Project description
Boosting social economy impact and worker well-being
The social economy (SE) sector plays a crucial role in the EU, representing over 10 % of enterprises and supporting 13.6 million jobs. Despite this, SE organisations face significant policy challenges, including funding shortfalls and difficulties in scaling their operations. Critics argue that these organisations can push a neoliberal agenda, and measuring their social impact remains a complex issue, often failing to address local needs or the welfare of employees. Workers at SE organisations frequently experience precarious jobs and low wages. The EU-funded ASSETS project seeks to tackle these issues by improving evaluation tools, conducting research, and creating a digital platform to enhance working conditions and promote social inclusion across the SE sector.
Objective
The Social Economy (SE) sector constitutes over 10% of all EU enterprises, sustaining around 13.6 million job positions. Despite its significant role, Social Economy Organizations (SEOs) face substantial policy and legal challenges, including funding shortfalls and difficulties in scaling, underscoring the need for thorough investigation. While often acknowledged as innovative contributors to social inclusion, some criticize them for allegedly advancing a neoliberal agenda. Controversies persist, primarily due to challenges in measuring the social impact of SEOs and discerning their outcomes compared to mainstream social inclusion providers. To delve into this discussion, there is a pressing need to enhance evaluation tools for measuring the impact of SE on social inclusion. Although various approaches exist, they are primarily linked to improved accountability and external evaluation guidelines, commonly overlooking local needs and specificities. Concurrently, transnational reports indicate that SE employees, on average, receive lower compensation, experience more precarious jobs, and face informal working conditions. Therefore, there is an urgent need to broaden the scope of social impact assessment beyond service beneficiaries, incorporating the impact on SE employees. In this context, technological advancements hold the potential to support SE progression, with platform cooperatives emerging as influential contributors committed to citizen involvement and improving members' working conditions through collaborative governance. Against these backdrops, ASSETS employs a four-step strategy to explore SE's impact on social inclusion, quality job provision, and sustainability: conducting research and case studies spanning regions both within and outside the European Union, improving evaluation tools through local integration and technological advancements, and creating a digital collaborative platform to engage stakeholders and enhance working conditions within SE.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.2.2 - Culture, creativity and inclusive society
MAIN PROGRAMME
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HORIZON.2.2.3 - Social and Economic Transformations
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-CL2-2024-TRANSFORMATIONS-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
546 36 THESSALONIKI
Greece
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.