October 2024

Witnessing a vibrant social innovation ecosystem in Estonia



From 9 to 11 October, members of the European Social Innovation Alliance (ESIA) gathered for a study visit in Tallinn, Estonia. The aim of ESIA study visits is to gain first-hand experience of social innovation in each member country. Study visits to Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands are planned for 2025 - 2027. The study visit to Estonia was organised around the  Impact Day Festival 2024 . This is the largest sustainability festival in the Baltic States. This year, more than 170 speakers and thousands of participants from more than 30 countries took part in the festival. Impact Day is organised by ESIA member organisation Social Enterprise Estonia.



Social innovation – what’s in a name?



At a pre-festival event, the participants of the ESIA study visit listened to a panel discussion on the status quo of social innovation in Estonia. The panellists were Minna Harjo (Advisor of the Department of Citizenship Policy and Civil Society Department at the Ministry of the Interior), Mart Veliste (Head of Innovation Services at the Baltic Innovation Agency) and Triin Kübar (Research Assistant at the School of Governance, Law & Society at Tallinn University). The panel was moderated by Evelyn Valtin from the National Foundation of Civil Society (KÜSK). Apart from the Baltic Innovation Agency, the other organisations are all ESIA members.



The discussion started with the recurring theme of a common definition of social innovation. While there is agreement on the essence of what social innovation is, views differ when it comes to the details. Does social innovation always have to be disruptive (i.e. bring about radical, systemic change) or can it also be incremental? Does social innovation always have to be completely new in character, or should we rather focus on the scaling up the many social innovations that already exist in a different context? And does social innovation need to have a clear economic value and/or market potential?



Social innovation gains momentum in Estonia



Triin Kübar confirmed that a  mapping of the national social innovation ecosystem  published by the University of Tallinn in 2023 confirmed the lack of a common understanding of the topic in Estonia. There is currently neither a common definition nor a national strategy for social innovation. In general, the Estonian ecosystem is at an early stage of development - but there is a growing interest.



As the Tallinn University study points out: While in the past social innovation in Estonia was more of a societal evolutionary process than the result of a purposefully created environment, this has changed a) with the launch of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and b) with a generally increasing awareness of environmental and social problems in recent years. Finally, the study also highlights a strong link between social innovation and Estonia's digital economy.



Triin Kübar said during the panel discussion that so far social innovation in Estonia has been a bottom-up development by initiatives from different sectors and levels, but rather unconnected despite the relatively small size of the country. However, there are positive trends, such as a  broad agreement  signed in 2022 by 23 different organisations working in the field of social entrepreneurship and innovation, including ministries, universities, private sector partners and support organisations. In addition, based on the mapping study by the University of Tallinn, a process to develop a common vision for social innovation in Estonia was launched in 2023. It was led by the National Foundation of Civil Society (KÜSK) in cooperation with Tallinn University, Võrumaa Development Centre, Social Enterprise Estonia, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Social Affairs - all ESIA member organisations. Representatives from the State Chancellery, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of the Environment and the Network of Regional Development Centres also participated in the process. Stakeholders were able to contribute to the visioning process through seminars organised in different locations in Estonia. The resulting  Social Innovation Vision 2030  is considered a major achievement, inspired by Estonia's membership in the ESIA.



Cause for optimism



However, according to Triin Kübar, Estonia's political agenda is still lagging behind. In the mapping study, the University of Tallinn therefore made policy recommendations for social innovation: take advantage of Estonians' progressive mindset and willingness to innovate, foster institutionalisation, adopt impact-led policies, facilitate the strengthening of the social market, create conditions for increasing skills and capacities, and finally address rural backwardness.



Minna Harjo from the Ministry of the Interior then told the audience: When the Social Innovation Vision 2030 document was being developed, it became clear in the stakeholder dialogues that awareness of the term social innovation is still low in the public sector. It is under-resourced and barely features in existing public policy documents. Recent government budget cuts have not helped. In times of socio-economic crises, the narrative that social innovation needs time to show impact does not go down well with the various political stakeholders, stressed Minna Harjo.



Nevertheless, she concluded, the socio-economic challenges and crises, as well as the increasing number of initiatives from the European Commission (especially after the publication of the Social Economy Action Plan and the Council Recommendation on it), are bringing social innovation and the social economy more into the political spotlight. She also cited the example of the public sector innovation team  Innotiim , which is spreading design thinking, agile development and a culture of experimentation among civil servants in Estonia, thus promoting policy innovation as a form of social innovation. Overall, Minna Harjo's message was that getting social innovation on the political agenda is far from easy, but there are reasons for optimism. Financing matters (a lot)

Mart Veliste said that four years ago, when the Baltic Innovation Agency wanted to enter the field of social entrepreneurship as part of the SoFiMa project, it was difficult to find social enterprises in Estonia when using a search engine. Supported by Pirkko Valge, CEO of Heateo Sihtasutus/Good Deed Foundation, who was in the audience and whose organisation is one of the few impact investors in Estonia, Mart Veliste stressed that social entrepreneurs and social innovation initiatives in Estonia face real funding problems. The  OECD (2020)  also states that “social enterprises, particularly in the form of non-profit associations (amounting at as many as 93% of the total), and foundations do not have access to public business support programmes and financial schemes. A limited amount of public financing is available through the [ESIA member] ‘National Foundation of Civil Society’ (NFCS), which is the main public organisation which provides grants to civil society. However, the last few years have shown fast growth and increased interest from the side of investors to be active in this field." Nevertheless, Pirkko Valge concludes that you still have to be "either crazy or a believer" to start a social business in Estonia.



