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As the OBCD project concludes, we are proud to present two major outcomes: the OBCD Social Impact Toolkit and the OBCD Social Return on Investment (SROI) results. The OBCD Social Impact Toolkit is a practical and user-friendly guide designed to help organizations assess and communicate their social, environmental, and economic impact. Built around a Theory of Change framework, it offers a clear, step-by-step process—supported by numerous resources—for defining goals, selecting relevant indicators, measuring progress, and reporting results. The toolkit also includes guidance on effectively integrating AI to streamline these tasks and features real-world examples to facilitate its application. It is tailored for: OBCD partners conducting retrospective social impact assessments and monitoring long-term results Individuals and organizations looking to evaluate the impact of specific initiatives using the pre-built OBCD framework Stakeholders interested in adapting the toolkit to suit their unique organizational contexts or project needs. The OBCD SROI report quantifies the social value generated by the project for every euro invested. By translating social impact assessment results into a monetary value, the SROI offers concrete, numerical evidence of the project’s benefits. This metric helps demonstrate the broader economic, social, and environmental value created through the initiative. Together, these two outcomes provide critical insights and validation for the OBCD project. They enhance transparency and accountability, strengthen the ability to communicate social value to stakeholders and funders, and establish a robust foundation for ongoing and future impact measurement.

On May 20, 2025, the University of Rome Tor Vergata  (UTV) hosted the Closing Lab of the Erasmus+ Project OBCD – Open Business for Community Development, marking the conclusion of a three-year collaborative effort dedicated to fostering innovation, openness, and sustainability in social enterprise and community-based business models. Bringing together academics, students, and practitioners, the event offered an opportunity to present the project’s key outputs, engage in cross-sector dialogue, and reflect on the next steps for education and practice in the social economy. At the University’s Economics Faculty, the event involved the course Contemporary Management from the Master of Science in European Economy and Business Law, as well as Management Innovation from the Bachelor’s Degree in Global Governance. A Blended Morning of Insight and Exchange The morning session, conducted in a blended format both online and in person, featured presentations from the Italian OBCD team alongside contributions from external experts. Emma Ricci from Base3 presented the OBCD eLearning Platform and MOOC, which together provide two modular, freely accessible training programs aimed at equipping managers and administrative staff in social enterprises with practical and strategic skills. Natalia Gusmerotti and Sophia Bombardelli from UTV followed with an overview of the Social Impact Measurement Toolkit, a user-friendly resource developed to support organizations in capturing and enhancing their social impact through structured, adaptable methods. The presentations were complemented by a lively and thoughtful discussion featuring distinguished speakers: Prof. Corrado Cerruti (University of Rome “Tor Vergata”) on digital transformation and higher education Prof. Francesco Testa (Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna) on sustainability and impact innovation Prof. Daniele Binci (Università degli Studi Niccolò Cusano) on open innovation and applied research Dr. Giuseppe Gizzi (AGCI – Associazione Generale delle Cooperative Italiane) on cooperative development and social enterprise ecosystems Dr. Gianni Petiti (Binario95) on community-based entrepreneurship and social inclusion This mix of academic and professional perspectives reinforced the project’s interdisciplinary focus and its ambition to bridge theory and practice in tangible, meaningful ways. Networking and Shared Commitments over Lunch Participants then moved to a one-hour networking lunch, which featured vegan and sustainable menu options. This moment provided a relaxed but valuable space for informal conversation, knowledge sharing, and relationship-building among attendees from different institutions and sectors. A Practical, In-Person Workshop on Measuring Impact The afternoon session was held entirely in person and featured a 90-minute interactive workshop titled “Measuring Social Impact for Sustainable Innovation.” Designed to be hands-on and collaborative, the session brought together students from the OBCD program, faculty members, and field professionals. Through mixed-group exercises and case study simulations, participants explored how to apply the OBCD social impact approach to different case (social, environmental or hybrid) scenarios. The workshop was a success and ended in the presentation of the group results and a closing discussion. Looking Forward At the conclusion of the day, all participants received a Certificate of Attendance and an OBCD Kit to support continued learning and dissemination of the project’s values and tools. Although this event marked the formal close of the OBCD project, its outcomes—open platforms, learning resources, and impact tools—will remain available to the wider community. More importantly, the relationships, insights, and shared commitments formed throughout the project promise to carry its vision forward.  

