Introduction
Info and documentation about the ongoing work of the GECES Working group on social economy clusters and other forms of collaboration
therefore the work started from the 'Traditional Industrial Cluster' concept: "Clusters are groups of specialised enterprises, often SME's, and other related supporting actors in a location that cooperate closely Together, SME's can be more innovative, create more jobs, and register more international trademarks and patents than alone"
The working group developed on the basis of their activities the concept Clusters of social and ecological innovation.
Clusters of Social and Ecological Innovation (CSEI) group social economy enterprises, civil society organisations, local authorities and education and research institutions that cooperate in a particular location to improve local economic, ecological and societal prosperity in a jointly managed structure or project. Their fields of activity are very diverse, and in most cases cross-sectoral as they don’t pursue sectoral competitiveness as such.
Most known activities of CSEI focus on ecology, circularity, employment and job inclusion, local food and sustainable agriculture, incubation and social entrepreneurial support, education activities etc. The role of social economy enterprises is key in such clusters as they are usually initiators and wish to complement their individual economic activities with joint social and ecological projects by setting up joint services, pooling of resources and a joint innovation capacity. Such a joint innovation capacity is mostly driven by social innovation, potentially translated into digital, technological, process, product and service innovations. Some cluster experiment specifically on more environmental or green innovations, mostly in term if circularity but also biodiversity and clean energy.
Often, CSEI grow out of grass-rooted experimental projects and become instrumental to regenerate economic activity, create new enterprises and jobs and to revitalize socially and economically stricken areas in general. Other CSEI are initiated by local authorities, have similar objectives and are supposed to be driven by a strong public-private partnership. For both, many CSEI should not be strictly seen as social economy populated structures, as they migth include many ‘traditional enterprises’ that subscribe themselves into the cluster’s ambition.
The model of a CSEI can be seen as a European concept inspired by the French ‘Pôles territoriaux de coopération économique (PTCE)[1] and a set of similar clusters collected during an explorative mapping by a dedicated GECES working group. The findings of this working group are published in a report expected for the summer of 2021. This report explored how CSEI arise, their purpose, structures, member services and financial means. This working group has also facilitated the access of CSEI to the new European Cluster Collaboration Platform, which will allow CSEI to enjoy access to cluster support measures and the wider EU cluster network.
We welcome Social economy clusters to register their initiative in this platform and become a member of the European cluster community!
[1] In 2020 France counts 56 functioning PTCE, which is not considering those in a first stages of development. http://lelabo-ess.org/-poles-territoriaux-de-cooperation-economique-36-.html
If you are interested in CSEI or you want to flag our attention to your CSEI, please contact GROW-SOCIAL-ENTERPRISE: GROW-SOCIAL-ENTERPRISE@ec.europa.eu
Output of the GECES working group
Here you will find as of August 2021 the report of the GECES Working Group on Clusters of Social and Ecological Innovation.
Next to the report, you will also find an overview of cases that were collected across Europe and a set of thematic analyses contributed by experts in the working group.
The report is still under construction. A first draft will be shared will be shared with GECES members. A final version with thematic approaches will be finished by July 2021.
CSEI @EUSES Mannheim
The working group will organise a dedicated workshop during the European Social Economy Summit in Mannheim. The workshop will be on day 2 (27/5 from 11/30-13:00).
Program
The cluster model is characterised by a consistent set of common interests, values and principles and different forms of cooperation among its members to pursue them. Therefore, it can be a valuable model to social economy enterprises that search for new strategies and development perspectives, especially having as a background the socio-ecological transition locally.
Session overview
CSEI cases:
- Gerd De Wilde, Circularium - Brussels, Belgium
- Giovanni Ginocchini, Director Fondazione Innovazione Urbana Bologna - Italy
- Klastr sociálních inovací a podniků (Social Innovation and Enterprise Cluster: SINEC) - Czech Republic- (speaker tbc)
- Hugues Sibille, Labo de l'ESS – Le modèle des PTCE & Rapporteur GECES Working group 'Clusters of Social & Ecological Innovation' - France
Panel discussion
Chair: Miss Vereadora Ana Umbelino, Rapporteur GECES Working group 'Clusters of Social & Ecological Innovation'
- Antonio Novo - European Cluster Alliance Antonio Novo, Spain.
- Peter Czaga - Policy officer DG GROW Cluster Policy, European Commission
- Katarzyna Rull Quesada, President of the UNIMOS Foundation (institutional coordinator of AgroBioCluster), researcher at the Warsaw School of Economics – Poland.
