According to EC documents, 99.9% of the companies in the Proximity & Social Economy (P&SE) ecosystem are SMEs, with a significant part being micro enterprises and starts-ups. This ecosystem employs 22,9 million people and accounts for 6.54% of EU value added.
When coming to measures to be more resource efficient, 13% of SMEs in P&SE are not taking measures . This represents a higher share than any other ecosystem (e.g. 4% for Textile, 7% for Electronics, 8% for Agrifood and Construction and 10% for Energy-renewables) except cultural and creative industries which also have 13% of its SMEs not taking measures to be more resource efficient.
The purpose of the call is :
- supporting transnational and cross-sectorial cooperation, and exchange of good practices to enable sustainable growth of social economy SMEs and entrepreneurs regarding the green transition;
• boosting the capacities and skills of staff and management within social economy SMEs and entrepreneurs to green their operations and develop sustainable products and services;
• encouraging the uptake of sustainable alternatives and innovative solutions through capacity building, incubation and acceleration, advisory services and coaching;
• fostering cooperation between social economy entities on the one hand, and mainstream businesses, academia and public authorities on the other.
The available call budget is EUR 6 000 000. This budget might be increased by a
maximum 20%. It is expected to fund between 6 and 8 proposals under this call for proposals.
Project duration: between 24 and 36 months
Project budget: between €750 000 and €1 million
Rate of co-financing: Up to 100% of the eligible costs for financial support to third parties and up to 90% of the eligible costs for the other cost categories.
Deadline: 14/02/2023
Activities must fall under at least one of the following themes:
- Improving social economy SMEs environmental footprint;
- Boosting the sustainable contribution of social economy entities to circular economy;
- Enabling the development of local green markets;
- Testing, implementing and scaling-up innovative green solutions by social economy SMEs and entrepreneurs;
- Capacity building and expertise sharing about environmental impact of social economy SMEs;
- Setting up investment or financial vehicles to finance the green transition of social economy;
- Fostering social economy SMEs’ capacity and skills to improve their use of new digital technologies for green purposes;
- Evaluating skills, infrastructure and investment needs required to enable social economy entities to meet climate targets in the long term.
INFO DAY will take place on 12 December 2022, between 10:00-12:30 CET. The focus of the session will be general information about the call’s policy context and its technical and financial provisions, with explanation of the application process. The session will also include a presentation by one of the projects coordinators on best practices in building an effective consortium and a successful proposal. The session’s agenda is available here.
If you would like to participate in the info session, please register here by 7 December 2022.
Detailed info on the call available in the Participant Portal, HERE
