Brussels time
The European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) aims to support member states and regions to improve employment and education opportunities, to enhance social inclusion and to tackle poverty.
This call aims at building up and consolidating the capacity of National competence centres for social innovation (NCCs).
Funding under this call will be provided for transnational mutual learning projects with the objective to support:
a) professionalisation and further development of NCCs that already exist or are being created in the Member States which participated in the 2020 call;
b) creation of NCCs in the Member States where they were not created under the 2020 call.
The call builds on the lessons learnt and the developments triggered by the 2020 call. It provides an opportunity to continue what works and to improve where weaknesses have been identified. To this end:
– It provides an opportunity to reconsider which (combination of) entities are best placed to fulfil the functions of NCCs in the national contexts.
– It opens up the possibility to review the compositions of the transnational consortia, with a view to optimising further transnational transfer of knowledge and mutual learning.
– It provides an opportunity for the Member States which were not involved in the projects of the 2020 call to join the exercise and build up NCCs.
1) Building and continuously improving the professional capacities for supporting social innovation through sharing successful tools and methods, approaches and models, practices and inspiring examples. This could be achieved by sharing the above-mentioned experience within the consortium, between consortia (through participation in the working group of NCCs, Sub-section 2.1.1), and with networks representing social economy and other key actors in the social innovation ecosystem.
2) Developing and nurturing sustainable relationships, networks, collaborations, synergies and learning partnerships between stakeholders and support organisations in a Member State, including the ESF+ Managing Authorities. These efforts include, inter alia:
– organising thematic or regional networks of organisations engaged in supporting or promoting social innovation;
– organising peer reviews of promising social innovation models and practices.
3) Creating, developing and operating a resource centre and a hub for social innovation by collecting and assessing suitable tools and methods, approaches and models, practices and inspiring examples, and by disseminating these resources through social media, conferences and seminars, as well as through a web platform
4) Facilitating and supporting (groups of) social innovation initiatives in:
– validating, documenting, communicating, transferring and scaling-up their approach and experience;
– creating (new forms/new combinations) community-led local development or alternative finance models for supporting social innovations;
– actively using the European Social Innovation Match database, SIM16, by uploading pertinent case studies and entering relevant partner organisations in the database.
5) Raising awareness and providing guidance and training in applying/adapting suitable tools, methods, and practices.
6) Disseminating information on the available funding (the EU programmes, the shared management and EaSI strands of ESF+, national, regional and local authorities, or community-led/citizen-controlled finance for pursuing social innovation).
7) Mobilising and empowering stakeholders to develop and continuously improve policies and actions for supporting social innovations through:
– creating a shared understanding of the drivers and barriers to social innovation;
– organising fora and platforms to build consensus on priorities and opportunities for exploiting synergies amongst key actors in the social innovation ecosystem;
– drafting/updating a comprehensive overview of the social innovation ecosystem, synthesising the public support for social innovation as well as visions, needs, opportunities and priorities of relevant social innovation stakeholders and promoters;
– co-developing a shared strategy and action plan for boosting social innovation in a Member State, including under the ESF+;
– drafting recommendations for improving the responsiveness, effectiveness and governance of public policy towards social innovation.
Legal entities established and registered in the Member States, which meet conditions set in the "Consortium composition" section, are eligible as applicants or co-applicants and associated partners.
Only consortia are eligible. To be considered eligible, a consortium must include an applicant and at least two co-applicants. The members of the consortium shall represent at least 3 different Member States.
For full eligibility/consortium requirements, please consult the call document.
Up to 36 months .
The estimated size of a grant is between 500 000 EUR and 1 500 000 EUR per project (but this does not preclude the submission/selection of applications requesting other amounts), constituting not more than 80% of the project’s total budget. A co-financing of at least 20% must thus come from other resources than the EU budget.
Brussels time
