This report was produced by the OECD Centre for Entrepreneurship, SMEs, Regions and Cities (CFE) led by Lamia Kamal-Chaoui, Director, as part of the Programme of Work of the Local Employment and Economic Development (LEED) Programme and with the financial support of the European Commission.
This report was prepared by Bruno De Menna and Moe Shiojiri, Economists/Policy Analysts, with guidance of Amal Chevreau, Head of the Social Economy and Innovation Unit. María Uceda López and Léo Zimmerli, interns, provided background information and analysis, and also supported the drafting of the case studies. Ingeborg Gruenwald, Sophie Harbour, Heesu Jang, Fanny Rivas, Defne Ulusoy and Tamara Weitzsaecker provided initial research and inputs. Nadim Ahmad, Deputy Director and Karen Maguire, Head of the Local Employment, Skills and Social Innovation Division provided valuable comments.
The authors would like to warmly thank the experts and practitioners who shared their experiences of social innovation and the European Social Fund with the OECD, including Laura Mangeng and Michael Grosse (European Commission), Armelle Ledan (European Association for Innovation in Local Development), Wieteke Dupain (Euclid Network), Tomas De Groote (Belgium), Anders Folmer Buhelt and Anne Vorre Hansen (Denmark), Minna Harjo and Katri-Liis Lepik (Estonia), Cécile Leclair and Alexis Bouges (Avise, France), Sabine Herrmann, Dr. Judith Terstriep, Daniel Krüger, Dr. Markus Freiburg, Daniel Korenke, Dr. Grit Kuehne, Sven Zivanovic and Stefanie Jellestad (Germany), Patrizia Saroglia, Livio Tesio and Fabrizio Barbiero (Italy), Mario Vottero (Ireland), Robin Molenaar (Netherlands), Dominika Tadla (Poland), Filipe Almeida, Marta Albuquerque and Sofia Lai Amândio (Portugal Social Innovation), Patricia Borges (Development and Cohesion Agency, Portugal), Joana do Ó (ESI Funds Managing Authority, Portugal), Nuno Bento (Lisbon 2030 Regional Program), João Machado and Ana Margarida Azevedo Pereira (Fundação Ageas, Portugal), António Miguel (Maze Impact, Portugal), Nuno Comando, Gustavo Freitas and Manuel Gaspar (Casa Do Impacto, Portugal), Frederico Fezas-Vital (Yunus Social Innovation Center, Portugal), Elena Duran, Bernardo Gonçalves and Hugo Menino Aguiar (social innovators, Portugal), and Anna Tengqvist (Sweden).
The organisational charts illustrating the ESF+ management structure in 11 countries of the European Union were produced in consultation with experts and Managing Authorities, with special thanks to Andreas Zwedler (Austria), Zdeněk Foltýn and Jiří Kinský (Czechia), Katre Laagriküll (Estonia), Malissa Marseille (France), Orhan Güleş (Germany), Gianluca Salvatori (Italy), Pieter Melis (Netherlands), Justyna Kryczka (Poland), Diogo Silva Pereira (Portugal), Eva Masárová (Slovak Republic) and Ángel María García Frontelo (Spain).
The authors would like to thank Katrina Baker, Communications Officer, for preparing infographics, as well as Jack Waters, Publications Coordinator, for the layout and cover for this document.