PORTUGAL SOCIAL INOVATION: AT THE CROSSROAD OF TIMES

Abstract

Portugal Social Innovation is a Portuguese public initiative created to promote Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship in Portugal, within the framework of the Partnership Agreement called Portugal 2020, which regulates the transfer of
community funds to Portugal in the period 2014-2020. As a pioneering initiative in Europe, it is experimental and innovative, mobilizing European funds to support innovative projects aimed at obtaining benefits for society through four
financing instruments. This article, written by the two presidents who have been responsible for the coordination and implementation of this initiative, aims to present Portugal Social Innovation, reflecting simultaneously on the context that
favored its creation and the challenges it currently faces, and this is a reflection relevant at a time when several European countries seek to define public policies to support social innovation and to boost the practice of social investment