The Social Economy continues to be a hot topic in Europe. In December 2021, the European Commission published the Social Economy Action Plan. Building an economy that works for people: an action plan for the social economy in order to better address the many challenges and tap into the potential of social enterprises.

During this online discussion, we aim to:

• Explore if the plan has supported our community and its efforts in the area of the social economy
• Cover the main challenges and opportunities that Social Economies are facing in 2023
• Discuss new innovative approaches the national and regional public sector could use to support the social economy and social enterprises in different regions

The discussion is an opportunity to reconnect with relevant Interreg Europe community members as it has been a few years since the 2014-2020 period of social economy projects concluded. And it is also a chance to meet some of the partners of the new period’s social economy projects!

What you can expect

• Paula Santarén Rodríguez, Senior International Social Economy Consultant at ACCIÓ, Cataluña, Spain on social economy developments in Catalonia since the RaiSE project
• Anu Harju-Myllyaho and Sari Nisula, R&D specialists from Lapland University of Applied Sciences, on social economy developments, since the SOCENT SPAs project achieved a local policy change where social economy was included in Lapland's S3
• István Tamás Szenttamási, social enterprise and social innovation expert from IFKA Public Benefit Non-Profit Ltd will give an overview of the results of the SOCIAL SEEDS project extension as well as an update on the social enterprise ecosystem and its policy environment in