New Learning Processes in Voluntary Organisations and Social Enterprises 

The third sector is presently being positioned as a springboard and a key player in the crucial renewal of the Danish welfare state. Voluntary organizations in new partnerships are highlighted as the solution to complex social problems, and voluntary social work is currently in the midst of a paradigm shift where it is being challenged by market principles, while at the same time maintaining its uniqueness and authenticity. The research project will shed light on this field of tension, based on a multi-case study of the interaction between voluntary social associations, public organizations and private companies. The work is being conducted with a dual perspective in the analysis, which includes a dynamic situational perspective (learning environment and context) and a dynamic subjective perspective (life historical learning). The research project shall contribute to an improved understanding of how the performance of welfare tasks is influenced by interactions between social development, changes in organizations and people's learning.

Contact person: Linda Lundgaard Andersen

Social Innovation Platforms as Empowerment and Local Sustainability

The Centre for Social Entrepreneurship is participating as a partner in a 3-year pilot project together with Volunteer Centres and Self-Help Projects in Denmark (FriSe). The government's national civil society strategy is based on the idea of ​​a broadly based responsibility and cooperation on future social problems. But the vast majority of municipalities, voluntary associations and private companies are in doubt about how this shall occur. There is thus a strategic and practical gulf between the state's vision and the locally perceived reality. It is necessary, therefore, to develop strong partnerships with stakeholders who can overcome this challenge and develop the 'innovative social platform' as a concrete model for developing local cooperation. The purpose of the pilot project is to support local communities' capacity to solve social problems through socially innovative partnerships, where various stakeholders jointly assume ownership and develop new initiatives.

Contact person: Monika Fæster 

Social entrepreneurship at Nørrebro - Social Ventures 2200

Over a 2-year period, a consortium consisting of Kuben Management, the Danish Centre for Social Economy and the Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at Roskilde University will implement a development project focusing on supporting social entrepreneurship and social-economy enterprises in the multicultural district of Nørrebro. The project shall generally provide an informed input into the development of existing and new platforms for employment and social innovation in relation to the development of disadvantaged areas in Nørrebro. This will be achieved through the development of social-economy enterprises and social entrepreneurship in existing companies and activities that can act as platforms for job training, employment, leisure jobs, area development, culture, etc. The project shall support current and future multi-sectoral partnerships between the private sector, voluntary organizations and public stakeholders in relation to the development of the district's deprived neighbourhoods and the creation of training and course activities targeted at the district's current and future 'social entrepreneurs'. Finally, the project will disseminate and operationalise both international, national and local experiences and best practices related to social entrepreneurship.

Contact person: Lise Bisballe