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The logo of the Social Research Centre Dortmund
Department of Social Sciences
Studierende sitzt am Arbeitsplatz und schaut auf den Laptop. © Aliona Kardash​/​TU Dortmund
BMBF and BMWK present strategy paper

National strategy for social innovation and public benefit enterprises published

dekoratives Bild. Cover der Veröffentlichung. © BMWK​/​BMBF
The German government's adoption of the National Strategy for Social Innovation and Public Benefit Enterprises is nothing less than "a milestone in innovation policy," says Prof. Dr. Jürgen Howaldt, director of the Social Research Center (sfs). Zarah Bruhn, Ambassador for Social Innovation at the BMBF, and Sven Giegold, State Secretary at the Ministry of Economics, had jointly presented the strategy on the evening of September 13.

With the adoption of the National Strategy for Social Innovation and Public Benefit Oriented Enterprises, the German government has now integrated social innovation into the national innovation strategy. Social innovations are regarded as equivalent to technological innovations and the importance of the interplay between these two central forms of innovation in tackling the major challenges facing society is emphasized. Science has also made an important contribution to the further development of the strategy. In interaction with actors from civil society and public administrations, important impulses for this development have been set here in recent years.

The Social Research Center (sfs) is a partner for the development of the "National Platform for Social Innovation", a cornerstone of the new strategy. In cooperation with Social Impact and the Social Entrepreneurship Network Germany (SEND), the central contact point for social innovators and funding bodies is being created. The establishment of a scientific network is also part of the platform agenda.

"On October 12, the platform will be launched at a public event in Berlin," says Christoph Kaletka, who is involved in setting up the platform with a team at the Social Research Center. He adds: "Social innovations are emerging everywhere in society. This broad view, which our theoretical and empirical work at the sfs also represents, has found its way into the strategy and the platform concept."

Important impetus for the further development of social innovation in Germany will now also come from international networks and the European Social Innovation Alliance (https://ec.europa.eu/european-social-fund-plus/system/files/2022-02/Factsheet%20ESIA.pdf). Portugal, for example, can come up with an outstanding example of a functioning platform. Portugal Inovacao Social has successfully promoted an impressive number of projects and initiatives here in recent years (https://inovacaosocial.portugal2020.pt/en/).

Click here for the Strategy for Social Innovation and Public Benefit Enterprises: https://www.bmwk.de/Redaktion/DE/Dossier/nationale-strategie-fuer-sozialunternehmen-und-social-startups.html

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