Registrations: https://www.euses2020.eu/#_tickets
Pôles territoriaux de coopération économique (PTCE) | France | http://lelabo-ess.org/-poles-territoriaux-de-cooperation-economique-36-.html | |
1 | Base 202 | Italy | |
2 | DFBA Community Enterprises CLG | Ireland | |
3 | Impact City / The Hague | The Netherlands | |
4 | Grennessminde | Denmark | |
5 | Vierwerk / 4Werk | Belgium | |
6 | The Partnership for social innovation in Örebro County | Sweden | |
7 | Le Cluster ESS Grande Région | Luxembourg | |
8 | Elephant path | United Kingdom | |
9 | Pfefferwerk Foundation& Pfefferberg | Germany | |
10 | Grupo Empresarial de Cooperativas de Enseñanza en la Región de Murcia | Spain | |
11 | The Rediscovery Centre - The Irish National Centre for the Circular Economy | Ireland | |
12 | Lapland - Artic Social Economy Cluster | Finland | |
13 | Atelier El Costurerico (Proyecto Abraham IKEAMurcia) | Spain | |
14 | Rummelig imidt / Labour inclusion in the Region | Denmark | |
15 | Figeacteurs - PTCE | France | |
16 | KaléidosCOOP | France | |
17 | Comptoir des ressources creatives | Belgium | |
18 | Grappes d’entreprises Wallonie | Belgium | SAW-B |
19 | Coopolis, Ateneu (athenaeum) Cooperatiu de Barcelona | Spain | |
20 | Asociacion proyecto Lazaro | Spain | |
21 | ANE (Navarra Social Economy Cluster) | Spain | www.anel.es (2) |
22 | Cluster for Eco-Social Innovation and Development CEDRA Split & CEDRA HR | Croatia | |
23 | GOEL - Cooperative Group | Italy | |
24 | Andalusian Association of Social Economy Education Centres | Spain | |
25 | Berziklatu | Spain | |
26 | ecoBI - Italy | Italy | |
27 | Mondragon | Spain | |
28 | CLADE Group | Spain | |
29 | Initiatives et cité | France | |
30 | Navarre Social Innovation Unit | Spain | |
| 31 | Torino Social Impact | Italy | https://www.torinosocialimpact.it/ |
| 32 | Teple Misto | Ukraine | https://www.warm.if.ua/en |
| 33 | Impact Noord | The Netherlands | https://impactnoord.nl/ |
| 34 | Circularium | Belgium | http://www.circularium.be/fr/ |
| 35 | WAAG Society | The Netherlands | https://waag.org/ |
| 36 | Fondazione Innovazione Urbana | Italy | https://fondazioneinnovazioneurbana.it/en/ |
| 37 | Fondzazione Comunità de Messina | Italy | http://www.fdcmessina.org/#slider-5 |
| 38 | Klastr sociálních inovací a podniků ( Social INnovation and Enterprise Cluster: SINEC) | Czech Republic | https://www.klastr-socialnich-podniku.cz/ |
| 39 | Darwin Camp Bordeaux | France | https://darwin.camp/?doing_wp_cron=1619703883.7630610466003417968750 |
| 40 | PROGRESSUS | Poland | http://progressus.info/o-projekcie.html |
| 41 | The Szczecinek District NGO Cluster | Poland | https://porozumieniesamorzadowe.powiatszczecinecki.info/ |
| 42 | Cieszyn Social Cluster, Lower Silesian Cluster of Social Initiatives, Łomża Social Economy Cluster, | Poliand CSEI (in progress) |
Thematic approaches
Social Economy clusters often cooperate around a shared thematic area. See the current areas, join the area of your interest or propose your own.
(under development)
- Public Procurement
- Skills
- Local Investments and local development
- Joint Investment schemes
- Inclusive Employment
- Quality assessments and labels
- Corporate environmental policy and projects
Cluster policies and initiatives
- Smart Guide on Cluster policy: https://www.clustercollaboration.eu/news/smart-guide-cluster-policy-published
- Cluster Observatory: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/industry/policy/cluster/observatory_en
- Overview of Cluster support programs in EU and beyond; https://www.clustercollaboration.eu/news/report-cluster-programmes-europe-and-beyond
- Cluster Conference 2019 (incl. workshop on social impact and shared value within clusters): https://www.eucluster2019.eu/en
- Partnership on smart specialisation - Social Economy: 6 regional clusters on industrial modernisation: https://s3platform.jrc.ec.europa.eu/social-economy
- A practical and hands-on guide for local economic development focussing on retail sector: https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/d606c517-4445-11e8-a9f4-01aa75ed71a1/language-en
- Related working group activities: https://ec.europa.eu/growth/content/workshop-revitalising-and-modernising-small-retail-sector_en