Today, in the prestigious setting of the Aula Magna of Cavallerizza Reale at the Università degli Studi di Torino, the forum “Business, Social, One Vision – Social Economy for Competitiveness and Social Justice” took place. The initiative was promoted by the Camera di Commercio di Torino, Torino Social Impact and the Centro Internazionale di Formazione dell’ILO, on the occasion of the World Day of Social Justice.

The event was preceded, on the evening of 19 February, by the lighting of the Mole Antonelliana in orange, featuring the visuals of the Business, Social, One Vision campaign, conceived by Marco Rubiola. The campaign aimed to promote a narrative capable of highlighting the innovative nature of the topics at the heart of the forum and to affirm the initiative’s key message: business and social impact are not separate worlds, but parts of a single vision for the future.

Some of the leading institutional, European and international voices in the social economy gathered in Turin, confirming the growing role of this model as a strategic lever to reconcile economic competitiveness, sustainability and social justice. The forum established itself as a key moment of discussion on the contribution of social enterprises and impact-driven models to building more inclusive, resilient economies oriented towards human and civil rights.

At a decisive stage for the development of the social economy in Italy — marked by the drafting of the National Action Plan for the Social Economy and by the strengthening of European and global policies — the forum offered a space for reflection on emerging opportunities and challenges within an international context shaped by geopolitical transformations and shifts in the strategic priorities of the European Union.

At the core of the debate was the role of the social economy as a driver of innovation and competitiveness, capable of integrating economic and social objectives, contributing to a fair transition policy, and acting as a true democratic infrastructure at a time marked by uncertainty and new geopolitical pressures.

Today, the social economy represents a structural and steadily expanding component of the European economic system. Across EU countries, the sector generates a total turnover of approximately €912.9 billion, contributing 6.5% to EU GDP and involving 13.6 million workers across around 4.3 million organisations.

Activities are mainly concentrated in social services, healthcare, education, ethical finance and agriculture — areas where economic objectives are integrated with social and collective purposes. Over the past fifteen years, the sector has recorded average annual growth between 2% and 2.5%, confirming its capacity for expansion and resilience even in complex economic contexts (OECD 2025; European Commission 2024, 2025; Social Economy Europe).

In Italy, the social economy plays an equally significant role, with an estimated gross value added of €52.6 billion, accounting for approximately 3.5–4.0% of national GDP. The sector employs between 1.53 and 1.9 million paid workers and includes between 360,000 and 450,000 active organisations. Key areas include social services, healthcare, education, mutual finance, agriculture and environmental protection. Between 2011 and 2021, gross value added increased by 25%, while employment grew by 13.8%, confirming the sector’s strengthening and growing weight within the national economy (Euricse 2023; Terzjus 2024; Unioncamere 2024).

At regional level, Piedmont is one of Italy’s most dynamic regions in this field. In 2024, the total economic value of the regional social economy is estimated at around €5 billion (4.5–5% of regional GDP), employing between 110,000 and 120,000 people. Approximately 950 social cooperatives operate in the region, generating a total turnover of around €1.8 billion. Key sectors include welfare, healthcare, education, agriculture, environmental protection and urban regeneration.

Within this context, the city of Turin stands out as one of Italy’s main hubs for the social economy. The sector’s total economic value is estimated at around €3.1 billion (4.8–5.0% of metropolitan GDP), with approximately 70,000 employees. There are 448 active social cooperatives generating about €1.13 billion in turnover. Considering all cooperatives and social cooperatives combined, total turnover reaches approximately €2.8 billion, involving over 42,000 workers. Main areas of activity include welfare, culture, the circular economy, impact finance and social innovation, confirming Turin’s role as an advanced laboratory for impact-oriented economic models (Euricse; Unioncamere Piemonte; RUNTS; Legacoop).

In the wider Turin metropolitan area, when considering the broader perimeter of the social economy — including social enterprises and social cooperatives (549), mutual societies (43), social promotion associations (2,307), volunteer organisations (1,399), other third sector entities (621), philanthropic entities (32), as well as benefit corporations (256) and social vocation start-ups (26) — the total number of operating entities exceeds 5,200, rising to nearly 5,900 when cooperatives (657) are also included.

