Policy recommendations to improve support for social innovation in Europe
Since the early 2010s, social innovation (SI) has been defined as new ideas that meet social needs, create social relationships, and form new collaborations. These innovations can be products, services, or models addressing unmet needs more effectively.
Through CRAFT we aim to emphasize the continued need to support SI as a set of concrete initiatives that contribute to innovative ways of doing business, strengthening communities, fostering cross-sectoral cooperation, and enhancing the sustainability and resilience of enterprises.
Yet social innovators still encounter many obstacles in their local contexts and little is known about their actual needs.
The CRAFT project contributes to this effort of identifying and addressing little-known innovators’ needs. Besides community-building and SI support tools, the third pillar of the CRAFT project is policy recommendations and guidelines to improve support for SI and social entrepreneurship across Europe.
Access our policy outputs
The full document includes:
- 21 policy recommendations pertaining to 4 categories: SI promotion, support services and competencies, support tools, and funding and financing SI
- For each recommendation, concrete actions targeting relevant levels of government
- For each recommendation, a detailed description
- The sources informing these recommendations, including insights from the registrations, the policy summits, interviews, and other materials
- Summarized action plans at local, national and EU levels.
Access our five Policy Briefs, including one targeting EU-level policy, one addressing all policy-makers across Europe, and three country‑specific briefs for Croatia, Latvia, and Romania.
How to use these outputs
– Use the policy briefs for quick insights and advocacy
– Use the full report for evidence, methodology, and detailed recommendations
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.