EU Commissioner Moedas welcomes SIC’s #SIDeclaration

Carlos Moedas, EU Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, signalled support for Europe’s first cross-sector, citizen-led Declaration for Social Innovation at the Web Summit in Lisbon. The #SIDeclaration sets out core values for European policy makers to follow as they negotiate the new EU budget and programming.

The #SIDeclaration (officially known as The Lisbon Declaration – Social Innovation as a Path to a Fairer, More Inclusive Europe) offers 3 principles, 5 key priorities and 10 practical policy recommendations. This has been shaped through 12 months of consultations, and reflect inputs from over 350 people from over 19 member countries.

The Declaration sets out a vision for Europe where:

• Civil society, non-state actors and local communities are empowered to define and address challenges that matter to them, such as climate change;
• Research and innovation gives greater recognition to the contribution of civil society and the wider public;
• Mainstream innovators (like technologists, firms and research organisations) take up a key role in driving direct societal benefits

The  Declaration has already been signed by more than 600 people across Europe in a variety of sectors and countries, and was launched at the Social Innovation Village at the Web Summit 2018. The Declaration was presented to EU Commisioner Moedas, who’s department is responsible for designing the next EU research and innovation funding programme. The Commisioner stated to acknowledge the work of the Social Innovation Community on the #SIDeclaration and their effort to help policymakers and the European Commission to create a new path to a fairer, more inclusive Europe. ‘Innovation today is about purpose, about doing something that can fulfil you as a human being. In the European Union, we are going to put more money into social innovation, not because it’s trendy, but because we believe that the future of innovation is about social innovation.’

What’s next?
High level endorsement is great, but the work isn’t over yet. The main goal is to influence negotiations on the next EU budget and programmes and to persuade more MEPs and politicians in European member states to support our policy ideas.

You can help us by signing the SIDeclaration, showing European decision-makers that we are a powerful and determined force for change in Europe. Do you want to know more? Read more about the Declaration, the Social Innovation Community, or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn for updates on the work of the Social Innovation Community.