pro -posed solutions at local or regional level
and large-scale involvement of stakeholders so far excluded from the debate on soci -etal challenges.
Building on a growing social capital, the EIP€ s genuine focus is on long-term societal challenges related to an ageing population.
as well as the involvement of stakeholders, including social organisations) pursued by the European commission as a cornerstone of social innovation
†an innovation that addresses a social demand e g. care of the elderly) contributes to addressing a societal challenge (ageing society
Significant impact is expected from the transferability and scalability of the digital social platforms model, as well as of the services developed, to enlarged communities across
borders 3. 3. 2. 5. Workplace Innovation Network Workplace innovation is a change in structure, human resources management, inter
-nal decision-making, relationships with clients or suppliers or work environment. It is a constant, reflexive process, grounded in continuing thinking,
learning resources amongst enterprises and other stakeholders. It is also a practical source of information about why and how to implement workplace innovation in an
3. 3. 2. 6. Multi-stakeholder platform for corporate social responsibility In October 2011 the European commission published a Communication on Corporate
Social Responsibility (CSR) 191 with an agenda for action covering the period 2011-14 Action 1 sets out to †Create in 2013 multi-stakeholder CSR platforms in a number of
relevant business sectors, for enterprises, their workers and other stakeholders to make public commitments on the CSR issues relevant to each sector and jointly monitor pro
-gress†In 2013 the Commission services launched a specific ICT multi-stakeholder platform called †Collective Awareness Platforms for Social Innovation and Sustainability†(CAPS
which strengthens CSR by including civil society, the nonprofit sector, and other small grassroots organisations as active social innovators.
-sumption, green economy, etc 191 COM (2011) 681 119p A r T I I †M A i N d E V E L O P m E N t S i N e U P O
stakeholders (e g. civil society, academia, public interest actors, NGOS, etc. and by iden -tifying good practices through which societal benefits can be delivered via the internet
The platform will provide an opportunity for enterprises and other stakeholders to identi -fy and discuss constructively the current
to a wider range of stakeholders in order to have a better understanding of societal needs and objectives.
discussions to all relevant stakeholders 3. 3. 2. 7. Policy innovation design The SEE platform:
192 http://ec. europa. eu/enterprise/policies/innovation/policy/design-creativity/index en. htm Innovation Matters to people facing crisis †the EU€ s support to emergency
and on encouraging sectoral stakeholder participation. It is supported by a number of recent policy documents including the
Communication Rethinking education: investing in skills for better socioeconomic out -comes which focuses on delivering skills for employment, such as digital or entrepre
among stakeholders; the Council recommendation on the validation of non-formal and informal learning emphasises the role that non-formal learning plays in increasing
the communication, the Council conclusions and upcoming European quality framework on Early childhood education and care to empower children from an early age to improve their chances in life;
network or cluster serving the local economy and society. The social dimension of higher 193 BEPA report 2010, page 38
-liance mobilises a multitude of stakeholders to jointly strengthen the quality, supply and reputation of in-company training as part of vocational education.
By bringing together stakeholders such as social partners, chambers of commerce, industry and crafts, education and training providers
Employment & Entrepreneurship Voluntary activities; Participation; Social inclusion; Health & Wellbeing; Creativity & Culture; Youth and the World.
given to social entrepreneurship 122 S O C i a L I N N O V A t I O N †A d E C a D E O F
During 2010-13, the Europe for Citizens programme provided opportunities for stake -holders to engage in participatory processes aimed at defining policies of relevance
-riences and defining common communication and participatory strategies The eight members of the consortium came from four different countries (Italy, Sweden
the opportunity to put their questions directly to European commission leaders. To organise them, the Commission works closely with its representations in the Member
their vision for the future of Europe, for which a communication is planned for February 2014.
y The economic crisis in Europe. has done the European union enough to solve the crisis? Do citizens believe that Europe is part of the problem or part of the solution
The economic crisis has led to profound changes in the eco -nomic, political and social situation in the EU and in its Member States.
-pectations of citizens on the financial and economic crisis, on citizens†rights and on the future of the Union by 2020.
EU scheme providing volunteering opportunities for young people in Europe and beyond As regards the future Europe for Citizens programme for 2014-20,
social innovation incubators As a bottom-up, beneficiary-driven programme, it will depend a lot on the proposed
which bring together researchers and various stakeholders including end-users, citizens†groups, employees and policymakers to suggest research
entrepreneurship, inclusive and innovative societies and transformative social innova -tions as well as on the economic underpinnings of social innovation
stakeholders and the broader public, a policy review written by Jane Jenson and Denis Harrisson provides a comprehensive overview of 17 research projects under FP5, FP6 and
The MML invite multiple stakeholders to set up frameworks of collabo -ration and aim to affect the governance of research and innovation systems by improv
future-oriented methodologies, new actionable knowledge and continual stakeholder participation EFESEIIS-Enabling the flourishing and evolution of social entrepreneurship for innovative and inclusive societies
The project provides advice to stakeholders on how to foster Social Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation;
drafts an Evolutionary Theory of Social Entrepreneurship to explain the different evolutionary paths of Social Entrepreneurship
in Europe and how Social Entrepreneurship and institutions co-evolved over time; identifies the features of an enabling
ecosystem for Social Entrepreneurship; and identifies the New Generation of Social Entrepreneurs, its features, needs
and constraints as well as their contribution to Social Innovation SEFORIS-Social Enterprise as Force for more Inclusive and Innovative Societies.
