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Summary of the 2nd online policy summit
The second Policy Summit marked two years of progress for the CRAFT project, bringing together policymakers, networks, and professionals engaged in social innovation at European, national, and local levels. The event featured 16 speakers, including 5 facilitators from the CRAFT consortium, who led insightful discussions on advancing social innovation policy and practice across Europe.
ATTENDANCE: The Policy Summit attracted global attention, drawing 173 registrations from 46 countries across six continents. A majority of participants (60%) reported working in the field of social entrepreneurship. Around 35% identified with the broader entrepreneurship and business sector, as well as entrepreneurship support services. Additionally, 15% of attendees indicated they work in academia, 15% in policy-making, and 21% selected the “other” category. The attendance rate reached 48% with 83 participants.
Opening and Introduction: Setting the Stage for Social Innovation Policy
Magdalena Cymerys, Policy Officer at the Directorate-General Research and Innovation, European Commission, presented key policy developments supporting social innovation across Europe. She introduced the Regional Innovation Valleys initiative, which promotes collaboration across regions to tackle societal challenges through research and innovation. The initiative encourages participation from diverse stakeholders, including citizens and NGOs, and supports deep-tech solutions with high social impact. Madgalena also highlighted upcoming funding opportunities, such as cascade funding and the New European Bauhaus work strands. Attendees were encouraged to engage with current projects and explore new EU calls open until mid-October.
CRAFT Presentation: Driving Social Innovation through Policy Recommendations
Mathilde Pellizzari, representing Toulouse Métropole, a partner in the CRAFT project, presented the draft policy recommendations developed through the project.
These recommendations, based on research conducted in Latvia, Romania, and Croatia, aim to strengthen support for social innovation across the EU. The recommendations span four categories: social innovation promotion, support services and skills, tools, and funding. Key insights include the need for specialized training to support organizations, ecosystem-building, better access to tools (especially for impact measurement), and stable and accessible financing. Survey data highlighted gaps in areas like investment readiness, sales, finance and impact measurement, which call for tailored capacity-building. These findings will inform a roadmap for policy alignment and wider dissemination of tools and recommendations.
Roundtable 1: Expert Perspectives on Policy Recommendations
The roundtable opened with a call for speakers to identify the most important policy recommendations. Facilitated by Mathilde Pellizzari, it featured expert insights from the European Commission, Euclid Network, DIESIS Network, and Copenhagen Business School. Magdalena Cymerys, Policy Officer at the Comment start Directorate-General Research and Innovation, European Commission emphasized the importance of ecosystem mapping, cross-regional collaboration, and sectoral focus (recommendations 3, 7).
Marta Bruschi from DIESIS Network highlighted recommendations on fostering innovation ecosystems and investing in impact measurement (recommendations 3, 18). She also shared concrete initiatives implemented by DIESIS like thematic clusters and an AI-powered platform for social impact evaluation.
Toby Gazeley from Euclid Network emphasized the importance of strong intermediary organizations supporting social enterprises across multiple recommendations, including funding, data, and visibility (recommendations 2, 10, 11, and 7, 20, 4). He highlighted the need for better access to EU and national funding for support organizations, improved data collection (e.g., through the Social Enterprise Monitor), and broader public awareness.
Kai Hockerts from Copenhagen Business School focused on the need for transformative scaling in social entrepreneurship, not just small-scale, linear growth (recommendation 4). He illustrated the power of systemic change using examples like the iPhone and Grameen Bank, urging collaboration even with large actors to achieve broader impact.
Roundtable 2: National and Local Perspectives on Social Innovation Policies
The roundtable discussion brought together key voices from across Europe to explore the gaps between national social innovation strategies and local realities. Regita Zeila from the Social Entrepreneurship Association in Latvia emphasized that one of the biggest challenges is the lack of recognition and understanding of social innovation itself. In many national contexts, innovation is still perceived primarily as technological or digital, while social innovation remains invisible or misunderstood. She stressed the need for competence centers and a broader, horizontal view of innovation that includes social impact across all sectors—even defense or environmental fields.
Jelena Pavlovic from ACT Grupa, Croatia echoed these concerns, noting that Croatia is only just beginning to define its first national strategy for social innovation. She emphasized the importance of cooperation across sectors and acknowledged the lingering biases toward the term “social,” particularly in post-socialist contexts. Jelena also underlined the need for strong management and partnership-building skills among social innovators to move from intention to impact.
