MEASURING THE SOCIAL IMPACT FOR THE SSE

OECD - EUCLID NETWORK - WEBINAR APRIL 16 2020

The OECD, with the financial support of the European Union, has launched a Global Action to Promote the Social Solidarity Economy (SSE) over the next 3 years.

This action is in line with the strategic objectives of the OECD and the European Union. This strategy aims to promote inclusive, smart, resilient and sustainable growth and to support SSE. This support is reflected, on the one hand, through the development and internationalisation of social enterprises. On the other hand, through awareness-raising, capacity building to create ecosystems, both national and local, conducive to the development of SSE; and by promoting the exchange of knowledge and other good practices at the international level.

In this webinar, the main issue is the measurement of the social impact of SSE, a major challenge.

To this end, Sébastien Pereau from ConcertES shared the results of the VISES project, a project spread over more than four years, which brings together 21 partners, to highlight the way in which social and solidarity enterprises energise territories and promote the well-being of their inhabitants. The project is similar to the work carried out by TIESS in Quebec, as described in this joint declaration, which underlines the fundamental nature of social impact assessment.

According to Adrien Beaudet, consultant and teacher at HEC and ESCP, this evaluation requires collaboration between social enterprises and the research world, the latter being able to lend its expertise to the creation of the necessary tools. The main challenge is the criteria and quality of the evaluation. In the case of France, social impact assessment will be generalised: the challenge is to communicate without falling into the trap of "social washing". In order to do this, it is important that the common line of the OECD and the main networks that develop the fundamental principles on this subject can be disseminated, taken up and defended.

Andrea Burgio recalled that the largest organisations such as the Red Cross, the most transparent NGOs already produce such reports. These reports have a financial impact and give impetus to volunteering: for example, one million hours of volunteering were counted in France in 2019, they have no financial translation but the impetus is there.

What value do we place on evidence/indications? This is the question asked by David Pritchard, President of Social Value US and Stephanie Robertson of Social Value Canada. In the current case of the Coronavirus crisis, they are asking how to produce reports that take into account the fragmented realities of different countries, situations, and communication choices. This makes it difficult to harmonize results in the face of fragmented data and measurement methods. They give the example of Oxfam, which has a very good independent review, but remains an exception. Sebastien Pereau bounces back from the ConcertEs study where data collection also concerned the failures or failures of organisations, which have changed their operations in response and adapted.

The European Venture Philanthropy Association (EVPA) stresses that collaboration is now crucial, as tools and frameworks exist and it would be counterproductive to multiply them. It is now necessary to think of ways to combine them, to adapt their use to the field concerned, and to bring together impact measurement practices.

Celine Marques asked what the alignment with the DOs and Agenda 2030 could be.

Jean Fabre stressed the importance of using existing tools such as the SDO Knowledge Hub created by UNTFSSE.

Adrien Baudet reacts to this link between SDOs and the local level, between the importance of backing up these measurement and assessment tools with national and international frameworks so that decision-makers take their value into account. This is a crucial parameter on which the OECD could work as part of its Global Action for the Promotion of the Social Solidarity Economy.

You can find one of the tools created by the OECD here, and the survey conducted in the framework of the promotion of SSE here.

LOCAL AND REGIONAL AUTHORITIES IN THE SDG REPORTING PROCESS - TOWARDS THE 2020 HLPF

UNITED CITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS (UCLG) AND THE WORKING GROUP ON CA

PACITY AND INSTITUTION BUILDING (IBC)

Facilitated by UCLG and IBC, this seminar aims to raise awareness of the involvement of the local and regional level in the drafting of SDO reports, and to show how Local and Regional Authorities (LAs) and their associations can take part in the process of producing the reports. The seminar was an opportunity to present the studies carried out in 2018 and 2019 on the involvement of Local Government Associations (LGAs) in the implementation and monitoring of SDGs.

Fernando Santomauro from UCLG's learning unit presented the learning and training modules around three pillars: awareness raising, alignment with DOs and reporting. The importance of "bottom-up" actions to locate the SDOs was recalled by establishing a process to take into account the local and regional context.

The Global Taskforce of Local and Regional Governments has, as it has every year since 2016, prepared a report on the issue, which will be presented at the High Level Policy Forum for Sustainable Development (HLPF) in July 2020. Between 40 and 50 countries have voluntary national reviews, while 65% of the 160 SDO targets are impossible to achieve without local and regional authorities.