The project seeks to understand the potential of social enterprise in the EU and beyond to improve the social inclusiveness of society through greater
stakeholder engagement, promotion of civic capitalism and changes to social service provision through a. investigation of key processes within social enterprises for delivering inclusion
and innovation, including organisation and governance financing, innovation and behavioural change and b. investigation of formal and informal institutional context, including
political, cultural and economic environments and institutions directly and indirectly supporting social enterprises Third Sector Impact-The Contribution of the Third Sector to Europe†s Socioeconomic Development.
The project will create knowledge that will further advance the contributions that the third sector
2) persistent multi-stakeholder constellations;(3) the mobilisation of multiple resources. Against the update of structural data, the project will test these hypotheses on the qualitative
and services, healthcare reform and active ageing lifestyles, but also broader questions of health promotion (call †Social innovation for ageing researchâ€.
Through 7p7 research, the environment theme has also demonstrated an interest in including social innovation in its agenda, especially in con
Lead by a charity organisation (NESTA), this study maps DSI stakeholders to visible activ -ities in the EU Member States today.
services delivery chain The pilots listed below aim to demonstrate the viability and deployment capacity of the
proposed solutions and services, and are to be seen also in the context of social experi
the healthcare marketplace encouraging start-up development and SMES investments in R&d Inclusive, flexible, combined, multi-channel public services:
e-Government services. It was pointed out that they were often those most socially dis -advantaged, and placing greatest demand on public service resources, and the health
and social sector in particular. In this context, effective, flexible and sustainable service models, whereby all key players engaged in the service delivery chain are joined-up
ICT solutions for flexible, personalised and multi-channel services; empowering public officials and social inclusion agents through ICT skills and competence upgrading pro
flows through a community†s economy provides a systemic reading of the present situ -ation for goal and objective setting and development of indicators for sustainability.
y involve local and regional stakeholders in the project from the beginning y support the implementation of EU policy on urban environment;
and y illustrate the economic advantages of accounting for environmental issues on a routine basis in urban planning decisions-making processes
non-monetary economy. Nonetheless they do not pay enough attention to the need to account for their services on the peer-usage base,
involve citizens and give evidence of their role. CROSS207 (CIP ICT PSP) seeks to exploit these opportunities for services and
applications in the field of non-monetary economy, where new needs and practices are emerging, and where a new sector of the digital Single Market has the potential for
sustainable, inclusive and smart growth. The project focuses on nurturing an innovation ecosystem that generates digital services
and applications making use of information generated by users in the smart city environment. Sample activity areas considered for
piloting are y mutual service communities for assistance to elderly people y communities for social inclusion of immigrates
207 http://www. crossproject. eu/tag/non-monetary-economy /131p A r T I I †M A i N d E V E L O P m E N t S i N e U P O
innovation management principles and phases of ideation, concept development, experimenting, prototyping, testing, implementing and scaling is where we are currently and that is one of our future
In 2009, DG Human resources and DG Communication jointly hosted an Internal Communication & Staff Engagement seminar †The
Commission†s vision, values and purposes†with 160 participants from all across the Commission. Three Directors-General, 40 senior
-nication, external communication, strategic planning and program -ming, HR), came together around our shared purpose for Europe and
-General for Communication opened the day If you want to communicate on the big challenges facing Europe, you need civil society as a relay.
communication, civil society dialogue and education as part of the move to create a better European reality.
Finally,(c) giving citizens the opportunity to TAKE PART and INTERACT with each other and with the European political actors:
Two consultations in 2010 and 2011 (each with 120 stakeholders on the future Europe for Citizens Programme allowed the team in
charge (in DG Communication) to collect the key elements of the next programme, build the ground inside their DG and with their
In 2011, DG Agriculture consulted 230 key stakeholders from across Europe on Monitoring & Evaluation for the Common Agricultur
services and other institutions to share what they had learnt from the current generation of programmes and provide input for the definition
to agreed standards, that there are agreed protocols and channels of communication with the Institutions, and
linked, where possible, to broader consultations of stakeholders. It is vital that citizens receive an expla
3. 2. 1. The social economy 3. 2. 2. Microfinance 3. 2. 3. Incubation 3. 2. 4. Workplace innovation
3. 3. 5. Social innovation and the environment 3. 3. 6. Regional strategies 3. 3. 7. Lessons learned from social innovation achievements
Social entrepreneurship to revive the social economy 4. ï¿Conclusion: scanning the future to shape the future
What will social enterprise look like in Europe by 2020 The way forward Improve governance in relation to social innovation
Support, encourage and improve the business environment PART II Main developments in EU policies Executive summary
The environment and resource efficiency a. Making energy an integral part of governance and management b. Empowering the consumer
the Social Investment Package (SIP 2. Main programmes, action plans and supporting schemes 2. 1. ï¿
Mapping of the social enterprises sector, business models, economic weight, tax regimes, identification of best practices
3. 3. 1. 2. Database of labels and certifications of social enterprises 3. 3. 1. 3. Social innovation prizes
3. 3. 2. 1. Networks of Incubators for Social Innovation 3. 3. 2. 2. Social Innovation Europe (SIE
3. 3. 2. 6. Multi-stakeholder platform for corporate social responsibility 3. 3. 2. 7. Policy innovation design
Access to venture capital †The European Venture capital Funds 3. 2. 3. ï¿The European regulatory framework for social investment funds:
the European union Social Entrepreneurship Funds (Eusef 3. 2. 4. The development of microcredit/microfinance a. European Progress Microfinance Facility
3. 2. 5. Crowdfunding for social entrepreneurs 3. 2. 6. The EIF impact investing scheme
Best practice sharing between Member States regarding the use of capital accumulated in social enterprises and in particular asset locks
3. 1. 5. Create an optimised regulatory environment 3. 1. 5. 1. Simplification of the European Cooperative Regulation
European Statute for other forms of social enterprises such as nonprofit enterprises 3. 1. 5. 5. ï¿
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