Social Innovation Forum 2026

This panel brings together representatives of the European Commission, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and civil society organisations implementing ESF+ social innovation projects across Europe to explore the role of social innovation in supporting the most vulnerable. Combining UN, EU policy, human rights, and implementation perspectives, the discussion will examine how innovative, people-centred approaches can improve social inclusion, employment opportunities, and access to essential services for groups facing multiple forms of disadvantage. Drawing on experience from transnational UN and ESF+ initiatives, the panelists will share practical lessons on reaching vulnerable populations, fostering resilience, and creating sustainable pathways to inclusion through cross-border cooperation. The session will also explore how successful social innovation practices can be transferred, scaled, and embedded into national and European policies. Looking ahead, the discussion will introduce new ESF+ social innovation funding opportunities, including initiatives supporting the European Child Guarantee and the labour market inclusion of Roma NEETs, and consider how evidence from social innovation can contribute to the next Multiannual Financial Framework.

Objectives:
– To showcase the role and added value of National Competence Centres (NCCs) in strengthening national social innovation ecosystems.
– To demonstrate how NCCs support the development, financing, evaluation and mainstreaming of social innovation through practical examples.
– To gather feedback from participants on how NCCs can better respond to stakeholders' needs and align their capacities with future national and EU priorities.

This session will explore the distinctive role of National Competence Centres as key actors in strengthening social innovation ecosystems across Europe. Through practical examples, NCCs will present their services, capacities and achievements in supporting social innovation. Participants will discuss how NCCs can contribute to a more visible, evidence-based and influential social innovation landscape and provide feedback to inform the future development of NCC action plans.

Objectives:
– Reflect on the information needs of different stakeholders.
– Explore practical tools for identifying the most appropriate evaluation evidence for different stakeholder needs.
– Strengthen the capacity to select and communicate evaluation evidence that supports learning, informed decision-making, and policy engagement.

Social innovation projects are increasingly expected to demonstrate their impact, not only to funders, but also to policymakers, peer organisations, and the wider public. Yet different stakeholders ask different questions, and no single evaluation method provides all the answers. This highly interactive workshop will help participants explore how different types of evaluation evidence can be used to tell a compelling and credible story about a project. Working through a realistic ESF+ funded social innovation case, participants will step into the shoes of different stakeholders, examine several complementary approaches to impact evaluation, and develop communication materials tailored to different audiences. Rather than focusing on evaluation as a technical exercise, the session will explore how to choose and communicate evidence that is fit for purpose.

Objectives:
– Present the strategic priorities introduced by the EU Anti-Poverty Strategy Package and discuss their implications for the next MFF and future NRPPs.
– Identify how prevention, integrated service delivery and person-centred approaches can be translated into investment priorities within national and regional programmes.
– Exchange experiences on successful social innovation initiatives and discuss how they can be adapted, transferred and scaled across Member States.
– Develop practical recommendations for designing future programmes that maximise the impact of EU investments in poverty reduction, child guarantee, housing inclusion, disability inclusion and social participation.

The 2026 EU social-policy package signals a clear shift toward a more preventive, person-centred, and life-course-oriented social model, creating a timely opportunity to rethink priorities for the next MFF and upcoming National and Regional Partnership Programmes (NRPPs) foreseen for 2027. The new EU Anti-Poverty Strategy introduces an ambitious long-term framework in response to the reality that around 93 million Europeans, including nearly 20 million children, remain at risk of poverty or social exclusion, while the reinforced Child Guarantee highlights persistent intergenerational disadvantage. Housing challenges continue to deepen, with prices rising by 60% since 2013 and around one million people experiencing homelessness annually, prompting the 2026 Council Recommendation on Housing Exclusion and calls for integrated, multi-sector responses. At the same time, renewed momentum in the EU disability agenda responds to evidence of a new institutionalisation wave, emphasizing the need for stronger accessibility, independent living, and community-based support for 90 million persons with disabilities. Together, these developments underline the urgency of building a more coherent and resilient social architecture across the Union. This workshop will explore how the next MFF and NRPPs can translate these priorities into targeted, evidence-based social innovation, while leveraging transnational cooperation and successful practices across Member States to achieve lasting impact.

Objectives:
– Demonstrate how co-designed models of private-public cooperations contribute to positioning migration management into a strategic opportunity for social cohesion, labour market development and human capital.
– Showcase how evidence-based successful partnership models act as an engine for advocacy and policy development by shifting the narrative from a public expense to a strategic investment in social cohesion.
– Strengthen peer learning while exploring how partnership models developed for migrant integration can address wider EU priorities and how private-public cooperation can provide transferable evidence for social investment, labour market participation, skills, access to services and social innovation, contributing to the upcoming Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) and broader EU priorities including the EU Anti-Poverty Strategy.

The workshop explores how private-public cooperation can reposition migrant integration from a perceived public cost to a strategic investment in people, cohesive communities and prosperous labour markets. Participants will identify transferable partnership models, understand how to inspire and engage employers, and learn how to turn local success stories into compelling evidence for policy development, funding and systems change. Using migrant integration as a concrete case, the session will demonstrate how private-public cooperation can generate scalable solutions and actionable insights that are transferable to a broad range of social policy challenges.

Objectives:
– Share concrete examples from the Community of Practice on Material Support to illustrate how structured cooperation can contribute to programme improvement, innovation and policy development.
– Identify practical collaboration formats that support more effective responses to poverty and social exclusion.
– Generate recommendations for strengthening knowledge sharing and cross-sector cooperation in the current ESF+ and next programming period.

This session will explore how mutual learning, peer exchange, and cross-sector collaboration can strengthen ESF+ programme implementation and policymaking. Drawing on examples from the Community of Practice on Material Support, participants will discuss how cooperation between managing authorities, civil society organisations, and other stakeholders contributes to innovation, evidence-based advocacy, and more effective responses to poverty and social exclusion.

Objectives:
– To showcase, through ALMA's concrete experience, the practical conditions that make transnational cooperation work on the ground (the methods, tools and resources needed), and the mutual learning it generates for the different actors involved (target groups, project implementers, policymakers), as well as the conditions and support that would improve it further.
– To discuss the purpose and added value of transnational cooperation and show evidence (results and impact) it delivers for participants, organisations and institutional stakeholders, as well as the challenges.
– To translate these lessons into concrete input for the upcoming MFF, providing lessons that justify continued investment and support for transnational cooperation in the next MFF, identifying what should be preserved, strengthened or modified in how transnational cooperation is resourced and supported going forward.

An interactive workshop drawing on ALMA Network's practical experience of transnational cooperation to provide recommendations for the future design of the MFF. The discussion will address two intertwined dimensions: how transnational cooperation works in practice (the concrete resources, tools and conditions that make daily implementation succeed), and the mutual learning it generates across actors , as well as why it matters, both operationally, in terms of measurable results and impact for participants, organisations and institutions, and more fundamentally, as an expression of European identity and the value of diversity across national and institutional contexts. Participants will be invited to share what has worked, what conditions were necessary, and what this cooperation means beyond its immediate outcomes. The session's conclusions will feed into a concrete set of recommendations on how the next MFF should support and resource transnational cooperation for social innovation.

The panel will discuss the conclusions from the breakout sessions of day 1. One panelist from each of the breakout sessions will discuss the relevant findings. The objective is to take stock of the examples of successful social innovations that emerged in the breakout sessions and the ideas and suggestions as regards areas of further work in a transnational setting.

Three social innovators will present their projects on the main stage, highlighting innovative approaches to different fields.