The first Policy Learning Dialogue and Transnational Knowledge Transfer Workshop, took place in Međimurje County, Croatia

On the 18th and 19th June 2024, Public Institution for the Development of the Međimurje County REDEA has organized the first Policy Learning Dialogue (PLD) and Knowledge Transfer Workshop (KTW), in Sveti Martin Na Muri, Međimurje County, Croatia.

During the events were discussed the policies at the European level regarding the social economy, the Social Economy Action Plan, the national context in the partner countries regarding the needs and challenges faced by social enterprises as well as the ways of transferring knowledge and ensuring a good dissemination of the project results, of the identified good practices as well as of the developed tools.

The Policy Learning Dialogue aimed to enhance policy coordination and develop tools to support social enterprises in the Danube region. During the sessions, project partners, associated strategic partners, and policymakers have discussed the main challenges and opportunities for the development of social economy ecosystem. Working sessions took place on different topics, such as: Better access to markets: socially responsible public procurement; Promoting the social economy at regional and local levels and Improving access to funding; - giving the participants the chance to jointly develop measures and actions that will be included in the D4SEE Strategy for inclusive Social Economy ecosystem. It was also discussed the exchange of experience on public-private partnership and best practices to boost the social economy.

During the Transnational Knowledge Transfer Workshop, 3 parallel sessions took place on: Identifying critical knowledge areas & setting knowledge transfer goals and objectives; Effective Communication and knowledge transfer methods between SE and LPA and Measuring the Impact of the Knowledge Transfer between SE and LPA. Also, it were introduced the main results of the first semester, namely the Joint Report on the Social Economy Ecosystem in the Danube region and the development and testing of two Skills Gap Assessment Tools for the social economy sector that assess the skill levels of social enterprises and local public authorities and design solutions to close the skills gap.