On the 9th September, the Lithuanian Social Business Association (LiSVA) gathered key stakeholders in the European social economy ecosystem in Vilnius, Lithuania for the Social Enterprise and Innovation Forum. This forum saw leading voices from the social enterprise and their support organisations come together with local, national and European policy makers to discuss in particular the challenges and opportunities facing the social economy in the context of the digital transition. The event was supported by several key stakeholders in Lithuania, including the speaker of the Lithuanian Parliament. She opened the event and emphasised the importance of tackling emerging and existing challenges from a joint perspective using different areas of skills and expertise, all with a focus on delivering positive social impact.
The Speaker was followed by the Minister of Agriculture, Mr Kazys Starkevičius, who reflected on social business as a relatively new concept in Lithuania and the significance of the inclusion of these new social businesses into the law on enabling SME development. This was acknowledged as an important step in developing an enabling legal framework. Through strengthening the social business ecosystem he noted that technological and social innovation could be stimulated, driving positive change. Throughout his intervention, he emphasised the efforts that have been made to support and engage with Ukraine in relation to social entrepreneurship, particularly in supporting social innovation through technology. He reiterated that Ukraine will become an EU member state.
The cross-party support for social business in Lithuania from across the political spectrum was acknowledged. The link between social business, dignity and pride in the nation within the fragile security context was also mentioned, reinforcing a belief that social entrepreneurship and the social economy is not a niche but has wide ranging relevance across society and the economy.
Brigitte Fellahi-Brognaux from the European Commission’s DG EMPL re-emphasised the EU’s interest in the social economy, situating it as part of the 4th industrial revolution and that technologies need to work for the common good. She highlighted the developments at EU level in recent years including the Social Economy Action Plan and Council Recommendation on Social Economy Framework Conditions. The importance of including all stakeholders in the development of framework conditions and strategies was highlighted in relation to the Council Recommendation. This approach can help to shape change to support more inclusive and sustainable development. Social tech entrepreneurship that is bottom-up and not profit driven was noted as needing greater access to capital. If these enterprises and innovators can access the necessary resources, they would have the same potential to scale as non-social enterprise innovators in the same industries. Ms Fellahi-Brognaux referred to the EU’s support for the social economy through funding programmes such as the European Social Fund+ (ESF+), European Investment Fund (EIF) and InvestEU to help address this challenge. She also noted that it was not just about providing better access to finance but that it is also about developing enabling research frameworks that respond to the challenges and opportunities of the twin transition, as set out in the Transition Pathway. The Commission will continue to work to support the social economy, for example in the area of AI as well as working with OECD on topics like impact measurement. The closing message from Ms Fellahi-Brognaux was that the 4th industrial revolution is not just a technical transition but a societal one.
Mr Ramūnas Godeliauskas, Mayor of Rokiškis District, shared that they have been working on the social entrepreneurship education and development in his district. They are aiming to enhance social entrepreneurship in the locality and region, supporting functioning and development of social businesses. Given their geography, they are working together with Latvia as well as LiSVA in this endeavour, for example through a project under the Interreg programme to strengthen skills as well as receiving support from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). In this region, they are striving to take responsibility for supporting social businesses, creating opportunities to share experiences and practical materials for schools and public services. They have also been providing workshops and promoting social entrepreneurship in the region. They are taking several actions to support the development of the ecosystem including making a database of the social innovators in the region and engaging with educators working with social innovators. They are working on establishing a competence centre that will promote social entrepreneurship as part of a strategy that will include opening a coworking space which will help those interested in starting and scaling a social business. The Municipality is utilising funding from the EIF and as well as the municipality to deliver these actions and are already planning a Social Business Forum in 2025.
As well as these fascinating opening speeches, the forum included panels made up of experts from around Europe. Euclid Network’s own members Research for Change, Social Enterprise Estonia (Impact Day) and Social Enterprise Republic of Ireland all took part in panels, particularly sharing their experiences working with AI and digitalisation. Many European Social Economy networks such as Social Economy Europe and Diesis network were also present as well as the Social Enterprise World Forum, adding to the richness of the discussions at the Forum.
With almost one year passed since the Council Recommendation passed, it seems that a lot is going on in Lithuania. Needless to say, we are already looking forward to next year’s Forum.