The Laboratory of Social Entrepreneurship & Social Innovation of the Department of Business Administration, University of Patras, successfully concluded the first day of the International Conference on Social Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation, held at the Conference & Cultural Center of the University of Patras, on May 7th, 2025. Today’s sessions explored key themes shaping the future of social impact, including:  Institutions & policies in social entrepreneurship in Greece and internationally Financing mechanisms supporting the development of Social and Solidarity Economy organizations Support ecosystems and open innovation in social entrepreneurship Research findings from the OBCD project on training needs and openness in social enterprises Participants had the opportunity to engage with leading academics, practitioners, and international project partners, setting the stage for rich exchange and collaboration.

The University of Patras and the OBCD Consortium are excited to invite you to the OBCD International Conference on Social Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation, which will take place in Patras on the 7th and 8th of 2025. Have a look at the conference programme to discover all the speakers, sessions and workshops planned.   More information is available on the conference website.  

Get ready for an immersive experience on the OBCD Interactive platform! The OBCD partners would like to invite all Social Economy actors and all stakeholders interested to the OBCD international online event that will take place on the 22nd of May at 11 am CET. The event aims to connect social entrepreneurs, researchers, representatives of public organizations and local government bodies, policymakers, social enterprise associations, and nonprofit organization professionals. It fosters networking, collaboration, knowledge exchange, and the presentation of innovative solutions for the sustainability of social entrepreneurship and social innovation. Connect with people in the OBCD village with the gist of a real-life professional setting.   Key Topics will include ✅ Integrating the OBCD curricula and training toolkit into EU networks and education providers ✅ The virtual world for the Social Economy ecosystems ✅ Policy impact of the OBCD project   Who Should Attend? 🔹 Social entrepreneurs 🔹 Researchers, higher education educators and students 🔹 Professionals from organizations involved in social entrepreneurship and innovation   📅 May 22, 2025 at 11am CET 📍 OBCD Interactive platform, Online   Participation Details 🎟️ Participation is free! Pre-registration and an account on the platform are required. 📅 Detailed Program: Available here 📩 More Information about the platform: here 📧 Contact and technical support: info@basetre.com 📌 Register using the form below We look forward to seeing you online! 🌍💡  

As part of our effort to share inspiring social enterprise stories, we highlight a remarkable initiative from Italy: the Pisa Community Pact (PCP). This community-driven movement exemplifies social inclusion, urban regeneration, and solidarity-based welfare. Established in 2019 in the neighborhoods of San Martino and San Marco in Pisa, the initiative emerged from grassroots efforts led by local parish units, supported by the Fondazione Opera Giuseppe Toniolo. Since then, it has evolved into a dynamic network involving citizens, associations, cooperatives, unions, and third-sector organizations. The Pact was created in response to growing social inequalities, which were further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is founded on principles of community participation, reciprocity, and collective care. Its primary mission is to rebuild social connections among society’s most vulnerable groups by fostering opportunities for training, employment, mutual support, and cultural exchange. Among its key initiatives are: – Sportello Dignitatem, a social help desk providing essential support services. – A solidarity-based purchasing group to enhance collective economic resilience. – A reuse and repair center promoting sustainability and waste reduction. – Tessere Fraternità, a tailoring and weaving workshop that empowers women and vulnerable individuals through professional training. A significant milestone was the renovation of a former nursery school, abandoned for over 40 years, into a vibrant community space that now hosts many of these initiatives. The Pact’s reach extends beyond local efforts. In 2024, it coordinated the shipment of over €3 million in medical supplies to Senegal, demonstrating the power of collective action and global solidarity. Its impact is measured not only in numbers but also in transformed lives, newly created jobs, and strengthened partnerships. Despite challenges such as bureaucratic hurdles and limited funding, the Pact continues to expand. Future plans include: – Transforming the Social Tailoring Lab into a fully-fledged social enterprise. – Launching support services for children with dyslexia. – Revitalizing underutilized urban spaces, such as a former theatre, with the long-term goal of fostering a multi-ethnic, multicultural, and inclusive community. The Pisa Community Pact stands as a replicable model of civic innovation, proving that collective commitment and cooperation can drive meaningful, lasting change. To read the entire article on this initiative, check out the OBCD platform materials, it can be found inside the Social Enterprise stories folder. Additionally, discover more at www.pattodicomunitapisa.it.