Raluca Preluca from fonduri structurale, Romania brought a practical lens, sharing insights from running a social enterprise accelerator. She pointed out that while funding mechanisms exist, many social entrepreneurs lack the business and investment readiness to use resources effectively. This gap, she argued, stems in part from weaknesses in the education system and a lack of early capacity building. Raluca identified three core competencies as essential for social innovators: business skills, deep understanding of community needs, and resilience. The discussion concluded with consensus on the need to demystify and normalize social innovation, embed it into policy, education, and ecosystem-building efforts, and treat it as a critical tool for addressing complex societal challenges.
Open table: From skills to action - Applying tools for Social Innovation
The session began with Milena Ninova, designer for the CRAFT project, introducing the CRAFT toolkit, designed to help social entrepreneurs and support organizations align their work with social innovation values such as purpose, collaboration, and systemic change. Several tools from the toolkit were presented, including the Business Value Model Canvas and the Systemic Problem Tree, enhanced versions of the Business Model Canvas and the traditional Problem Tree, respectively, as well as the Miro Teamwork Guideboard, which supports effective use of the digital collaboration platform.
Andra Stale from Keep the Change, Latvia, and Helena Habidja from Youth Bank International, Croatia, were invited to share their experiences as social innovation multipliers participating in the CRAFT project. Helena highlighted the value of Miro and how mentoring sessions enabled flexible use of tools to support entrepreneurship, particularly in areas like financial planning, by combining and customizing different elements as needed. Andra focused on the Business Value Model Canvas and shared how she developed custom “values and needs” cards, drawing inspiration from team management and well-being tools such as the Team Member User Manual and Work Environment Assessment.
These adaptations were designed to better fit the needs of her organization, especially in supporting female entrepreneurs and emerging NGOs. Both emphasized the importance of intentional tool use: understanding the underlying purpose behind each tool and tailoring them to the specific needs of the organization or group. Poll results from participants revealed that stakeholder engagement and fundraising are among the most challenging areas to align with social impact goals, areas where the presented tools could prove useful in guiding strategy and implementation. As final advice, Andra stressed the importance of pacing yourself, avoiding the urge to implement too many tools at once, while Helena underscored the need to adapt each process to the group you’re working with, always asking “why” to ensure the tools are both relevant and effective.
NEXT STEPS
The summit ended with an invitation to join upcoming activities, including the CRAFT Toolbox Workshop on October 2nd, 2025 and the final conference in June 2026.
The workshop is open for registration to anyone interested in discovering our toolbox for social innovation support: https://craftaction.eu/events/.
The community of practice remains open for continued engagement, and key outputs such as the finalized toolbox, policy recommendations, and roadmap for upscaling, will be shared between now and June 2026.
Resources and useful links
- Presentation from RTD, European Commission on social innovation initiatives and opportunities
- Presentation of CRAFT’s results and policy recommendations
- Full table of summarized policy recommendations
Summary of the 1st online policy summit
After a welcoming introduction by Nicole Miquel-Belaud, metropolitan councilor in charge of the social economy at Toulouse Métropole, which emphasized the need for social innovation as part of the just transition, Massimo Gaudina from RTD at the European Commission provided an overview of the European Innovation Agenda. He reminded that ensuring an economy for the people is a priority of the Commission along with the green and digital “twin transition”.
Massimo Gaudina highlighted the New European Innovation Agenda, focusing on deep tech innovation to tackle global challenges, supported by, for instance, Regional Innovation Valleys focusing on 5 sectors: food security, digital development, circularity, energy, and healthcare. Emphasis was placed on European Innovation Ecosystems and EU Missions developed under Horizon Europe, including specific actions for social innovation.
Lucia Radu, CRAFT project coordinator from Impact Hub, and Mathilde Pellizzari from Toulouse Métropole introduced the CRAFT project and initial research results. Lucia described CRAFT as an initiative to shift the economy towards prioritising people, planet, and purpose by improving social innovation support tools and fostering a digital ecosystem and community. Mathilde highlighted insights from 34 support organizations and 60 entrepreneurs in Croatia, Latvia, and Romania, revealing needs to strengthen capacity in sales, finance, investment readiness, marketing, impact measurement, and business development. Co-creation sessions in the CRAFT Living Lab are already addressing these gaps by focusing on providing enhanced support tools for social innovators.
