The Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) programme was a financing instrument at EU level in the financing period 2014-2020 to promote a high level of quality and sustainable employment, guaranteeing adequate and decent social protection, combating social exclusion and poverty and improving working conditions.

Among the three EaSI financial instruments to support microfinance and social entrepreneurship, funding through the EaSI Funded Instrument is still available through the EIF website. EaSI Guarantee and EaSI Capacity Building instruments no longer accept new applications.

In the current period 2021 – 2027, the EaSI Programme 2014-2020 became a strand under the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+). EU financial instruments to support microfinance and social enterprise finance continue instead under the InvestEU programme.

In the EU, rural areas are affected by a higher share of NEETs, and a higher proportion of the population faces the risk of social exclusion. Stay-on’s ultimate objective is to create conditions that enable young people to “stay on” rural land by ensuring their access to opportunities, benefits, services and jobs.

The project aims at fostering youth empowerment providing adequate skills for the rural labour market, such as digital skills, abilities to manage environmental impacts, and personal development.

Together with Microfinanza in Italy, Agricultural University of Athens (AUA) in Greece, Development Agency of Karditsa (ANKA) in Greece, Autoocupació in Catalunya, KIZ in Germany, Youth Business International (YBI) in the United Kingdom and Youth Business Poland we have worked in this project.

The Scaling trust-based partnership models to recharge youth entrepreneurship: Supporting underserved communities with innovative entrepreneurship support instruments (TPM-RYE) project, benefits from €3,3M grant from Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway through the EEA and Norway Grants Fund for Youth Employment. The aim of the programme is to activate unemployed youth to access the labour market and promote entrepreneurship.

Together with Spatial Foresight and Euricse we have evaluated the Social Business Initiative.

In 2011, the European Commission presented the Social Business Initiative (SBI) which established an EU level action plan with concrete measures to establish a favourable environment for social enterprises (SE). This study analyses the impact of the SBI on the development of social enterprises/social economy and their operating environments at national and EU levels. 326 interviews at EU level and in 37 European countries were the main source of information. The results show that the SBI and its follow-up activities has had important effects on the regulatory and institutional operating environments of social enterprises/social economy. The SBI has primarily helped to increase the visibility, recognition and understanding of SE. It has contributed to facilitate the availability of information on SE, and to implement mutual learning, research, and visibility measures related to SE and social economy in EU programmes. The SBI and its follow-up activities have made it easier for SE to access public and private funding. Interviewed stakeholders highlight EU policies and EU funds as a key driver for strengthening social economy ecosystems. They consider that the general SBI objectives remain relevant and that needs still persist. The study includes an analysis of current needs and concludes with options for future policy initiatives.

In 2023 and 2024, we have supported the European Federation of Ethical and Alternative Banks and Financiers (FEBEA) in preparing and conducting workshops and technical assistance for its members.

The topics covered were Impact Management and Measurement, financial technologies (AI & distributed ledger technology), EU funding, communication strategies or the policy environment.

In this study for the European Parliament, we analyzed the relationship between impact investment and human rights.

Impact investments are an emerging sustainable investment strategy and represent a small and medium enterprise-led approach to development. Impact investments are executed only when a positive financial return can be achieved alongside a measurable positive impact on an individual or societal level. Impact investors thus go beyond more established sustainable investment strategies such as exclusion or integration by explicitly aiming at impact, investing in business models that directly address social issues. Most impact investment funds invest in areas such as healthcare, education or employment and thus improve the situation of the target group. At the same time, however, there is no explicit human rights perspective integrated into the investment process yet. Given the rather small scale of investments which is usually in the range of EUR 200 000 to EUR 5 million per transaction, unintended negative consequences can occur, if only to a very limited extent. This in-depth analysis discusses the impact investing industry in the context of sustainable finance and analyses central aspects of the concept such as financing instruments, the impact measurement process or the impact logic of the investors. The analysis also discusses the limitations impact investing faces such as commercial boundaries of business models, and illustrates modified concepts to mitigate these challenges which are summarised as social finance.

The JPMorgan Chase Foundations runs a number of programs for entrepreneurs based in London, Paris and Frankfurt. In 2022 and 2023 we have evaluated the program and surveyed the entrepreneurs who participated in the program together with US-based
Equitable Evaluation Initiative.