(27 November 2015) – The Social Innovation Europe (SIE) platform, of which AEIDL is a partner, has just published three updated country profiles from the Balkans: Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Slovenia.

Social innovation in Macedonia focuses on solving societal needs and increasing the competitiveness of the private sector in the context of reforms undertaken as part of the EU integration process. Over the last decade public institutions, companies, national and international donor organisations and the civil sector have been the drivers of social innovation.

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, social innovation is a relatively new concept and, as such, has not been defined by any particular players. For that reason, there is a need to firstly define and promote social innovation. This could be followed by the development of a network of social innovators, who would be involved in a process of mapping and promoting new concepts, tools and practices to socio-economic challenges.

Social innovation in Slovenia is in its early stages and remains largely underdeveloped, with no support framework. However, a number of social innovation projects have been launched in the last decade, mostly as a result of individual entrepreneurial initiatives within more innovative organisations.