Learning first-hand about social innovation in Estonia



After the panel discussion, the ESIA study visit participants took a tour of the  Pohjala  creative area, where the Impact Day festival and pre-event took place. There was a great diversity and vibrancy of social initiatives and innovation in Estonia to see and feel. This was echoed in the afternoon when the ESIA study visit participants gathered in the shared offices of  Vivita  and ESIA member organisation  Good Deed Foundation . Vivita is a creativity accelerator for young people. The concept originated in Japan in 2018. Today, there are franchises in several countries around the world. According to the Vivita website, the aim is to "equip young people with 21st century skills and provide them with an environment that cultivates fearless exploration". By providing open, well-equipped creativity studios like the one in Tallinn, Vivita aims to foster critical thinking and learner agency - skills that are increasingly important in a time of change, when the future is harder to predict. Vivita's young innovators from diverse backgrounds are supported by a global network of experts and changemakers, as well as customised open source software and hardware.



ESIA member Good Deed Foundation was established in 2003. The NGO aims to launch and grow high social impact initiatives by supporting them over a period of 3-5 years - both financially (through two own funds) and in kind (consultancy, pro bono experts and volunteers). Central to this is the Nula incubator, which was established 20 years ago in partnership with the National Foundation of Civil Society (KÜSK), an ESIA member. Two NULA projects were presented in person to the ESIA study visit participants:



• The  Substitute Teacher Programme (ASÕP) : aims to alleviate teacher shortages and work overload. In a medium-sized Estonian school with about 500 students, about 200 lessons need to be covered every month. Organising substitutes is time-consuming, and preparing and teaching replacement lessons in addition to their main job increases teachers' workload and the risk of burnout. By providing high quality replacement lessons taught by motivated teachers, the project aims to reduce the time and effort required to organise replacements in schools. Half of the teachers in the programme have a teaching qualification or are studying to become teachers, and half have previous experience in leadership or youth work. In six years, more than 3,500 people have enrolled in the programme as substitute teachers; one in six has taught as a substitute and 75 have gone on to become regular teachers. Schools pay the substitute teachers according to the cost of the replacement lesson, and ASÕP receives a commission based on the number of replacement lessons. Since the COVID crisis, ASÕP has been working with the Ministry of Education and Research to coordinate substitutions and alleviate teacher shortages. The first teachers and schools joined the programme during the NULA incubation period. Now, an online platform will connect educational institutions and substitute teachers in real time.



•  Let’s Walk Together (Kõnnime koos) . It was launched in response to the fact that a fifth of Estonian adults are obese, a third of people of working age are active for less than 15 minutes a day, and almost half of all deaths are due to lifestyle-related health risks. Let's Walk Together runs community-based, guided walking groups across Estonia. Walking is one of the easiest ways to incorporate physical activity into daily habits and has a positive impact on mood and health. Once a week, Let's Walk Together organises a 45-60 minute walk at a moderate pace under the guidance of a group leader.



ESIA on the Innovation Stage at Impact Day



During the first day of the Impact Day Festival, the participants of the ESIA study visit also took to the stage. They spoke about the different (status of) national social innovation ecosystems in each country, the social innovation ecosystems in each country, the benefits of international partnerships like ESIA, and the difficulties of pitching social innovation to decision-makers. Each panellists also presented examples of social innovation in their respective countries:



• Pirkko Valge (CEO at Good Deed Foundation) presented the  World Cleanup Day , which originated in Estonia and has successfully expanded globally. World Cleanup Day is a global social action programme. It aims to tackle the global waste problem, including the problem of marine litter. World Cleanup Day includes litter clean-up and waste mapping activities in all time zones. It is held annually on 20 September and has become a UN holiday in 2024.



• Vanessa Schummer (Head of the Social and Solidarity Economy Department in Ministère du Travail Luxembourg) gave the example of  Clean Something for Nothing (CSFN) , which enables people to clean up nature through an innovative app. The community-driven platform encourages collaboration between individuals, communities and businesses.



• Iselien Nabben (Senior Advisor at Kennisland in the Netherlands) spoke about one of Kennisland's own projects - 'Onze Nieuwe School'. In 2015, Amsterdam called on its residents and stakeholders to submit their ideas for new schools, of which eventually 3 or 4 would actually be created. It was the first time that a municipality in the Netherlands had taken this approach. Kennisland was responsible for the incubator and the coaching of the school projects, with the support of educational experts and students of educational science.



• Norbert Kunz (Managing Director of Social Impact in Germany) presented the case study of  Auticon , which was founded in 2009 based on the founder's personal experience with an autistic son. It has grown to become the largest majority autistic company in the world, providing IT solutions using the special skills of neurodivergent talent.



This time, Minna Harjo (Advisor to the Department of Citizenship Policy and Civil Society at the Ministry of the Interior) was the moderator.



A pervasive sense of reciprocity

At the end of the study visit to Tallinn, the ESIA participants agreed that they had gained a much better understanding of the specificities of the Estonian social innovation ecosystem and its cultural, political and geographical context. At the same time, however, there was a pervasive sense of reciprocity. The opportunities for synergy and scaling were pervasive, and many ideas for transnational cooperation and collaboration were generated.