The Social Economist

The Social Economist Season 3 concludes with a third mini-series on the topic of energy! Europe’s energy transition and what it means for both businesses’ competitiveness and Europe’s strategic autonomy is more important than ever. Is this an area where the social economy and social enterprise business models perhaps have a competitive advantage? Join us for this three episode mini-series to hear...

The Social Economist Season 3 concludes with a third mini-series on the topic of energy! Europe’s energy transition and what it means for both businesses’ competitiveness and Europe’s strategic autonomy is more important than ever. Is this an area where the social economy and social enterprise business models perhaps have a competitive advantage? Join us for this three episode mini-series to hear...

The Social Economist Season 3 concludes with a third mini-series on the topic of energy! Europe’s energy transition and what it means for both businesses’ competitiveness and Europe’s strategic autonomy is more important than ever. Is this an area where the social economy and social enterprise business models perhaps have a competitive advantage? Join us for this three episode mini-series to hear...

The Social Economist Season 3 continues! We're continuing with our second mini-series where we're tackling one of the most present and challenging topics of the day for the social economy: defence. In Episode 5, host Toby Gazeley from Euclid Network is joined by Andrea Baranes from Banca Etica to discuss the long-standing position of ethical finance on defence investments and the implications of i...

The Social Economist Season 3 continues! We’re continuing with our second mini-series where we’re tackling one of the most present and challenging topics of the day for the social economy: defence. What does Europe’s new focus and prioritisation of defence spending mean for the social economy? Is it all bad news or could there be some benefits for social enterprises? We’re hearing from organisatio...

The Social Economist Returns with Season 3! That’s right - we’re back and we’re delving into the hottest topics impacting the social economy in 2025. This season, we’ll be looking at the wider changing policy landscape influencing the social economy before exploring Europe’s energy transition and the new emphasis on European defence spending.  The Social Economist Season 3 continues! We’re back an...

The Social Economist Season 3 continues! We’re back and we’re delving into the hottest topics impacting the social economy in 2025. This season, we’ll be looking at the wider changing policy landscape influencing the social economy before exploring Europe’s energy transition and the new emphasis on European defence spending.  In Episode 1, we reviewed the rapidly changing policy landscape that’s e...

The Social Economist Returns with Season 3! That’s right - we’re back and we’re delving into the hottest topics impacting the social economy in 2025. This season, we’ll be looking at the wider changing policy landscape influencing the social economy before exploring Europe’s energy transition and the new emphasis on European defence spending.  In Episode 1, host Toby Gazeley from Euclid Network is...

In this ninth and final episode of Season 2 of The Social Economist, our third mini-series concludes! We’re excited to be talking about the topic of social procurement and the work of SEUK who’ve been working in this area for many years. This concludes a deep-dive into this important area which offers a great number of opportunities for both social enterprises but also conventional firms and corpo...

In this eighth episode of Season 2 of The Social Economist, our third mini-series continues! We’re excited to be talking about the topic of social procurement - specifically about what can be done to put social procurement into practice in the context of a local government.  In this second episode of this mini-series, host Toby Gazeley from ⁠⁠Euclid Network⁠⁠ is joined by Rein Douma from ⁠ the Mun...

In this seventh episode of Season 2 of The Social Economist, our third mini-series begins! We’re excited to be talking about the topic of social procurement - something discussed a great deal at the moment as a big opportunity for social enterprises. What does it mean, who does it involve and what are the opportunities social procurement could bring? These are all topics delved into in this third...

In this sixth episode of Season 2 of The Social Economist, our second mini-series concludes! After hearing about the European ⁠Council Recommendation to improve social economy framework conditions and how Germany has been making progress in the development and implementation of their new strategy, in this episode we were delighted to hear from Scotland’s experience. Since 2016, Scotland - both fro...

In this fifth episode of Season 2 of The Social Economist, our second mini-series continues! Following on from our focus on the European ⁠Council Recommendation to improve social economy framework conditions , we’re excited to be taking a closer look at the exciting strategy adopted in Germany in 2022. This interview was however recorded before the recent political changes in Germany leading to an...

