INSISST

For more than 10 years, we’ve been hammering on the same nail. We keep insisting and repeating that social innovation is a powerful lever for tackling countless complex societal challenges. Moreover, we believe that everyone and all actors within the societal pentagon (government, non-profit, business, citizens, and academia) can innovate socially.

That’s why, over the past two years, we collaborated with Europe WSE and 100 different stakeholders to create a blueprint for this national competence center in Flanders. We conducted an in-depth analysis of the state of social innovation development in Flanders. Through a deep dive into the ecosystem, we identified several needs and detected new opportunities to foster the growth and flourishing of social innovation. This resulted in a clear vision, action tracks, and broad support to further develop these efforts.

For the period July 2024 – June 2027, we have received funding to further develop and strengthen this competence center in Belgium. Similar competence centers are being established in nearly all EU member states to promote, support, and scale up social innovation within their local contexts.

• decent and efficient project management, in order to make the necessary progress and to be accountable.
• strengthen the ecosystem and environment for social innovation by strengthening opportunities for networking and collaboration between public authorities, academia, private and third sector organisations around identified and priority societal challenges.
• peer-to-peer learning and capacity building for challenges defined in a “dynamic learning agenda”, and involving external expertise where needed. Also learning from other consortia will be covered.
• monitoring and reflexive evaluation on the development process and the impact of the social innovation national competence centers (SINCC).
• internal and external communication and dissemination, so that other stakeholders interested in our work can learn from our endeavor, its successes and (possible) fails.

The partners below form a consortium and joined forces for the professionalization and further development of social innovation national competence centers in their member states.

The official open Call title is “National Competence Centres for Social Innovation: Building-up and Consolidating the Capacity entitled 'ESF+ Network of Competence Centres for Social Innovation (ENCCSI)'”

Social innovation does not happen in isolation. Behind every successful initiative is an ecosystem of organisations, policymakers, researchers, funders and support organisations working together to create the right conditions for change. 

That is exactly what INSISST is about. Together with partners across Europe, we are strengthening Social Innovation National Competence Centres (SINCCs): organisations that support social innovators, connect ecosystems and help social innovation become a stronger part of policy and practice. 

Over the past two years, the project has built a shared learning space, strengthened collaboration between partners and developed new approaches to supporting social innovation. Here are some of the key developments. 

Building a shared foundation 

Strong international collaboration requires more than a shared ambition. It also depends on trust, clear agreements and continuous exchange. 

Over the past period, INSISST has established a solid coordination structure through regular consortium meetings, shared planning tools and common reporting methods. While this may sound administrative, it provides the clarity and trust needed to collaborate effectively across countries and work packages. 

Learning from each other 

Peer learning has been at the heart of the project. 

Through the Dynamic Learning Agenda, partners continuously explore the questions that matter most to Social Innovation National Competence Centres. How do you engage ecosystems? How do you measure impact without oversimplifying it? How do you support scaling? And how do you develop sustainable revenue models for competence centres? 

To support this exchange, INSISST is developing The Source: a shared knowledge repository where partners collect tools, case studies, methods and learning materials. 

This knowledge is complemented by workshops and online sessions covering topics such as ecosystem mapping, Theories of Change, stakeholder engagement, EU funding, international scaling, impact measurement, revenue models, social innovation narratives, Social Return on Investment (SROI), and new ways of thinking about money and value. 

One important insight has emerged throughout these exchanges: Social Innovation National Competence Centres do much more than support individual projects. They help create the conditions in which social innovation can flourish by building trusted relationships, connecting sectors, strengthening capacities, improving access to knowledge and bringing together innovators, policymakers, funders, researchers and civil society. 

For policymakers and ecosystem partners, this reinforces an important message. Supporting social innovation is not only about funding promising initiatives. It is also about investing in the infrastructure that allows these initiatives to grow, adapt and contribute to broader systemic change. 

Measuring what matters 

Understanding impact is another central theme within INSISST. 

Rather than developing one standard model for every country, partners created a shared monitoring and evaluation approach that leaves room for national differences. Every National Competence Centre developed its own Theory of Change, which together forms the basis of a common framework. 

The framework looks at change on three different levels: 

• changes for innovators and initiatives;
• changes within ecosystems and support organisations;
• changes in policies, funding systems and institutional conditions.  

Throughout this work, one principle remained central: impact measurement should be “simple, but serious”. 

It should provide evidence of change while also helping organisations learn, adapt and make better decisions. 

Keeping the project connected to ecosystem needs 

The Stakeholder Panel has played an important role in ensuring that the project remains connected to real ecosystem needs. 

Representatives from public authorities, foundations, research organisations, social innovation initiatives and support organisations all emphasised the importance of institutionalising Social Innovation National Competence Centres as long-term infrastructure. 

They also highlighted several priorities for the future, including stronger political narratives for social innovation, more flexible funding models, better coordination across policy domains and impact measurement approaches that support innovators without creating unnecessary administrative burdens. 

Building sustainable competence centres 

A key question throughout the project has been how National Competence Centres can remain sustainable over time. 

By comparing organisational and revenue models across countries, partners reached an important conclusion: competence centres should not be treated as temporary project structures. 

Their core functions (bringing ecosystems together, strengthening capacities, supporting impact learning, providing policy feedback and facilitating international exchang) create public value and therefore require stable long-term support. 

At the same time, many competence centres will need to combine different revenue sources, including public funding, philanthropy, memberships, paid services, regional funding and blended finance, while carefully avoiding mission drift. 

Giving social innovation a stronger voice 

Alongside its learning activities, INSISST has continued to strengthen its communication and advocacy work. 

Partners developed a shared communication strategy, common templates and joint position papers to communicate with a clearer and more consistent voice. 

The objective is not only to share project activities, but also to explain why social innovation matters for inclusive transitions, democratic resilience, stronger communities and better responses to complex societal challenges. 

Looking ahead 

Social innovation needs more than inspiring projects. It needs people, organisations and structures that connect, support, learn, advocate and create the conditions for innovation to thrive. 

That is the role Social Innovation National Competence Centres play. And that is the role INSISST continues to strengthen: both nationally and across Europe.