Overall, these figures highlight the relevance of the social economy not only in terms of economic size, but also in its capacity to generate employment, promote social cohesion and contribute to sustainable development at European, national and local levels.

The forum opened with remarks from local institutional representatives committed to advancing the social economy: Massimiliano Cipolletta, President of the Chamber of Commerce of Turin; Chiara Foglietta, Deputy Mayor of the City of Turin for Innovation, Digital Transition, Climate and Mobility; Jacopo Suppo, Deputy Mayor of the Metropolitan City of Turin; and Silvio Magliano, Regional Councillor of Piedmont.

Subsequently, following the opening speech by Mario Calderini, Spokesperson of Torino Social Impact, the debate saw the participation of leading speakers, including Lucia Albano, Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Economy and Finance; Irene Tinagli, Member of the European Parliament and Chair of the Intergroup on Social Economy and Services of General Interest; Silvia Roggiani and Lorenzo Malagola, Members of the Chamber of Deputies; Mario Nava, Director-General of DG Employment at the European Commission; Juan Antonio Pedreño, President of Social Economy Europe; Simel Esim, Head of the Social Economy Unit of the Organizzazione Internazionale del Lavoro; Lamia Kamal-Chaoui, Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities of the Organizzazione per la Cooperazione e lo Sviluppo Economico; Olivier De Schutter, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights; Gianluca Salvatori, Secretary General of Euricse; Stefano Granata, President of Social Impact Agenda per l’Italia and Confcooperative Solidarietà; Aicha Belassir, Director General for Social Economy and Corporate Social Responsibility of the Government of Spain; Sarah de Heusch, Director of Social Economy Europe; and Paola Babos, Deputy Director of the Centro Internazionale di Formazione dell’ILO.

In addition, several initiatives and reports were presented, such as the Joint Position Paper to promote a human rights economy through the social and solidarity economy by the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Social and Solidarity Economy (UNTFSSE), the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights and the Global Coalition for Social Justice and the Social Economy; the OECD report entitled “Social Economy in Europe Contributing to Competitiveness and Prosperity”; and the report “Social Economy 2025: Evidence, Challenges and Trajectories for Italy” published by Euricse.

The high level of contributions and the international dimension of the discussion represented further recognition of Turin’s positioning as one of the leading European ecosystems for the social economy and the impact economy.

In this regard, Massimiliano Cipolletta, President of the Camera di Commercio di Torino, the main promoting body of Torino Social Impact and of the initiative, stated:

“The presence in Turin of world leaders in the social economy is recognition of the positioning work carried out in recent years by the Chamber of Commerce of Turin to promote our territory as a model in which competitiveness and social cohesion grow together; they are not alternatives but interdependent. We are proud to have acted as pioneers, guiding this path since 2005 with the establishment of the Observatory for the Civil Economy within the Chamber. This commitment then continued with the Social Entrepreneurship Committee in 2016 and the creation of Torino Social Impact, a generative platform of highly innovative projects, and was further consolidated, together with the Metropolitan City, in the recent approval of the Metropolitan Plan for the Social Economy Turin 2030.”

The city stands out for the presence of a dynamic and innovative system, supported by public institutions, private actors, impact finance, philanthropy and research centres, all engaged in promoting sustainable and inclusive economic models.

In this context operates Torino Social Impact, a platform established in 2017 within the framework of the Social Entrepreneurship Committee of the Camera di commercio di Torino and today composed of more than 400 partners, including public and private actors, profit and non-profit organisations, finance, philanthropy and research.

The ecosystem has contributed to the development of innovative initiatives such as the Social Impact Exchange and to the adoption of the Turin 2030 Metropolitan Plan for the Social Economy, strengthening the role of the territory as a laboratory for social innovation.

Turin also confirms its international vocation thanks to the presence, since 1964, of the ITCILO, engaged in promoting decent work and developing skills for social justice and sustainable development.

The forum is part of the path launched with the communication campaign Business, Social, One Vision, launched by Torino Social Impact in 2025 to promote an integrated vision of the economy, capable of bringing together the profit and non-profit worlds and enhancing the role of the impact economy as a model for the future.

The success of the event confirms the centrality of this vision and strengthens the commitment of the actors involved in promoting the social economy as a strategic pillar for fair and sustainable development.