Report: Measuring the impact of innovation

The European Social Innovation Competition’s Impact Report (2013-2020) – Insights from the Alumni Census 2021, issued as part of the 2021 edition of the European Social Innovation Competition, is now available for download.

Targeted at European and global social innovators, social entrepreneurs, social finance providers, policy-makers, and the general public, the Report shows how the social innovators that participated in the Competition have benefitted from their experience, and measures the impact that the Competition has had on its alumni over the years.

Launched in 2013, the European Social Innovation Competition has three key impact objectives: innovation – to stimulate innovative solutions that address societal problems; capacity – to support early-stage social innovators in building viable and scalable social enterprises; and ecosystem – to unlock systemic change and equalise the social innovation playing field across Europe. The Report, compiled based on data from a 2021 census conducted among alumni, reveals that the Competition has brought about positive change in all three areas.

The Report has also revealed where more work needs to be done, particularly in terms of supporting internationalisation strategies to provide access to other markets, and in developing hard and soft skills and better networking opportunities with social finance providers, with a view to increasing access to funding.

In general, the findings in the Impact Report are very encouraging. The census revealed that, thanks to their participation in the competition, the vast majority of alumni acquired new skills which they continue to use and develop, and they have built new and better networks.

Recommendations for the future

Based on the findings in the Report, a number of recommendations have been made to increase the impact of the Competition. These include increasing engagement in relatively underrepresented regions by investing in outreach and other actions to attract potential entrants. Based on the findings, the report also calls for greater support for the internationalisation of projects, by integrating tailored training and materials into the ‘Delivery Skills’ track of the Competition.

The Report also calls for support to alumni in accessing funding, including by annually revising the Funding Toolkit to include the latest insights, integrating alumni feedback in the Toolkit, and fostering more and better networking opportunities and better connections between alumni and both financial and non-financial service providers.

The European Social Innovation Competition continuously strives to increase its impact, update its approach, and identify new opportunities. By incorporating the findings from the annual census and the Impact Report, the Competition will be able to better support its participants, past and present, and achieve its broader, long-term impact goal of creating multiple new approaches to transform systems and value chains, to make Europe more competitive, sustainable, and inclusive.