Alliance for Inclusive Investment in Social Care and Support

Funded by the Erasmus+ programme, the a4i project aims to build up the capacity of social services, investors and authorities to know why, when and how to use private investment for projects in the field of social care and support.

Project website: http://www.socialinvestment.eu/en/knowledge-center

Context

Europe has an investment gap in social infrastructure of an estimated €150 billion a year for the next decade in health, social care and support, education and affordable housing. In addition of a growing demand, staff shortages and limited funding for innovation, there is a crucial need of a new breed of decision makers who have the skills and confidence to secure financing from both public and private sources. The a4i project aims at bridging this gap.

Outputs

In 2021, the a4i project will result in a programme both for academic settings and adult training between investors and social care providers, based on specific real-life piloting. The a4i training courses, together with the Knowledge Centre and MOOC, will contribute to enhancing the mutual understanding, trust and ability to work together in securing more sustainable and diversified funding for integrated, flexible and individualised services.
In order to inform the work, a report on the state of play in Europe will be available in June 2019, and European guidelines on quality investment principles by September 2019.

Partners

The project involves Service Providers, Private Investors and Higher Education Institutions in Belgium, Czech Republic and Spain, as well as a partner from the Netherlands.

The partners are:

European Association of Service providers for Persons with Disabilities (EASPD) (coordinator), Belgium

HCN, Netherlands

Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M), Spain

Fundacion ONCE, Spain

Mondragon University, Spain

Laboral Kutxa, Spain

APSS CR, Czech Republic

CEVRO Institut, Czech Republic

ÄÂÂÂŒeská spoÅ™itelna, Czech Republic

Union des entreprises à profit social (UNIPSO), Belgium

Université de Liège, Belgium

CREDAL, Belgium

La inversión social debe respetar los derechos humanos y priorizar el retorno social (11 de noviembre de 2021)

Fundación ONCE, Laboral Kutxa, Mondragon Unibertsitatea y la Universidad Carlos III de Madrid clausuran el programa de promoción de inversión social de calidad (23 de marzo de 2021)

Inclusive Investment: an exciting year ahead January 2021)

Fundación ONCE, Laboral Kutxa, Mondragon Unibertsitatea y la Universidad Carlos III de Madrid lanzan un curso de Inversión Social (27 de enero de 2021)

Worlds apart? A4i project launched to support collaboration between investors and social care providers (12 de marzo de 2019)

Worlds apart? A4i project launched to support collaboration between investors and social care providers (12 March 2019)

Monday, November 29, 202114:00 - 17:45Events Funding of Social Services.

This event will be held in a hybrid format (face-to-face & online).

REGISTER HERE 

Across Europe, demand for social care and support is growing rapidly; be it long-term care or more emergency forms of support. This is a response to changing demographics, evolving family patterns, an attempt to further close the welfare gaps and recognition of the crucial role social services play in ensuring people have access to their human and social rights. The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic will also lead to an increase in need for professional support and adaptations to how such support is provided.

This naturally comes with an increase in investment demand as more and more social care and support providers look to private investors to fulfil their investment needs. Yet, these stakeholders often come with varying needs and expectations. Private investors need to ensure they make a profit on their investment, social care providers need to ensure their investment improves the amount and/or quality of the services they provide and public authorities have the responsibility to ensure people have access to the social care and support they need, in line with their human rights obligations, yet within their financial restrictions.

The Alliance for Inclusive Investment in Social Care and Support (a4i) project, funded by Erasmus+, has brought together social care providers, private investors and universities in order to:

-identify the current social investment needs in Europe

-develop training material for learners on accessing social investment in Belgium, Czechia and Spain

-bring together a common European Agenda for what constitutes Quality Social Investment.

This event is the a4i project’s final conference and will be the opportunity to present outputs in these three fields to stakeholders from across Europe.

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