The Digital Era of Social Enterprises: Trends and Opportunities Within the Circular Economy (DigiSocCirc)
The DigiSocCirc project aims to support, optimise, and accelerate social circular enterprises’ active role into the digital era, furthering their social and environmental impact.
The project partners will jointly discuss main trends, threats and opportunities, with the goal to identify training needs that increase skills and employability in the sector. Roadmaps for circular and social enterprises will be developed to embrace digital tools, provide training in digital skills and scale their impact. The project places a strong emphasis on fostering inclusiveness and fairness of the twin green and digital transitions
DigiSocCirc is supported by a grant from the European Commission under the European Social Fund (ESF+) programme
DigiSocCirc consortium
The project consortium is composed of individual social enterprises as well as regional and national networks of social enterprises active in reuse, repair, and recycling from across the European Union.
Ateliere Fara Frontiere (AFF, Romania),
Humana Nova (Croatia),
Branchevereniging Kringloop Bedrijven Nederland (BKN, The Netherlands),
Re-Use Deutschland (Germany),
Kierrätyskeskus (Finland),
Asociación Española de Recuperadores de Economía Social y Solidaria (AERESS, Spain),
ENVIE (France),
Emmaus Europe (France).
Project deliverables
Case studies on skills sets and social impact #01 ‑ Digital and social trends in re‑use operations
This report features 3 case studies of social enterprises active in the circular economy, from Croatia, Finland, and The Netherlands. These case studies aim to demonstrate how the acquisition and application of certain skills can have an impact on individuals and communities. In this context, it examines how the application of particular skills influences or contributes to the well-being, personal development, and social change of vulnerable groups.
Findings and Evaluation Report #01 - Digital and social trends in re-use operations
This report aims to identify the different trends perceived in the digitalisation of sorting, collecting, logistics, and traceability of social enterprise re-use activities. Moreover, the partners of the DigiSocCirc project consortium evaluated the trends with regards to the challenges and opportunities associated with those emerging trends. Furthermore, a list of recommendations was developed to support the digitalisation of social enterprises.
Case studies on skills sets and social impact #02 – Digital and social trends in customer-facing services
The case studies showcase concrete examples of social enterprises that are digitalising sales of second-hand products and offer online location services to find their physical stores and donation points. The case studies highlight the relationship between specific skills or competencies and the resulting social impact of digitalising customer-facing services.This report features 3 case studies of social enterprises active in the circular economy, from Austria, Germany and Romania. These case studies aim to demonstrate how the implementation of digital tools and platforms, as well as the acquisition and application of certain skills, can have an impact on individuals and communities.
Findings and Evaluation Report #02 - Digital and social trends in customer-facing services
This report aims to identify the different social and digital trends perceived in the digitalisation of customer-facing services of social enterprises active in the reuse sector, as well as the challenges and opportunities associated with these emerging trends. It also highlights the lessons learnt by social enterprises that have successfully digitalised their customer-facing activities, sharing their experiences and insights with organisations that are transitioning to a digital setting or intend to further develop this aspect of their business.
Final report - The Digital Era of Social Enterprises: Trends, Opportunities and Future Roadmap
This report provides a comprehensive overview of the different digital and social trends in the digital transitions embarked by social enterprises active in the reuse sector, and the challenges and opportunities associated with these emerging trends. It also identifies the necessary steps for mainstreaming and scaling up digitalisation, and provides a roadmap for long- term cooperation within the social enterprise community. In order to achieve this, it proposes a list of policy recommendations to determine the support that social enterprises require from EU and national institutions to digitalise.
Read the report in English, German, Dutch, Croatian, Finnish, Romanian.
Find out more about the digital initiatives of our project partners by watching their case study videos!
Co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) programme. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.