ESELA invited to present at OECD/European Commission social economy seminar – February 2016

On 18 February, ESELA presented at a capacity building seminar led by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation Development (OECD) and the European Commission in Brussels. The 1.5 day event was part of a series of capacity building seminars which are designed to exchange good practices, further develop the capacity of senior policy makers and practitioners and to strengthen contacts in Europe in the field of social entrepreneurship.

The aim of the seminar was to encourage the exchange of information on successful programmes and policies which support the establishment of social enterprises across the European Union, and to enable different actors from across Europe countries to share their experiences and perspectives. The seminar had a particular focus on the extent to which legal systems are able to support access to finance and markets for social enterprises.

The seminar was structured around discussions based on inputs from case studies and expert presentations. In order to trigger the discussion, national or local public officials and practitioners challenged these presentations. All sessions were moderated in order to identify common conclusions.

New and fresh knowledge was generated through exchanges and due to the combination of the experience and knowledge all the participants brought. ESELA is proud to be invited to participate to provide expert views on law and regulation. We hope that we will have the opportunity to support policymakers at all levels within Europe and further afield to develop enabling social enterprise ecosystems in the future.

To find out more information about the OECD and their social economy programme, please visit the following website: http://www.oecd.org/cfe/leed/social-economy.htm. All of the documents that were presented at the event can be found here: http://www.oecd.org/employment/leed/social-oecd-eu-cbs.htm.

Luke Fletcher

Chair, ESELA

Partner, Bates Wells Braithwaite