A declaration to strengthen social innovation in Europe
As a founding member of the Italian Competence Centre for Social Innovation (ICCSI) and partner of SEED2SCALE – the European Commission project aimed at strengthening five National Competence Centres for Social Innovation across Europe – Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini has joined the Madrid Declaration for stronger recognition and funding of social innovation in the EU Multiannual Financial Framework 2028-2034.
Addressed to the European Commission, the document calls for stronger support for social innovation and National Competence Centres for Social Innovation (NCCs) within the next EU Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) for the 2028-2034 period.
The Declaration was presented on 5 May 2026 in Madrid during the National Competence Centres Mutual Learning Event. The initiative was led by Romania's National Competence Centre for Social Innovation, which launched the Madrid Declaration as part of a broader European effort to strengthen the role of social innovation in the EU's next long-term budget.
"Signing the Madrid Declaration means bringing into the European debate what we observe every day through our work: social innovation is not a marginal field of experimentation, but a concrete approach through which institutions, social economy actors and local communities develop responses to complex needs" commented Manuelita Mancini, Director of Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini and member of the Board of the Italian Competence Centre for Social Innovation.
"For Fondazione Giacomo Brodolini, joining this initiative means supporting a vision of Europe in which social cohesion, participation and innovation are recognised as structural components of the development and competitiveness policies underpinning the next European budget cycle" she added.
At present, the Declaration is supported by 84 organisations from 19 European countries, including 17 National Competence Centres for Social Innovation and stakeholders belonging to the five European NCC consortia supported by the EU in Italy, Croatia, Greece, Romania and Slovenia. The Declaration remains open to further endorsements.
As highlighted in the Declaration, if the next EU Multiannual Financial Framework is to respond effectively to complex social, demographic, digital and environmental challenges, social innovation must be recognised not as a residual area of experimentation, but as a cross-cutting driver for the implementation of public policies.
Among the requests put forward in the Declaration are: explicit recognition of social innovation in the next EU Multiannual Financial Framework; clearer and more visible funding pathways within national and regional plans and European procedures; stronger support for the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) and social investment instruments; better integration into European competitiveness and research policies; and enhanced support for Competence Centres and social innovation ecosystems.
"Europe is certainly not lacking in experiences of social innovation" explained Patrizia Saroglia, Head of FGB’s Public Policy & Social Innovation Unit and Director of the Italian Competence Centre. "As the Madrid Declaration itself highlights, the critical issue is that many practices remain confined within the project-based frameworks and exceptional conditions that originally generated them, without succeeding in having a lasting impact on the ordinary functioning of public policies".
"The National Competence Centres promoted by the European Commission represent strategic infrastructures for strengthening national social innovation ecosystems" Saroglia continued. "For this reason, it will be important for the next MFF to clarify and enhance their role, so that they can support public administrations, social economy actors and local organisations in consolidating and mainstreaming into public policies the practices developed across territories".
