Late this month, the European Commission Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs Directorate General launched a European Social Economy Regions 2018 pilot aiming at building effective networks of the social economy and social innovation stakeholders and raising awareness about the social economy at regional and local level. The pilot will bring together regional and local stakeholders, social economy enterprises, social innovators and policy-makers in order to promote added value and benefits of the social economy on the ground. Any public regional entity with links to social economy is invited to submit a proposal for organising a local event in close collaboration with regional stakeholders.
Social economy sector in Europe and activities it covers needs a targeted awareness-raising campaign and support. There are plenty of social economy stakeholders active at regional level, however, lack of collaboration between them is significant and their voice is not adequately heard. The European Social Economy Regions 2018 pilot will allow creating effective partnerships and networks among regional social economy stakeholders and provide a unique opportunity to have their voice heard towards the European Commission. The outcomes of the regional pilots will be presented at October’s Global Social Economy Forum in Bilbao and at the Committee of the Regions Open Days in Brussels.
To know more about the European Social Economy Regions 2018 pilot, check the EU Commission page.