The conference aims to connect social entrepreneurs, researchers, senior executives of public organizations and local government bodies, social enterprise associations, and nonprofit organization professionals. It fosters collaboration, knowledge exchange, and the presentation of innovative solutions for the sustainability of social entrepreneurship and social innovation. Serving as an interdisciplinary platform, the conference will showcase the latest innovations, emerging trends, and practical proposals that shape the future of social entrepreneurship. Key Topics will include ✅ Innovative and open models of social entrepreneurship ✅ Modern management tools, governance, and digital transformation of social enterprises ✅ Funding and sustainability of social initiatives ✅ Best practices and contemporary challenges in social entrepreneurship and social innovation ✅ Social enterprise ecosystems and collaborative models ✅ Expansion and assessment of social impact Who Should Attend? 🔹 Social entrepreneurs 🔹 Researchers, higher education educators and students 🔹 Executives from organization involved in shaping policies for social entrepreneurship and innovation 📅 May 7 & 8, 2025 📍 Conference & Cultural Center – University of Patras , Patras, Greece Call for Abstracts 📌 Abstract submission deadline: April 17, 2025 We welcome submissions for: 🔹 Scientific presentations (reviews, case studies, conceptual papers) 🔹 Professional presentations from social enterprises, public and municipal bodies, associations, etc. 📥 Submit your abstract here! Partner Organizations The conference is co-organized with the following organizations: 🎓 Academic Institutions • University of Patras – Department of Business Administration University of the Aegean – Department of Business Administration University of the Aegean – Laboratory of Development Studies and Research University of West Attica – Research Laboratory of Social Administration University of Peloponnese – Interdepartmental Master’s Program in Business Organization and Management in the Agro-Food Sector 🏛️ Partner Organizations • Development Agency of Karditsa S.A. Olympic Training & Consulting Ltd Sympoliteia Union – Union of Social Economy Organizations of Western Greece Participation Details 🎟️ Participation is free! Pre-registration is required. 📌 Register here (Provide Full Name, Organization & Email) 📅 Detailed Program: Available from April 20, 2025 📩 More Information: here 📧 Contact: upsesil@upatras.gr We look forward to seeing you there! 🌍💡 Stay tuned for the full list of sessions we organize and the keynote speakers to be announced soon!  

The busy OBCD Autumn culminated in the Social Entrepreneurship Day held on November 21st in Helsinki. Social Entrepreneurship Day is the main event in the field in Finland and it gathers all the main operators of social economy in the country – politicians and decision makers, research institutions and support organizations as well as the social entrepreneurs themselves. OBCD’s role in the event was to organize entertaining content for the day and activate the participants. The Finnish partners developed a nice game to facilitate networking and held a panel discussion of the power of networks showcasing the great work of the OBCD ecosystem in Finland. Finnish OBCD Ecosystem Booming and Blooming Three members of the Finnish OBCD ecosystem, the network of social enterprises developed during the project, Satu Luukkonen from Lapinlahden Lähde, Heini Maisala-McDonnell from Metropolia UAS and Helena Miettinen from Helsinki Business College Ltd shared their experiences of the power of networks in an insightful and inspiring panel discussion. The cooperation of different organizations has brought new ideas, knowledge and skills and resources for all the ecosystem members. Last but not the least, working together in the Finnish ecosystem has been fun and fruitful! Concrete examples of the fruits of our Finnish ecosystem brought up in the discussion were the project works accomplished in the OBCD training pilot, which provided helpful development ideas for Lapinlahden Lähde. Also, the Bootcamp in Italy was a great experience for learning and networking with international organizations for everyone.   Bingo! – Networking Made Easy and Fun Networking was made fun and easy at the event thanks to the networking bingo developed by the Finnish OBCD partners. Making networking a game was perceived as a good way to activate people to break the ice. The bingo leaflet encouraged oneself to engage with different activities, such as introducing people to each other, making compliments and posing a question and to get a new contact in LinkedIn. Networking is important to all enterprises, especially to social enterprises which usually work in large consortiums. Being active and putting yourself out there is worth the efforts – as could be learned from the great example of the Finnish OBCD ecosystem. All in all, the Social Entrepreneurship Day was inspiring with new ideas and contacts to continue the work in promoting social entrepreneurship in Finland.

