The aim of the project is, through a series of exchanges of practices, knowledge, experience, skills and resources, to co-construct a shared vision of the issue of the social impact and usefulness of the SSE and a shared culture between European partners on the definition of social impact and usefulness, in order to then develop benchmarks and guidelines that can be disseminated throughout Europe. The ultimate aim is to improve the skills not only of coaches, teachers and trainers working in the SSE field, but also of the entrepreneurs, employees, volunteers and managers of the organisations that our networks bring together on this theme. These organisations carry out socially useful actions that need to be promoted. Lastly, this project aims to strengthen alliances within the SSE between the various European networks in order to promote the expertise of SSE networks on the issue of social impact and utility. At the end of the project, the construction of this common corpus will make it possible to prefigure a second future project for the development and dissemination of a training programme on this theme.
There are 2.8 million social economy organisations in the EU, employing 13.6 million people. In 2021, as part of its action plan to stimulate the social economy and create jobs, the European Commission is stressing the importance of supporting these organisations, which are focused on their social aims and put their values at the heart of their management, giving priority to the human dimension, solidarity, participation, inclusion and sustainability. To report on their activities, these organisations have long adopted approaches based on the evaluation of their social purpose, often using their own qualitative indicators. Today, they are committed to the question of social impact and utility, and are aware of the challenge represented by this rapidly expanding concept. However, social impact and social utility remain polysemous concepts, as their definition, measurement tools and methods differ according to the approaches that exist in Europe and vary from one country to another. This project aims to co-construct a shared vision on the issue of the social impact and utility of the SSE in order to enable its dissemination in Europe.