September 2024

The European Social Innovation Alliance enters its next phase



From 26 to 27 September, old and new members of the European Social Innovation Alliance (ESIA) met in the town of Beelitz in Brandenburg, Germany. In the coming years, the consortium of currently 26 member organisations from Estonia, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands intends to strengthen its efforts to improve the social innovation ecosystem at national and EU level. At the event, ESIA members set the course for this. 



ESIA is co-funded by the European Union as part of the ESF+ Social Innovation+ initiative. ESIA members are among a total of 125 organisations from 24 EU countries currently building a pan-European social innovation infrastructure at all levels - local, regional, national and transnational. The corresponding EU project "National Competence Centres for Social Innovation" (short: NCCSI) started in May 2021 with an initial 2-year funding period. It is now in its second round with funding running until June 2027. While ESIA member countries Estonia and Germany already participated in the first round of funding (in a consortium with the UK, Denmark and Poland), Luxembourg and the Netherlands have joined in the second round.



Setting milestones for years to come at historic venue

The event in Beelitz was hosted by Social Impact gGmbH, the lead partner of ESIA and of KoSI, which is the German National Competence Centre for Social Innovation. Managing Director Norbert Kunz welcomed participants to Social Impact's offices in Brandenburg. They are located in a historic building on the site of the former Beelitz sanatoriums - a place that was a social innovation at the turn of the twentieth century. 



ESIA member organisations cover the full spectrum of social innovation stakeholders. Representatives from the public and private sectors, civil society organisations and academia were present in Beelitz. In particular, the new member organisations from Luxembourg and the Netherlands were welcomed. Both countries bring very valuable perspectives and experiences to ESIA, often complementary to those of Estonia and Germany. For example, the National Competence Centres for Social Innovation in Luxembourg and the Netherlands are currently being established directly at ministerial level. Estonia and Germany, on the other hand, used a bottom-up approach to set up their respective NCCSIs in 2021, with civil society organisations, academia and the private sector taking the lead. In general, Estonia and Germany will actively support Luxembourg and the Netherlands with their experience in setting up NCCSIsfrom the first EU funding round.



During the two days in Beelitz, participants gained a better understanding of the history and status quo of social innovation in each country. For example, Germany is the only country in ESIA with a national strategy for social innovation. Estonia, on the other hand, has extensive experience in the field of digital social innovation. In Luxembourg, the focus is on bridging the gap between traditional companies and social enterprises and innovators. In the Netherlands, several organisations and networks have been set up in recent years to promote social innovation through incubation projects, peer-to-peer learning and contacts with policy-makers. Social innovation, and in particular social entrepreneurship, has also been on the political agenda for a long time, but the growing momentum at EU level is now leading the country to broaden its view of the issue and increase its political efforts. 



In Beelitz, planned activities and milestones at national and consortium level were shared among ESIA members and ideas for further cooperation and collaboration were generated. Some capacity building (training, workshops, incubators) and networking activities will be offered to stakeholders from all ESIA member countries. Best practices in advocacy, public awareness and research will be shared and developed jointly. 



Through a digital ESIA community platform, regular calls, working groups and study visits, ESIA members will now systematically develop next steps. In addition, they will participate in the activities of the Community of Practice on Social Innovation and the Working Group for National Competence Centres offered by the EU: to network on a multi- and bilateral level with other EU countries and their respective NCCSIs and to support the positive momentum in Brussels with regard to social innovation.