Unlocking the Social Economy 2025

Encouraging equity through strategic policy is crucial in the evolving landscape of the green and digital transitions and their impacts on marginalized communities. The social economy is not a one-size-fits-all solution to drive equity in the green and digital transitions. Some long-standing systemic inequalities are deeply entrenched in society and often embedded in institutional structures, policies and norms. As the UN has highlighted, achieving social inclusion requires transforming deeply rooted systems often based on the unequal distribution of wealth and decision-making power.61However, this report highlights that social enterprises can be one part of the solution. Their models can inspire more inclusive business practices and government policies. Indeed, many social enterprises are made up of local community members who aim to mitigate issues within their specific community, making them a ripe source of place-based knowledge and innovation.62 This often makes them well-positioned to inform policy and product design. Social enterprise benefits from supportive government policies to effectively contribute to economic equity. Box 9 highlights five policy priorities presented in the report Unlocking the Social Economy: Towards an Inclusive and Resilient Society to strengthen the overall social economy. Five policy priorities to strengthen the social economy BOX 9 Recognize the social economy and build supportive regulatory frameworks Create incentives for funding, taxation and investment Expand education and research Make public and private procurement channels more inclusive Collect, measure and visualize social impact data. Source: World Economic Forum. (2022). Unlocking the Social Economy: Towards an inclusive and resilient society. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Unlocking_the_Social_Economy_2022.pdf. Image credit: Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship Unlocking the Social Economy: Towards Equity in the Green and Digital Transitions 21