The Directorate General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW) of the European Commission has launched the EU Proximity and Social Economy Platform, a digital space designed to support the proximity and social economy (PSE) ecosystem in the implementation of its Transition Pathway. The PSE Platform is part of the European Commission’s broader initiative to drive the transformation towards a more sustainable, digital, resilient, and globally competitive economy.
In March 2020, the European Commission presented the European Industrial Strategy, a plan to support the European industry through transitions towards climate neutrality and digital leadership. In this strategy, updated in May 2021 to account for new circumstances following the COVID-19 crisis, the European Commission identified 14 industrial ecosystems, including the “Proximity and Social Economy,” to monitor the state of the Single Market and support stakeholders in each value chain.
The objective of this platform is to create an integrated support mechanism that facilitates collaboration, knowledge sharing, and capacity building among stakeholders in the proximity and social economy ecosystem, in line with the goals of the Transition Pathway.
In this platform, stakeholders will find:
- Accessible and up-to-date knowledge on the transition pathway action areas for Social Economy ecosystems. This includes relevant news, events, and funding opportunities.
- Private working spaces on the favourite topics of the ecosystem. Here stakeholders will be able to share knowledge and collaborate confidentially with the members of the chosen community(ies). These are ‘Transformative Digital Transition’, ‘Regenerative Green Transition’, ‘Working Conditions and Governance’, ‘Partnerships’, ‘Financing the ecosystem’, ‘Skills’, and ‘Urban and Rural Wellbeing’.
- Access to networking and collaboration opportunities with peers across the EU, and beyond: capacity building events, learning opportunities and discussion forums.
- Guidelines on how to pledge for the Transition Pathway, and inspiration for the future commitments.
This platform is open to all stakeholders active in the proximity and social economy ecosystem, and to all actors who share the values of this initiative. In this digital space, people can play different roles, as a platform user, or as an Ambassadors.
Kick-off event
The Commission invites to the event ‘Transition Pathway: Kick-off for the EU Proximity and Social Economy Platform’, that will take place online on 6 February from 14:00 to 16:30. This event welcomes stakeholders to learn about the state of the art of the Transition Pathway. Participants will also hear from industry peers and leaders during a dynamic ‘voices from the ecosystem’ session. In addition, the event will provide a ‘peek’ into the platform, showcasing its functionalities, and will present the role of the Ambassadors.