The Inter-institutional Working Group composed of CIWG, UNDP and UCLG is working with 5 pilot countries where local governments and LGAs are cooperating on Voluntary Local Examinations: Costa Rica, Nepal, Kenya, Mozambique, Benin. In the case of Benin, the main local partner is the National Association of Municipalities of Benin (ANCB), which groups 77 municipalities. The ANCB, which organizes its General Assembly every 5 years, decided during the last edition of its GA, that its roadmap should be agreed with the SDOs. Funding to achieve these objectives has been estimated at 3000 billion CFA francs. Within the framework of its missions, the ANCB is interested in various issues, including the environment and gender in collaboration with the Association of Flemish Cities (VVSG).

Addressing SDOs from the perspective of local actors demonstrates the need for strong commitment at all scales in order to achieve them.

To learn more about the UCLG Learning unit, click here.

Find the questionnaire on the role of local and regional authorities and their associations in the localization of SDOs and Agenda 2030 here.

WEBINAR "OECD GLOBAL ACTION TO PROMOTE SSE": LEGAL FRAMEWORKS FOR SSE

The Euclid & OECD network, with the support of the European Union

The Euclid network and the OECD have joined forces to organise a webinar on 9 April 2020 as part of the OECD's "Global Action to Promote the Social Solidarity Economy (SSE)" on the issues of legal frameworks and measuring social impact.

The project will be conducted over three years, with the support of the European Union - EU external policy sector, and will involve government actors, academics, civil society, media etc...

In addition to the European countries, all of which are included in the field of reflection, six other countries are in the study: Brazil, Canada, India, Mexico, South Korea, and the USA.

Countries where the social and solidarity economy is encouraged, even developed, and which therefore calls for the deepening of public policies and even legal actions.

The main objective of this work is to take action, at a global level, in order to build a more inclusive growth model and to make SSE more visible and better recognized. Governments are increasingly demonstrating their interest in SSE and are asking for help and guidance in their reflection.

Two international guides will be published, by 2022, on the two topics. They will be based on peer learning and partnerships in order to pass on lessons learned, share good practices, etc. These tools are also part of the internationalisation of SSE. Between 6 and 8 partnerships with networks, SSE actors, and regional and national governments will be concluded by 2021.

During the seminar on 9 April, all participants recalled the importance of establishing legal frameworks for SSE. This for several reasons, including facilitating collaboration between governments and SSE actors, because when all actors and their actions have a common foundation, the implementation of public policies becomes more coherent and fluid.

Contexts differ from country to country:

- France has had a law on SSE since 2014,

- South Korea has different laws covering different SSE entities (a 2007 Act on the Promotion of Social Enterprises and a 2011 Act on Cooperatives).

However, regardless of the context, the importance of measuring the social and administrative impact of legislation, and building political consensus to maximize the impact of EHS was raised.

In the case of Quebec, the SSE law was passed unanimously because the SSE network was able to communicate with each political party and convince them all of the importance of such a law.

In the framework of the implementation of public policies, the notion of "bottom-up" is recurrent, with the example of GECES, of which ESS Forum International is an observer member, and which works to target among the divisions of the European Commission those ready and motivated to work with the group of experts in the interest of SSE. Co-creation, co-evaluation and co-management are also shared concepts, and have had positive results. This is reported by the GSEF, an ESSFI partner, who points out that these approaches have led to the creation of a State Secretariat for SSE in Korea.

The webinar also served as a reminder that the various economic crises around the world have often provided an opportunity to question the dominant economic model. Beyond opening the debate on the appropriate economic model, SSE actors must also strengthen and increase this ecosystem through experience sharing and mutual learning, while inviting all stakeholders to their forums.

The OECD invites you to participate in its new mapping study to share your ideas on the latest trends and key issues in SSE in your respective countries and/or regions.

If you have any comments or questions about the OECD Global Action, you can contact them at socialeconomyandinnovation@oecd.org . If you are interested, you can find more information on OECD work on the social economy here.

If you wish to continue the conversation with other actors of the social and solidarity economy, and share best practices in the face of the COVID19 pandemic, visit this page of the European Commission and this page of the Euclid network.