1. Commitment 26 Launch a Social Innovation pilot; promote social innovation in European Social Fund
I3U Project Meeting & Technical Workshop
September , Vienna
Berenike Ecker

2. Commitment 26 Launch a Social Innovation pilot; promote social innovation in European Social Fund
"The Commission will launch a European Social Innovation pilot which will provide expertise and a networked 'virtual hub' for social entrepreneurs and the public and third sectors.
It will promote social innovation through the European Social Fund (ESF) building on the significant investments in social innovation which the ESF has made over the last ten years, all along the innovation cycle. This will be complemented by support to innovative social experiments to be developed in the framework of the European Platform against Poverty.
Social innovation should become a mainstream focus in the next generation of European Social Fund programmes. Member States are encouraged to already step up efforts to promote social innovation through the ESF."
Source:

3. Commitment‘s rationale
Several obstacles hamper the growth of Social Innovation (SI) in Europe:
Insufficient knowledge of the needs of the SI-subject area (e.g. grass roots organisations, social enterprise and social entrepreneurship activities, public sector organisations);
The development and delivery of SI is hindered through the fragmentation of efforts and resources, lack of transparency and visibility, limited financial support and insufficient technical skills;
Poor evaluation and diffusion, and little scale-up of good practices;
Poor methods of impact evaluation of actions and policies;

4. Solution
Establishment of the SI Pilot action – as basis for a European Social Innovation Policy;
Establishment of funding mechanisms for funding social and public sector innovators throughout the innovation cycle, by embedding a social innovation approach;
Establishment of capacities and support infrastructures in the EU Member States (MS) that assist public administrations and stakeholder organisations in raising awareness of the value of social innovations;
Embedding support for social and public sector innovation in the ‘Innovation Union’ Flagship Initiative through the new ‘Innovation Partnerships’;

5. Main impact channels Embeddedness Institutional Environment Governance
“Social Innovation culture” – comprises definitions, theoretical framework and operational conceptualisation (including objectives in the context of social challenges) – e.g. The Social Innovation Europe Platform, The European Social Innovation Competition
Institutional Environment
(Pilot) actions developing capacities and support infrastructures that assist public administrations and stakeholder organisations in raising awareness of the value of SI (e.g. using social experimentation for reforms, providing financial support to social innovators, sharing good practice, implementation of European Innovation Partnerships)
Governance
(Further) develop networking policies and programmes in the field of SI in MS, regions and municipalities, and linking these with activities in civil society, such as social entrepreneurs, the third sector, the social economy, business networks, universities, etc.
Resource allocation
Establishment of funding mechanisms for funding social and public sector innovators, learning networks, institutional capacity building, mutual learning and transnational cooperation between MS, innovative and local employment initiatives

6. Impact instruments (examples)
Social Innovation culture
The Social Innovation Europe Platform
The European Social Innovation Competition
Actions developing capacities and support infrastructures for raising awareness of the value of SI: European Innovation Partnerships
(Further) develop networking policies and programmes: Networks of incubators for SI
Resource allocation: PROGRESS, EaSI, ESF

7. Commitment 26: Launch a Social Innovation pilot; promote social innovation in European Social Fund
Commitment‘s rationale
Solution
Main impact channels
Results/indicators (selected examples!)
Outcome
(long run)
Insufficient knowledge of the needs of the SI-subject area
Establishment of the SI Pilot action – as basis for a European Social Innovation Policy
Embeddedness
“Social Innovation culture” – comprises definitions, theoretical framework and operational conceptualisation
Input measures
Expenditure on research related to SI , share of expenditure of social economy organisations and private social expenditure
as percentage of GDP
Innovation
Poor evaluation and diffusion, little scale-up of good practices
Establishment of mechanisms for funding social and public sector innovators, by embedding a social innovation approach
Output measures
Number of socially innovative measures (e.g. social experimentations, improved labour market integ. and social inclusion) of vulnerable groups (ESF))
Number of shared good practices
Number of successfully scaled up SI*
Number of SI-relevant networks*
Institut. Environment
(Pilot) actions developing capacities and support infrastructures for raising awareness of the value of SI
GDP
Poor methods of impact evaluation of actions and policies
Establishment of capacities and support infrastructures that assist public administrations and organisations in raising awareness of the value of SI
Hindered development and delivery of SI through fragmentation of efforts and resources, lack of transparency and visibility, limited financial support and insufficient technical skills
Governance
(Further) develop networking policies and programmes
Socially inclusive society and smart growth (through job creation, labour market integration poverty reduction, strengthened human capital)
Embedding support for social and public sector innovation in the ‘Innovation Union’ Flagship Initiative through the new ‘Innovation Partnerships’
Impact measures
Number, nature and depth of new/improved structured networking and co-operation across different MS and at EU level
Degree of SI of activities in comparison to those undertaken by other initiatives at EU and national level
Ressource allocation
Establishment of funding mechanisms for socially innovative measures
* No source identified

