The City of Turin through the European Funds and Innovation Sector has won, as leader, the European project called EaSI, “Competence Centers for Social Innovation”.

“It is a very important success that seals the role of Turin as one of the most important centers in the world for Social Innovation and impact finance – says Mario Calderini, spokesperson for Torino Social Impact -. It is no coincidence that Turin has been chosen as the venue for two international events that have been included by the specialized press among the ten most important in the world in 2021 and the European Commission has presented the case of Turin as one of the guiding examples in the construction of the Social Economy Action Plan that will be launched in a few months”.

“This recognition is the result of the efforts made to consolidate in Turin a unique ecosystem in the field of social innovation – says Marco Pironti, Councillor for Innovation of the City of Turin -. The Center will represent a fundamental tool for a real long-term impact on the territory, strengthening the role of experimenter of social innovation practices, also through the funds of the Pon Metro”.

The EaSI (Employment and Social Innovation) program is a European financial instrument that aims to promote a high level of sustainable and quality employment, ensure adequate and decent social protection, combat exclusion and poverty, and improve working conditions.

The objective of the project is to support the creation and development of a National Competence Center for Social Innovation, with the functions of: capacity building of key social innovation stakeholders; transnational knowledge transfer; creating synergies between the EaSI program and the ESF (European Social Fund), especially with a view to designing, supporting, monitoring and integrating innovative actions that could be extended and/or replicated using ESF funds in the coming years; networking to network and cooperate with other selected Centers of Competence, using mutual learning and jointly developing, evaluating and optimizing relevant methods and tools also collecting and disseminating inspiring examples, models and practices.

With this project – whose total budget is about 900 thousand euros – we want to build a bridge between public policies and social practices in order to integrate Social Innovation in Italy and partner countries as a human-centered approach to innovation, able to promote technological development and at the same time address the most urgent social and societal challenges.

The strategy is to create a National Center of Competence on Social Innovation as a platform to connect public policies and communities of practice in order to facilitate mutual understanding, foster better cooperation and increase the capacity of policymakers and practitioners to promote the theme in the country (and abroad).

The Center, therefore, aims to facilitate the promotion, mainstreaming and upscaling of social innovation based on the specific characteristics of the context of each partner involved, building on a strong strategic partnership between public authorities, universities and research centers, intermediaries and practitioners who share a common vision of social innovation as a key driver for inclusive and sustainable European development. To this end it will support and coordinate the nascent Centers in Greece, Romania and Slovenia.

A Steering Committee will be set up at the Italian level, composed of ANPAL, the Managing Authority of the Inclusion PON and the Pon Metro with coordination and guidance functions.

The project – whose partners are Fondazione Brodolini, Politecnico di Milano, University of Bologna, Politecnico di Torino, Euricse, Fondazione Italia Sociale – has gathered the support of over 30 Italian public and private stakeholders.