The European Projects Hub for Social Economy, launched in collaboration with Weco Impresa Sociale and supported by the Torino Chamber of Commerce and the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation, aims to enhance the ecosystem’s skills in Europroject management to seize the numerous opportunities emerging at the community level.

A Context of European and International Policies Supporting Social Economy

In 2023, the EU Council approves the Recommendation on developing social economy framework conditions, identifying the social economy as a strategic sector for achieving a more socially and environmentally sustainable Europe. This aligns with previous EU documents, notably the Social Economy Action Plan approved in 2021 and the inclusion of proximity and social economy ecosystems among the 14 industrial ecosystems for European economic recovery (see the Annual Single Market Report 2021). Among the various recommendations in the EU Council document that member states must incorporate into national policies and legislations, the centrality of territorial systems and their ability to serve as pivotal elements for financial opportunities is highlighted. The establishment of national, local, or regional contact points for social economy is proposed to act as ambassadors, promoting the sector, providing peer support, facilitating access to national and EU funding, and acting as intermediaries with national and regional authorities managing EU funds.

Similarly, at the United Nations level, the role of social economy gains importance as a tool for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as seen in the approval of the United Nations General Assembly Resolution “Promoting Social and Solidarity Economy for Sustainable Development” in 2023.

Activities of the Hub:

The Hub operates on a Hub & Spoke system, involving expert entities, Europroject managers, and enabling entities in the region to facilitate the ecosystem’s participation in European calls.

Through various workshops on European Commission programs, the project engages the ecosystem in a capacity-building and peer-learning process, networking TSI partners to facilitate the sharing of experiences and stimulate project design and idea generation. The ecosystem has the opportunity to participate in hands-on learning.

Entities can also access consultancy support for proposal development.

With the project’s launch in 2023, an investigation was shared within the Torino Social Impact ecosystem to map partners’ interest in participating and their experience in Europroject management. The survey results were presented during the Torino Social Impact partners’ assembly held on June 12, 2023.