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The European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) aims to support member states and regions to improve employment and education opportunities, to enhance social inclusion and to tackle poverty.
These action grants will contribute to building up the institutional capacity of stakeholders delivering support to social economy entities as well as those supporting the development of social finance.
This call aims to support the development of social economy and social finance in Europe. The action grants will contribute to building up the institutional capacity of stakeholders delivering support to social economy entities (i.e. cooperatives, social enterprises, mutual benefit societies, associations and foundations), as well as those supporting the development of social finance (i.e. microfinance, social enterprise finance and social impact investing). in Europe. The beneficiaries under this call are expected to: (a) support the Commission in its outreach activities at EU, national and local levels, with the aim of ensuring awareness, contributing to and helping with the implementation of EU level policies and initiatives in the areas of the call, (b) increase the beneficiaries’ and their members’ capacity to contribute to policy design at EU, national and local levels, (c) provide analytical expertise and data as regards the potential, needs, barriers and opportunities faced by organisations active in the areas of the call. The successful applicants are expected to work in close partnership with the European Commission, especially with DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, in the areas of the call.
The call will support the Commission in 2 main areas:
A) Implementation of the Social Economy Action Plan (SEAP), adopted on 9 December 2021, and other EU level initiatives relevant for the social economy, in particular the implementation of the 2023 Council recommendation on social economy framework conditions in the EU Member States that promotes the role of the social economy for employment, social inclusion and social innovation.
B) actions aimed at enabling access to finance for social enterprises, microenterprises and enterprises driven by social impact (hereafter “impact driven enterprises”). The call will also support the implementation of the InvestEU funding programme in the areas covered by the call.
The types of activities which may be funded under this call for proposals include:
• Analytical activities, such as (i) the collection of data and statistics, the development of common indicators and methodologies and, where appropriate, policy analyses and recommendations; (ii) the monitoring and assessment of relevant legislation, policies and practices; (iii) studies, research, analysis and surveys, for example, by gathering relevant evidence, especially from national and local levels, by mapping out existing gaps, and by contributing to ad hoc public or targeted consultations, to thematic strategic dialogue meetings and exchanges with Commission services. The focus can be put on broad overviews as well as on specific topics related to the areas covered by the call.
• Activities aiming at the strengthening of EU-level networks active in the areas covered by the call and at promoting cooperation between networks.
• Activities aiming at the creation or strengthening of social economy representative networks and/or social finance networks in EU Member States where social enterprises and social economy and social finance ecosystems are not developed to their full potential, esp. where currently no relevant networks at national level exist.
• Activities to foster mutual learning, cooperation, and capacity building , such as (i) trainings, workshops, seminars, train-the-trainer events, (ii) identification of, and exchanges on, good practices, innovative approaches and experiences; (iii) the organisation of peer reviews and mutual learning; (iv) the organisation of conferences, seminars, media campaigns, information campaigns, for example to support Member States with the development, update or implementation of national or regional strategies for the social economy; (v) the development of training materials and modules and online training tools.
• Activities to foster awareness-raising, outreach, communication and dissemination of information about social economy and/or social finance, such as (i) creating communication and information material, for example about EU initiatives and their results, good practices, innovative approaches and experiences; (ii) dissemination of information via suitable channels, incl. websites, organising information campaigns, publications, regular targeted information (incl. on EU initiatives and funding); (iii) outreach activities such as stakeholder gatherings and events; (iv) providing a helpdesk for members and stakeholders; (v) drafting and reviewing content for relevant websites, such as the EU Social Economy Gateway.
• Activities aiming at bringing together researchers in the field of social economy and/or social finance with social economy practitioners and/or policymakers at various levels of governance to foster the understanding of the potential of the social economy and help devising adequate policy frameworks.
• Optional activity: Small scale grants (FSTP6 grants) to third party recipients to support organisational development (incl. setting up impact measurement and management), capacity building (incl. study visits) and/or awareness raising for and communication about the social economy and/or for/about social finance. The recipients of these grants need to be members of the EU Network as sole applicant or in case of a consortium, members of the coordinator or EU Network partner(s).
Eligibility
In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:
− be legal entities (public or private bodies)
− be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:
− be non-governmental or not-for-profit entities,
− be an EU-level network whose mission falls under the objectives of this call for proposals, or a research centre, network or entity affiliated with a university active at EU level in the fields of social economy.
Applications must cover at least 14 EU Member States and other EaSI strand associated countries, through the applicants’ national member-organisations.
In case of a single beneficiary, the applicant must be:
− an EU Network having national member-organisations in at least 14 Member States of the European Union and EaSI strand associated countries.
In the case of a consortium, the coordinator must be:
− an EU Network having national member-organisations in at least 7 Member States of the European Union and EaSI strand associated countries.
Applications by single applicants are allowed (single beneficiaries; affiliated entities and other participants are allowed).
In case of a single beneficiary, the applicant must be an EU Network having national member-organisations in at least 14 Member States of the European Union and EaSI strand associated countries. Proposals can be submitted also by a consortium of at least two applicants (two independent applicants/beneficiaries).
In the case of a consortium, the coordinator must be an EU Network having national member-organisations in at least 7 Member States of the European Union and EaSI strand associated countries.
Projects should normally range between 30 and 36 months. Extensions are possible, if duly justified and through an amendment.
Project budgets (maximum grant amount) are expected to range between EUR 500 000 and EUR 1 500 000 per project. This does not however preclude the submission/selection of proposals requesting other amounts. The grant awarded may be lower than the amount requested.
Brussels time
