Summary

ESCUTA (EMPREENDEDORISMO SOCIAL COMUNITÁRIO UNIVERSITÁRIO TRANSNACIONAL - AÇORES) was a European Project (Erasmus+  KA203 - Higher Education Strategic Partnership) with a special focus on social entrepreneurship based on the international cooperation established between Universities and NGO´s from Portugal (Azores), Spain and France.The project started on 1 September 2020 and finished on 31 July 2023.  Results will be presented as a case study that aims to demonstrate the benefits of knowledge creation when the strengths of universities and NGO´s are linked together for the co-creation of the People´s Economy.The term "people economy" does not have a universally accepted definition, but it generally refers to an economic system or approach that prioritizes the well-being and empowerment of individuals and communities. Emphasizes the importance of human capital, social relationships, and inclusive growth. People's economy is related to a social and solidarity economy, which is more based on social equity, environmental sustainability, quality of life than just in profit. It recognizes that economic success should be measured by how well it serves the needs and aspirations of people rather than solely focusing on financial metrics.The project was based on knowledge transfer from universities to NGO´s and vice-versa and allowed the develop socioemotional skills of social work students. It was based on a project-based methodology and on social and emotional learning. It offered the possibility to develop activities centered on equal opportunities and help their participation in their own communities in identifying and idealizing entrepreneurship solutions and participating in the construction of initiatives capable of making the community more innovative, autonomous, resilient, and sustainable. The case study allows understanding the value of social networks, trust, and community cohesion as an important factor for sustainable economic development, resilience, social inclusion, empowerment, and the well-being of future generations.

Keywords (separate with commas)

Social Entrepreneurship, People´s economy, Social work, Innovation, Social and emotional learning; 

Summary

Within theme #15 (innovation, social entrepreneurship, and people’s economy) there lacks an understanding of how to comparatively analyze which conditional configurations of a theory of change are necessary and sufficient when developing a social innovation strategy. Without this knowledge, students in social innovation and social entrepreneurship (SISE) courses struggle to provide evidence that the theory of change they develop has the capabilities to address the social problem they are trying to resolve. Without grounding theories of change in evidence, social ventures are inclined to redundancy and ineffectiveness; frail service models overextend the promise of social change outcomes to various stakeholders including partners, funders, and beneficiaries. Addressing the gap, this exploratory intervention study examines the pathways to building evidenced based social innovation strategies when incorporating Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA) into theory of change curriculum in an undergraduate SISE course. QCA is a method of inquiry that combines qualitative case study methods with Boolean algebra and set theory to explore cases of complex causality. It does this by exploring a full range of conditions within a set of cases to reveal patterns that are deemed necessary and/or sufficient for a specific outcome. This study incorporates QCA into the intervention by teaching SISE students the QCA method as a tool to comparatively examine their theory of change within evidence from other theory of change models. QCA is then used to analyze the pathways to evidenced based social innovation strategy before and after the students learn and apply the method. The findings have implications for the ways in which we develop theories of change in SISE education and practice.

Keywords (separate with commas)

Social Innovation, Theory of Change, Qualitative Comparative Analysis, Social Entrepreneurship

Summary

A strong, well-trained social service workforce (SSW) consisting of diverse categories of social workers and other social service personnel with different levels of training and qualifications is necessary for the wellbeing of children, families, persons with disabilities and other groups facing difficult circumstances or challenges. The U.S. Government is committed to investing in strategies to support the SSW in keeping with its Advancing Protection and Care for Children in Adversity (APCCA) strategy and implementation plan. This whole-of-government approach aims to ensure comprehensive and coordinated efforts to strengthen systems for protecting and caring for children worldwide.\ USAID’s Children in Adversity Team engaged\ Data For Impact (D4I) to assess activities that it supports across three countries – Armenia, Cambodia, and Rwanda – that involve strengthening the SSW and broader system related to child care and protection. The goal of the assessment was to identify specific approaches that USAID and country partners should consider advocating for and making future investments in, which will contribute to a more robust SSW and overall sustainable social services systems in these three countries, and as applicable in other countries. Guided by global and country-level advisory groups, the assessment involved a mix of quantitative and qualitative methods, including a review of relevant country-specific and global documents, a secondary analysis of existing aggregate data, and primary data collection through key informant interviews and focus group discussions at national and sub-national levels. Findings on approaches to planning, developing, and supporting the workforce invested in to date, their advantages and disadvantages to sustainable workforce and social service system development, and perceived changes at the child- and household-level were validated among these groups and informed recommendations and level of priority across the three countries and globally.

Keywords (separate with commas)

social service workforce, child welfare, family welfare, child protection, sustainable systems development, social protection

Summary

Tackling youth homelessness has always been challenging, but the polycrisis (pandemic, climate, housing, overdose and staffing crises) has exasperated issues. This is a devastating phenomenon for young people, who face decreased job opportunities, increased expenses, increased debt loads, increased climate anxiety and delayed or interrupted entrance into the workforce—all factors that increase this demographic’s sensitivity to economic fluctuations. As an offshoot, these challenges have troubled social workers and other social justice practitioners, researchers, and policymakers wanting to make change. While many groups have called on policymakers to prioritize vulnerable populations to make further investments in programs specifically for young people facing barriers to ensure they are not further let down by the system, they often lack effective examples of practices that support individual youth, their families and their communities.\ In looking to creative approaches to tackle the barriers to housing and employment faced by diverse young people, little attention has been paid to the role a collaboration between not-for-profit, governmental and private sector can bring to redress this issue. To remedy this gap, this session examines research-based findings from one not-for-profit organization that provides a supportive employment and housing program to youth experiencing barriers to housing and employment. The Work2Live program is delivered in Whistler, Canada. Its approach to cultivating supportive employment for youth-at-risk of homelessness is unique in the partnerships it has fostered with employers, service providers, government services and the community. Through a government grant, this program has expanded and focused efforts on understanding and creating effective supports for both employers and participants. This has ripple effects for employees beyond participants. The program illustrates how one organization has traversed issues created by the polycrisis while furthering a collaborative and reciprocal approach with the community to provide support to diverse young people experiencing multiple barriers to housing and employment.

Keywords (separate with commas)

supportive employment, youth homelessness, collaborative support