In this fourth episode of Season 2 of The Social Economist, our second mini-series begins! This kicks off a three episode deep-dive into the EU's recent ⁠Council Recommendation to improve social economy framework conditions⁠ and national strategies to support social enterprises. In this first episode of this mini-series, host Toby Gazeley from ⁠⁠Euclid Network⁠⁠ is joined by Miia Rossi-Gray from ⁠...

In this third and final episode on digitalisation, host Toby Gazeley from ⁠Euclid Network⁠ is joined by Gustavs Upmanis from Visas Iespējas to find out how digital tools are being put to work in social enterprises. Together they discuss Gustavs work on creating 'a dating app for employment'. Through MatchWork, Gustavs and the team aim to remove barriers experienced by both employers and aspiring e...

In this second episode on digitalisation, host Toby Gazeley from Euclid Network dives into one of the hottest topics of the day: artificial intelligence (AI). Toby is of course not alone and is joined by John Logue, CEO of Social Enterprise Republic of Ireland (SERI). SERI is working on becoming Ireland's first AI-enabled social enterprise representative body. Supported by Liam McSherry, their Eng...

Digitalisation, one of the biggest transformations of this decade. But what does it mean? And what is the European Commission doing to support social enterprises through this tumultuous time? Tune into the first episode of the second season of The Social Economist where host Toby Gazeley is joined again by Karel Vanderpoorten from the European Commission (DG GROW) . Together they discuss recent po...

After the end of a mixed European summer, attention is now starting to focus on the European Elections taking place in June 2024 ! Join host Toby Gazeley on this episode of The Social Economist to hear why these European Elections are so crucial and why they matter for the social economy. Toby of course doesn't attempt this task alone and is joined by his co-host Marcela Neves from Euclid Netw...

Young people are the future and empowering them to become social entrepreneurs is an important policy priority. On this episode of The Social Economist, Toby speaks with Julien De Beys - a Legal Officer at the European Commission in DG EMPL and one of the masterminds of the Youth Entrepreneurship Policy Academy (YEPA) - about youth, social entrepreneurship and the Social Economy Action Plan. To he...

June was a non-stop month of developments for the social economy! From the UN Resolution on Social & Solidarity Economy to the European Commission's Recommendation to the European Council and Social Economy Gateway , it's been hard to keep up. On this episode of The Social Economist, join Toby and Gerlinde from ⁠Euclid Network⁠ to hear more about all the developments over the month of...

Is everyone just talking about action plans? Or are they actually putting plans into action? Tune into Episode 4 of The Social Economist with host Toby Gazeley, Policy Lead at Euclid Network , to hear how the European Social Economy Action Plan (SEAP) has already gotten moving in the first year since its launch in 2021. Toby of course doesn't attempt to unpick these developments alone and is j...

It's time for another episode of The Social Economist! Host Toby Gazeley, Policy Lead at Euclid Network , is joined by another great line-up of experts from across Europe. Tune in to hear from this episode's guests: Tiffany Bennett (Euclid Network), Jorien van Lookeren Campagne ( Social Enterprise NL ) and James Hermanson ( OECD ).  We all know what it feels like when that email drops into yo...

The Social Economist returns for its first episode of 2023! Join host Toby Gazeley, Policy Lead at Euclid Network and his guests Gerlinde Schmidt (Euclid Network) and Natalie Laechelt ( OECD ) as they talk about one of the key topics in the ecosystem today: women in social enterprise.  Looking for more information about the topic and keen to do some further reading? Look no further! Find here...

In this first episode of The Social Economist, we’re talking about one of the most recent and biggest policy initiatives to come from the European Commission on social economy: The Transition Pathway for the Proximity and Social Economy Industrial Ecosystem . Join host Toby Gazeley (Policy Lead at Euclid Network ) with his co-host Gerlinde Schmidt (Euclid Network) as they unpick what this new poli...