Reflections and lessons learnt from national social innovation ecosystems



On 27 February 2025, the European Social Innovation Alliance (ESIA) organised a transnational workshop on “The Future of Support for Social Innovation in Europe”. The workshop brought together representatives from National Competence Centres for Social Innovation, ministries, NGOs, academia, networks and other ecosystem actors to reflect on lessons learnt from national social innovation ecosystems and to discuss future support structures for social innovation in Europe.

The workshop was part of ESIA’s transnational work on strengthening the exchange between national competence centres and related European social innovation initiatives. It created a space for cross-country learning, shared reflection and joint discussion on how political, institutional and practical framework conditions for social innovation can be improved at national and European level.

The session included inputs from Germany and Estonia. The German input focused on lessons learnt from the analysis of framework conditions in the German social innovation ecosystem and what these mean for the German National Competence Centre for Social Innovation. Key observations included the growing role of public administration at federal and state level, new strategies and funding schemes, an increasing awareness of social innovation in society, and new roles for universities, welfare organisations and other ecosystem actors. At the same time, the German case also showed the continued need for better coordination and clearer entry points for social innovators in a fragmented support landscape.

The Estonian input built on the analysis of Estonia’s social innovation ecosystem and reflected on the development of a common vision for social innovation. It highlighted the importance of shared understanding, ecosystem coordination and cross-sector cooperation for strengthening social innovation at national level. The Estonian case also showed how social innovation ecosystems can emerge from bottom-up initiatives while still requiring stronger institutional support, coordination and strategic orientation.

The workshop then moved into interactive group discussions. Participants reflected on their experiences with political framework conditions in their member states, how these conditions had helped or hindered their work, what kind of political support for social innovation is needed in the future, and how European support — including funding — can help create better framework conditions for social innovation.

Key insights from the workshop were:

Social innovation ecosystems across Europe are developing in very different national and regional contexts. This diversity is a strength, but it also means that support structures cannot follow a one-size-fits-all model. Future European support frameworks need to recognise the different stages of ecosystem development, actor constellations and institutional settings across countries.

National Competence Centres can play an important role as conveners, connectors and translators between policy, practice, research and civil society. They can help bring together fragmented initiatives, identify common needs, make knowledge more accessible and strengthen the visibility of social innovation within national and European policy debates.

Participants underlined the importance of long-term and reliable support structures. Social innovation requires more than short-term project funding. It needs infrastructures for learning, capacity building, experimentation, evidence generation, knowledge transfer and cross-sector collaboration.

The workshop also showed that European support can be highly valuable when it enables countries and regions to learn from each other. Transnational exchange helps actors compare different approaches, understand enabling and constraining factors, and develop shared perspectives on what a more supportive environment for social innovation in Europe could look like.

At the same time, participants pointed to the need for stronger coordination between EU-level priorities and national implementation contexts. European frameworks should provide orientation and resources, while leaving enough flexibility for local and national ecosystems to adapt support measures to their specific conditions.

The results of the workshop contribute to ESIA’s broader dialogue on the future architecture of support for social innovation in Europe. They also connect to ESIA’s advocacy work and to the wider discussion on how National Competence Centres can support the development of sustainable, well-connected and impact-oriented social innovation ecosystems.

By documenting the reflections and lessons learnt from this transnational exchange, D005.010 provides a useful resource for policymakers, competence centres, researchers and practitioners working to strengthen the enabling conditions for social innovation in Europe.