Panel discussion 1 - 'Entrepreneurs' Journeys and Archetypes of Success'
The panel discussion on “Entrepreneurs’ Journeys and Archetypes of Success” highlighted the evolving landscape of social entrepreneurship through diverse experiences and innovative approaches.
Cristina Căluianu from Asociatia CED emphasized the importance of accessibility in contents and services and the role that all enterprises should play towards this goal, setting an inclusive tone. Domagoj Boljar discussed Earthbound Sneakers’ ecological approach to sneaker design and the challenges of aligning consumer and investor expectations, stressing the importance of authenticity and avoiding greenwashing.
Tatiana Glad from Impact Hub Network discussed the increasingly blurred lines between traditional and social entrepreneurs, emphasising the crucial role of involving beneficiaries in decision-making and ensuring diverse approaches coexist to achieve systemic change. Cristian Ormindean from Enterprise Europe Network Romania noted shifting consumer values towards sustainability and predicted a transformative impact on mainstream business practices and policies.
Panel discussion 2 - SUPPORT TOOLS FOR THE GREEN, SOCIAL AND DIGITAL TRANSITIONS
During the panel discussion on tools used in social entrepreneurship support, the speakers highlighted innovative approaches and tools driving meaningful social change and fostering sustainability. Elsa Brander shared insights from the SKIFT project coordinated by her organisation Kooperationen, which employs tools like Theory of Change and Sustainable Transformation Compass to aid cooperatives and social economy enterprises in their green transition.
Octave Kleynjans from Impact Lab Academy, a training platform on impact-driven entrepreneurship for business support organisations, emphasised the Impact Score tool for quick impact assessments and the Avoided Cost calculation, which monetizes positive impacts to bolster project credibility with policy makers and impact funds.
Daniel Krüger provided a both practical and academic perspective drawing from his work at Dortmund University but also for the German Competence Center for Social Innovation and the German Platform for Social Innovation. He stressed the importance of an ecosystem approach in social innovation beyond social entrepreneurs only. The speakers advocated for inclusive tools that support impact measurement, reporting, and foster a culture of co-creation among stakeholders to sustain social enterprises and engage investors effectively.
Panel discussion 3 - the Role of Social Entrepreneurship policy to promote new models of success
The panel on “The Role of Social Entrepreneurship Policy in Promoting New Archetypes of Success” highlighted the critical role of effective policies in advancing social impact and sustainability through social entrepreneurship recognition and support. Mathilde Pellizzari introduced the CRAFT Better Entrepreneurship Policy Group, which focuses on gathering data to inform policy recommendations for social entrepreneurship in Europe, emphasizing areas like finance, impact assessment, and skills development. Melis Aslan from OECD discussed the Better Entrepreneurship Policy Tool (BEPT), detailing its use in assessing social economy development across countries like Croatia, Latvia, and Romania, and highlighting the need for legal recognition and supportive institutional frameworks.
Toby Gazeley from Euclid Network addressed challenges in Croatia, Latvia, and Romania, including lack of political support and financing options, and discussed upcoming European legislation’s potential impact on social enterprises. The discussions underscored the importance of data-driven policy-making and the significant role of social enterprises in driving sustainable economic growth.
The CRAFT Policy Summit highlighted critical perspectives for advancing policy recommendations in support of social entrepreneurship and innovation. Key insights emphasised the need for robust frameworks that include legal recognition, supportive ecosystems, and data-driven approaches. Initiatives like the New European Innovation Agenda and European Innovation Ecosystems support sector-specific innovations in addressing global challenges. Moving forward, policymakers should prioritise strategies that strengthen financial support, enhance skills development, and improve impact assessment frameworks to nurture sustainable economic growth and societal well-being across Europe.
Speaker Presentations
- Craft project overview
- Initial research results – Analysis of the first registration of Social Innovation Actors and Multipliers
- CRAFT Better Entrepreneurship Policy Group
Additional Resources
- European Innovation Ecosystems Data Hub (eismea.eu)
- The Social Economy Gateway, the one-stop shop for the social economy in Europe
- The European School of Social Innovation (a network of European social innovation researchers)
- The ESF+ database for social innovations (Social Innovation Match)
- The Social Innovation Atlas with articles on social innovation research and practice world-wide and a world map of 1,000+ examples of social innovation initiatives
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions are however those of the authors only, and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.