On June 27, 2024, the SocialTech4EU project successfully hosted a pivotal conference in Brussels, bringing together more than 50 participants from across Europe to discuss the future of social innovation. The event focused on fostering an environment conducive to both green and digital transitions, leveraging the transformative power of clusters. Attendees included social entrepreneurs, cluster and Eurocluster managers, social economy networks, and EU policymakers.

The conference was held at the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and commenced with opening remarks from Giuseppe Guerini, EESC member and President of Cecop-Cicopa Europa; Diego Dutto, EESC member and National Coordinator of Legacoopsociali; and Debora Greco, Unit Manager Innovation Hubs & Local Development at Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini and Consortium Coordinator.

“We need to have vision, data, and measurement to promote more inclusive society and take good decisions based on data.”

Giuseppe Guerini, EESC member and President of Cecop-Cicopa Europa

Keynote speeches followed, featuring Ms. Anna Athanasopoulou, Head of Unit G.2, DG GROW at the European Commission, and Prof. Mario Calderini from the Politecnico of Milan and spokesperson for Torino Social Impact. They set the stage for a day filled with insightful discussions and presentations.

“This project, which is coming to an end with some very concrete results, is the first project that we fund under the Single Market Program and the EU Cluster Policy.”

“In the last 3 years, we have mobilized 23 million EUR under the Single Market Program to support the green and digital transition of social enterprises and the social economy.”

“Our mission is to promote social economy business models and make the business case for the social economy on the EU agenda.”

“We believe it is important to focus on both the social part and the economic part of the social economy and have both in balance.”

Ms. Anna Athanasopoulou, Head of Unit G.2, DG GROW at the European Commission

The session on “SocialTech4EU’s Journey: SMEs and Startups From Idea to Scale-up” delved into the results and lessons learned from various calls for training, innovation, and acceleration.

This segment included a panel discussion moderated by Raffaella Scalisi, Senior Advisor at Torino Social Impact, and featured Elena Viani, Founder at ACTA – Sensi Contemporanei Srl Impresa Sociale; Alvaro Lombardo, European Project Manager at Cluster IDiA; Helmut Ramsaur, Founder and Managing Director at Silicon Vilstal; and Karel Vanderpoorten, Policy Officer at the European Commission’s Directorate-General GROW, Unit G2.

The conference also highlighted “Tools to Support the Ecosystem and Cluster Development,” with presentations by ADV Romania and Coompanion.

This session included a panel discussion moderated by Debora Greco, with contributions from Elena Vasiliu, Marketing and Communication Specialist at Fundaţia Alături de Voi România; Anders Johansson, Director at Coompanion; Patrizia Bussi, Director at ENSIE; Linda Perina, Policy Officer at Unit D2, European Commission Directorate-General GROW; and Margit Perko, Policy Officer at Unit G3, European Commission Directorate-General EMPL.

In the “Demo Day” segment, 10 SocialTech4EU finalists presented their projects in an engaging elevator pitch session, moderated by Alvaro Lombardo, European Project Manager at Cluster IDiA.

This allowed participants to witness firsthand the innovative solutions being developed within the SocialTech4EU framework.

The final session, a “Blended Learning Course: Enhancing Digitization of Social Entrepreneurs,” provided an introduction to supporting the digitization of social enterprises.

Moderated by Anders Johansson, Director at Coompanion, the course focused on expanding knowledge and sharing experiences in digitization among participating clusters.

The conference concluded with closing remarks from Debora Greco and Prof. Mario Calderini, who emphasized the importance of continued collaboration and innovation in driving social and digital transformation.

Watch the conference replay

→Discover the SocialTech4EU final conference photo library.

→Read more about the SocialTech4EU achievements and key takeaways.