Bridging the gap between services provided by public authorities, and the services and products provided by the market, the social economy delivers alternative and tailor-made solutions to local needs and acts as a trusted partner to public authorities.

[EU Commission, Scenarios towards co-creation of a transition pathway for a more resilient, sustainable and digital Proximity and Social Economy industrial ecosystem, December 2021]

On the 9th of December 2021, the European Commission adopted the Social Economy Action Plan, running until 2030, putting forward concrete measures to help mobilise the full potential of the social economy. In it, the European Commission recognises the role of social economy actors in supporting public authorities through the provision of welfare and social services fostering the inclusion of the most vulnerable groups in our societies.

Social economy actors could provide innovative bottom-up solutions to many of the global challenges of today, especially climate change, digitalisation and social exclusion. They are largely locally-rooted and, as such, a driver for local growth and for the development of more sustainable and inclusive economy and society.

Through the Plan, the European Commission encourages Member States to adopt or update their social economy strategies and measures in cooperation with social economy stakeholders into three main areas:

• Creating the right conditions for the social economy to grow
• Opening opportunities for social economy organisations to start up and scale up
• Making sure the social economy and its potential are absolutely recognised

Take an action: participate to the “transition pathway”

Through the Action Plan, the Commission is also launching a “transition pathway” to help the green and digital transitions of the social economy in dialogue with public authorities and interested parties. To foster the involvement of the different actors, the Commission invites social economy entities to participate in this process starting with a survey running until 28 February 2022:

https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/TP-P-SE-2022

How MoreThanAJob can contribute to the achievement of the Action Plan’s objectives?

The MoreThanAJob consortium is strongly committed in fostering the dialogue between public authorities and social economy actors by:

• Promoting the social economy at regional and local level – enhancing the cooperation between local actors bringing value to local economies and societies by fostering inclusiveness, resilience and sustainability.
• Promoting the social economy at international level – fostering the exchange of experiences and practices among all itspartners in the Mediterranean area for the development of more effective social services through private-public partnerships, while supporting the achievement of the objectives embedded in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
• Boosting social innovation – creating moments of dialogue among the different local actors to foster the sharing of resources and means for a greater impact in the Mediterranean territories in which they operate.

We strongly believe that, by operating in a bottom-up way and being close to communities, citizens and the problems they face, social economy entities have the capacity to find innovative solution for the development and delivery of welfare and social services.

The article in Italy: https://cesie.org/adulti/piano-azione-economia-sociale-morethanajob/   

To know more about how the MoreThanAJob activities are supporting local social economy actors, send an email to giulia.tarantino@cesie.org

You can also follow us on the project website and on our social channels (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter) to find out more about what will happen in the coming months.