In recent years, diverse ecosystems for social enterprises have begun to develop in Finland, with national strategies and EU social economy plans driving this development. This progress is driven by national strategies, as well as the EU’s social economy plans. Currently, in addition to the OBCD ecosystem, several networks are operating or being launched in Finland, including the WISE network, RENET, and regional networks by YYO, the Center of Expertise for Social Enterprises.  The WISE network focuses on work-integration social enterprises that promote employment by providing job opportunities for people facing challenges in entering the traditional labor market. RENET is the network for SE’s operating in recycling sector and connects actors who are dedicated to fostering the circular economy and sustainable development. YYO’s regional networks support social enterprises at a local level throughout Finland, offering region-specific resources and expertise.  Sandra Englund leads local and regional support at YYO and summarizes about the functioning ecosystems based on the first year’s experience: “In our work, we have observed that ecosystems operating in different areas have developed very differently, and their functionality is influenced by many factors. However, our conclusion is that the key elements in well-functioning ecosystems are a shared sense of purpose, trust, and regular, effective communication.”  The ecosystems rely on active and broad, cross-sector participation. Public sector actors, educational institutions, businesses and representatives of the local and community economy all play crucial roles in co-development, each bringing unique perspectives and expertise to the ecosystem. Through collaboration, they aim to support the growth of social enterprises on both regional and national levels.  This approach to ecosystem building is guiding Finland toward a more socially and environmentally sustainable economy, where a variety of stakeholders collaborate to create meaningful, lasting impact. It’s inspiring to witness organizations across the country coming together with a common goal: to build a better, more sustainable future. 

