EU-funded project seeks to spread benefits of social innovation across Europe

 A European Union (EU)-funded project is developing pan-European support mechanisms to help social entrepreneurs spread their innovations across Europe, according to a press release of the European Commission on Monday.

With a new network of incubators and harmonized approaches to business support, the EU hopes to show the full potential of social innovation across EU countries, said the press release.

The EU-funded Benisi project, which was launched to establish an ecosystem capable of scaling up social innovations across the EU, established a new pan-European association of social innovation incubators and support services, namely the Social Innovation Accelerators Network (SIAN), which awarded excellent examples of social innovations in Europe.

"Europe is full of amazing social entrepreneurs," said Benisi coordinator Vincent De Coninck.

"In Italy there's a small cooperative developing efficient biomass generators. In Sweden there's a campaign to increase organ donation. Whether it is charity work, local government, public health services or profit-making companies, social innovations can have a profound impact on target communities," said De Coninck.

But good ideas are even better when they are shared, De Coninck asserted, adding that "many social innovations have European potential -- ideas and business models may need some tweaking for different contexts, but the underlying ideas behind many social innovations could benefit citizens across the EU -- if we can find efficient ways to apply them across EU member states."