Project::Empower-SE

Empowering the next generation of social enterprise scholars

Cooperation-project
International and national basis
Period: 2018-2021
Method: Literature-analysis; expert interviews; group-discussions
Project-partner: Prof. Marthe Nyssens (Catholic University of Louvain)
Funded by COST European Cooperation in Science and Technology

Description

The Cost Action under the lead of the EMES research Network aims to advance knowledge and to develop evidence-based policy for fostering a sustainable Social Enterprise (SE) eco-system, across Europe and globally. It involves researchers and SE Stakeholders from 38 nationalities to address the following main research questions: 1) What are the SE conceptions and models in which SE practices and policies are embedded in each national/regional context? 2) What are their innovative contributions in answering new social and ecological needs (migration, health and social care, energy and transport, food supply chains, finance, circular economy,etc) central for to the development of more sustainable societies? 3) What institutional development (public policies, legal forms, inter-sectoral partnerships etc) can support the scaling up and sustainability of these different SE models?
The Action is organized in a flexible four-year work plan around four working groups (WGs) each of them with specific tasks and deliverables. 1) Foundations - To identify and bind the variety of SE conceptions and models at the local level. 2) Industries & Impact - To gather evidence and analyse the innovative contributions of SE in 5 key industries for the development of sustainable societies. 3) Eco-Systems - To equip major SE stakeholders with robust knowledge to understand how the different elements that compose the eco-system of SE in each country interact and can have an impact on the scaling of SE, both wide and deep. 4) Education and Dissemination - To produce concrete outputs for SE research community and to ensure the maximum impact of the Action in terms of transfer knowledge and awareness among stakeholders during and beyond the Action duration.