Removal of carbon from the atmosphere through carbon credits and Biochar donation   The AGCI Umbria, within the actions promoted by the European project OBCD – Open Business for Community Development, in particular in the one concerning the construction and development of the Local Ecosystem, considered it important to involve its Community Cooperatives and other partners belonging to the Local Ecosystem Italy OBCD in the event that was held on Friday 18 October 2024, at the National Fire Prevention Institute in Rome. An important week for the climate in Italy took place from 14 to 19 October, which began in Florence on 14 October with the Biochar School, organised by iChar – the Italian Biochar Association, and culminated in Rome on 18 October with the BiochART exhibition round table, held from 3 to 27 October 2024 at the Istituto Superiore Antincendi and sponsored by the Lazio Region and the Pistoletto Foundation. As far as OBCD’s Ecosistema Italia is concerned, in addition to AGCI Umbria, numerous partners participated in the event: the Community Cooperatives BE VALNERINA and LOCALCARBON ITALIA, the cooperative BASE 3, the Social Promotion Association Roma Open Lab, the Consortium Meuccio Ruini Impresa Sociale, AGCI Nazionale, IT Impresa e Territorio Srl, EFTILIA società benefit and the social cooperatives LA SPERANZA of Terni and ITINERA of Rome. The program of the event, which had a high political and institutional profile, allowed the participating members of Ecosistema Locale Italia to deepen their understanding of the political lines that are being defined, at a European and world level, regarding the burning issue of Carbon Dioxide Removal and the increasingly urgent need to provide all European countries and the entire international community with appropriate legislation on the subject. The importance of the need to alleviate the carbon footprint of anthropogenic activities has been established by international bodies such as the IPCC, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, because it is now clear that we will not be able to stay within the parameters of the 2015 Paris Agreement, and therefore, in addition to reducing emissions, we will have to capture carbon from the atmosphere and store it in the earth. For this reason, the production and use of biochar is a methodology that is rapidly gaining popularity, because through the thermochemical process called pyrolysis, organic carbon from plants is transformed into an inert that remains stable for hundreds or thousands of years in the soil. This process can be applied to all agricultural waste by utilizing process heat also for greenhouses and livestock farms and improving soil fertility. Professor Hamed Sanei from Denmark’s Aarhus University brought new and irrefutable scientific evidence on the stability of Biochar in soil, Prof. Stephen Joseph, PhD, author of 84 studies and 11 books on Biochar, connected from Australia, spoke about the benefits of Biochar to protect soil and crops from drought, and Dr. Ziv Nadav biochemist with a PhD in Neurobiology and CEO of Earth Biochar, connected from Israel, spoke about its use as a carrier to bring probiotic microbes into the soil, useful to protect crops from drought diseases. Ziv Nadav, a biochemist with a PhD in Neurobiology and CEO of Earth Biochar, reporting from Israel, spoke about its use as a carrier to bring probiotic microbes into the soil, which are useful in protecting crops from cryptogamic diseases. The Round Table was organised by Sole 24Ore environmental journalist Rita Salimbeni and officiated by Fire Brigade Commander Ing. Clara Modesto, who took office on 3 October after years of service in Latina. Numerous speeches followed, including one by Prof. Mauro Giorcelli of the Polytechnic University of Turin, who spoke about the multiple uses – agricultural and otherwise – of biochar, and one by Dr. Silvia Scozzafava, environmental scientist and creator of the Italian BlockCO2 platform, who explained why carbon credits from biochar donation are inherently more reliable than other types of credits available. The President of the Community Co-operative Localcarbon Italia, Silvia Sandri, gave a professional and passionate speech; she started from the concept of the Third Paradise by Maestro Michelangelo Olivero Pistoletto, because in the work it starts from the sign of infinity, made of two circles: one circle symbolises the natural world and the other circle symbolises the artificial and technological world. In the Third Paradise, a ‘belly’ is added, a third circle in the centre symbolising the harmonious union of these two worlds. Well, Localcarbon Italia‘s proposal was to use the tool of the Social and Solidarity Economy to achieve this, primarily in the area of carbon removal from the atmosphere, but more broadly in all other areas as well. An appeal was launched to set up a Permanent Round Table to ‘work as a system’, proposing a meeting date, 24 March 2025, in Rome to announce the first results obtained. Silvia Sandri emphasised the close relationship between Localcarbon Italia and the AGCI Cooperative Centre – General Association of Italian Cooperatives, which sponsors and supports the cooperative in its virtuous actions against the increase of companies’ carbon footprint, through training on the Sustainability Report, the promotion of carbon credits and the consequent donation of Biochar to agricultural enterprises, especially cooperatives. The President illustrated their participation in the European project #GRAINS – Greening Agribusiness in the Social Economy, which through AGCI (one of the GRAINS project partners) will receive funding from the European Innovation Council and the Executive Agency for SMEs. This initiative is aimed at Social Economy organisations willing to share their knowledge and experience in order to strengthen Social Economy SMEs in the agri-food sector. The President also illustrated the state of the art of the European project OBCD – OPEN BUSINESS FOR COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, describing in particular the actions aimed at setting up the Local Ecosystem Italy, of which the Community Cooperative LOCALCARBON ITALIA is an active part, whose aim is the promotion of social entrepreneurship through the form of confrontation and exchange of ideas, information and initiatives between different actors from the world of business, universities, social promotion associations, public