Driving inclusive care: economic democracy and social economy

The DICES project, "Driving Inclusive Care: Economic Democracy and Social Economy," explores the role of social economy organisations in addressing social exclusion and fostering economic democracy. By combining research, case studies, and stakeholder engagement across EU and non-EU contexts, it aims to evaluate governance frameworks, identify best practices, and recommend policy measures. Funded under Horizon Europe, DICES aspires to enhance the social economy's potential to create sustainable, inclusive services and workplaces, with findings disseminated through innovative tools to impact policymakers, stakeholders, and the broader public.

Aims and Objectives 

Social economy organisations play a crucial role in tackling social exclusion. However, the development of social economy governance frameworks and their impact on social inclusion remains insufficiently explored. The DICES project aims to bridge this gap with a threefold objective: 

1. Enhance understanding of Europe's social economy and identify factors driving its uneven development;
2. Evaluate the role of social economy organisations in addressing social exclusion and improving services and workplaces; 
3. Recommend policy measures and governance frameworks to unlock the social economy's potential, including strategies for identifying and promoting best practices. 

DICES, first, establishes a conceptual and empirical framework and conducts a mapping, examining the social economy's integration into welfare governance frameworks. Second, DICES uses 'deep dives' to investigate contributions at local, including in left behind places, and organisational levels, including in the provision of care. This work builds on case studies and pilot actions, a survey, small-scale experiments and other innovative methods. This approach is connected through the identification of conditions that would allow organisational experiments to scale up into institutional experiments. DICES uses interdisciplinary methods across EU and non-EU countries. The project engages stakeholders through co-design of pilot actions and peer review cycles, complementing quantitative and qualitative studies. Stakeholder input helps develop concrete policy proposals. 

DICES disseminates findings through research papers policy briefs, a digital storyboard, webinars, and toolboxes for policymakers and practitioners to maximise impact on policymakers, stakeholders, and the public.