Social innovations for social cohesion : transnational patterns and approaches from 20 European cities

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The project entitled “Welfare innovation at the local level in favour of cohesion” (WILCO), was given a double task:  

• finding models, features and trends in local social innovation in support of social cohesion that appear across Europe despite national/local differences;  
• looking at local contexts and welfare systems: what are key factors for diffusion and upgrading of such innovations?  

In a nutshell, WILCO aimed to examine, through cross-national comparative research, how local welfare systems affect social inequalities and how they favour social cohesion, with a special focus on the missing link between innovations at the local level and their successful transfer to and imple- mentation in other settings. The main objective was to describe instruments and approaches that are used by innovatory social projects and networks to fight social inequality and stimulate social cohesion. The aim of this publication is:

• to identify a number of cases of innovation in each of the cities to be studied and to describe their characteristics in a way that was conducive to finding out recurrent patterns of approaches and instruments used;  
• to identify such recurrent approaches and instruments used in the innovative cases.

Moreover the case studies had to point at the linkages between innovations and the local context that play a key role in the ways these innovations developed as projects and processes. This was intended to help getting a clearer image of the real impact these innovations already have in local welfare systems. The findings are based on 77 cases from 20 European cities.

[Extracted from Introduction].

Citation

Evers, Adalbert; Ewert, Benjamin and Brandsen, Taco (eds.) (2014) Social innovations for social cohesion : transnational patterns and approaches from 20 European cities. A deliverable of the project: “Welfare Innovations at the Local level in favour of Cohesion” (WILCO), European Commission – 7th Framework Programme, Brussels: European Commission, DG Research.