8. Data/Indicators Indicators Source Years Cover-age
Expenditure on research related to social innovation
European EC, DG Research
EU 28
Share of expenditure of social economy organisations
as percentage of GDP (national sources, including
expenditures of foundations)
National sources
Voluntary private social expenditure as percentage of GDP (including households, individuals, NGOs)
OECD Social Expenditure Statistics database
34 countries
Number of socially ‘innovative measures‘ (e.g. social experimentations, Improved labour market integration and social inclusion of vulnerable groups)
EC Commission, DG EMPL (Monitoring and evaluations of Progress-, EaSI-, ESF-programmes)
Number of shared good practices
Number, nature and depth of new/improved structured networking and co-operation across different MS and at EU level
Degree of (in)novation of activities in comparison to those undertaken by other initiatives at EU and national level
Number of successfully scaled up SI -
Number of SI networks (networks of incubators for SI, hubs, labs)

9. Additional Data/Indicators (selected output and outcome of SI*)
Proposed indicators
Education
Equality opportunities / inequalties
Disabilities
Equal opportunities / inequalities regarding disabled people (EUSI)
Gender
Share of women in graduates in ISCED 5 A, 5 B and 6 (OECD)
Equal opportunities/inequalities regarding women / men (EUSI)
Migration
Share of foreign students in all students (OECD)
Equal opportunities/inequalities regarding citizenship groups (EUSI)
Skill acquisition
Social and personal competence
Educational attainment (OECD Better Life Index)
Subject-specific and methodical competence
PISA results in problem solving (OCED)
PISA results in reading (OECD)
PISA results in math (OECD)
Employment
Employment rate
Long-term unemployment rate (OECD, Labour Force Statistics database)
Equality opportunities / inequalities
Female participation in labour force (International Labour Organization, Key Indicators of the Labour Markets Net)
Equal opportunities/inequalities regarding employment of women / man, disabled people, citizenship, generations (EUSI)
GINI Index (Word Bank)
Income
Average annual earnings of full-time employees (OCED estimates based on OECD National Accounts database and Economic outlook)
* Source: Blueprint of social innovation metrics – contributions to an understanding of opportunities and challenges of social innovation measurement (2013)

10. Additional Data/Indicators (selected output and outcome of SI*)
Proposed indicators
Housing – Access and poor housing
Homelessness and poor housing (EUSI)
Social cohesion
Social cohesion between generations
Care for old-aged household members (EUSI), has to be controlled for by comparing to levels of poverty, to separate economic necessity from social Cohesion
Social networks
Social network support (Gallup World Poll)
* Source: Blueprint of social innovation metrics – contributions to an understanding of opportunities and challenges of social innovation measurement (2013)

11. Literature Online Sources:
Bund, E., Hubrich, D.-K., Schmitz, B., Mildenberger, G., Krlev, G. (2013): Blueprint of social innovation metrics – contributions to an understanding of opportunities and challenges of social innovation measurement. European Commission – 7th Framework Programme, Brussels.
ECORYS (2014), Assessing the effectiveness, efficiency and relevance of ESF Learning Networks, Final Report
European Commission (2012), Strengthening social innovation in Europe, Journey to effective assessment and metrics
European Commission (2013), Guide Social Innovation
European Commission (2014), ESF Expert Evaluation Network, Final Snthesis Report: Main ESF achievements,
European Commission (2014), Ex-post evaluation of the Programme for employment and social solidarity – PROGRESS and recommendations for the successor programmes to PROGRESS , Synthesis Report
European Commission (2015), Monitoring good practices in the areas of Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, Examples of projects funded by DG EMPL in , Report 1 and Report 2
European Commission (2015), Performance Monitoring Report of the European Union Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) 2014
Online Sources:
Commitment 26 European Social Innovation Pilot: