Objective Research has made seminal contributions to describing the size and scope of the Third Sector, including volunteering as an essential component. However, most of the research has focused on economic benefits (revenues, employment etc.). We highly value these efforts, but posit that the core contribution and main impact of the sector on socio-economic development lies in the creation of social innovation.Our claim is that the Third Sector is better equipped to foster social innovation than the market or the public sector. We will build a set of testable hypotheses that relate to its key characteristics, e.g.: (1) strong value sets; (2) persistent multi-stakeholder constellations; (3) the mobilisation of multiple resources.Against the update of structural data, we aim at testing these hypotheses on the qualitative impacts of the Third Sector in terms of capital building (e. g., social networks, cultural values or political participation) and their direct link to social innovation. We set out to investigate organizations with a special emphasis on volunteering at the micro level, which serves as a bond from and into society. The analysis will include a screening of framework policy conditions and discourses (citizens/media) on the roles and functions of the sector. This strategy will be executed in case studies against major social innovation trends of the last years.The fields we aim to study across 9 countries are: (1) arts & culture; (2) social services & health; (3) environmental sustainability & consumer protection in finance; (4) work integration & community development; all of which are of vital importance face to current societal challenges.By doing so we will not only redefine perspectives on the sector to stress its main impact as driver of social innovation, but also relate to recent EU research (SELUSI, TEPSIE, INNOSERV, WILCO or CINEFOGO) to lift the investigation of social innovation to systemic level highlighting comprehensive innovation ecosystems. Fields of science social sciencessociologygovernancepublic serviceshumanitiesartssocial scienceseconomics and businessbusiness and managementemployment Programme(s) FP7-SSH - Specific Programme "Cooperation": Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities Topic(s) SSH.2013.3.2-3 - The impact of the third sector on socio-economic development in Europe Call for proposal FP7-SSH-2013-2 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme CP-FP - Small or medium-scale focused research project Coordinator RUPRECHT-KARLS-UNIVERSITAET HEIDELBERG EU contribution € 515 456,00 Address SEMINARSTRASSE 2 69117 Heidelberg Germany See on map Region Baden-Württemberg Karlsruhe Heidelberg, Stadtkreis Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Administrative Contact Georg Mildenberger (Dr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data Participants (10) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all STICHTING VU Netherlands EU contribution € 220 670,00 Address DE BOELELAAN 1105 1081 HV Amsterdam See on map Region West-Nederland Noord-Holland Groot-Amsterdam Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Administrative Contact René Bekkers (Prof.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL SCIENCE United Kingdom EU contribution € 284 575,00 Address Houghton Street 1 WC2A 2AE London See on map Region London Inner London — West Westminster Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Administrative Contact Benjamin Nevius (Mr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data UNIVERSITA COMMERCIALE LUIGI BOCCONI Italy EU contribution € 198 480,00 Address VIA SARFATTI 25 20136 Milano See on map Region Nord-Ovest Lombardia Milano Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Administrative Contact Luigi Pellegrino (Mr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data COPENHAGEN BUSINESS SCHOOL Denmark EU contribution € 330 241,00 Address SOLBJERG PLADS 3 2000 Frederiksberg See on map Region Danmark Hovedstaden Byen København Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Administrative Contact Lise Damsgaard Jørgensen (Ms.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data ASSOCIATION GROUPE ESSEC France EU contribution € 157 950,00 Address AVENUE BERNARD HIRSCH 95021 Cergy Pontoise Cedex See on map Region Ile-de-France Ile-de-France Val-d’Oise Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Administrative Contact Kévin André (Dr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data Masarykova univerzita Czechia EU contribution € 211 588,80 Address Zerotinovo namesti 9 601 77 Brno See on map Region Česko Jihovýchod Jihomoravský kraj Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Administrative Contact David Poc (Mr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data UNIVERSIDADE DA CORUNA Spain EU contribution € 169 020,00 Address CALLE DE LA MAESTRANZA 9 15001 La Coruna See on map Region Noroeste Galicia A Coruña Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Administrative Contact Marta Rey Garcia (Dr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data MINISTERIE VAN VOLKSGEZONDHEID, WELZIJN EN SPORT Netherlands EU contribution € 248 970,00 Address PARNASSUSPLEIN 5 2500 EJ Den Haag See on map Region West-Nederland Zuid-Holland Agglomeratie ’s-Gravenhage Activity type Public bodies (excluding Research Organisations and Secondary or Higher Education Establishments) Administrative Contact Paul Dekker (Prof.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Total cost No data STIFTELSEN STOCKHOLM SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS (SSE) INSTITUTE FOR RESEARCH Sweden EU contribution € 130 887,00 Address PO BOX 6501 113 83 Stockholm See on map Region Östra Sverige Stockholm Stockholms län Activity type Research Organisations Administrative Contact Filip Wijkström (Prof.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data UNIVERSIDAD DE OVIEDO Spain EU contribution € 28 200,00 Address CALLE SAN FRANCISCO 3 33003 OVIEDO See on map Region Noroeste Principado de Asturias Asturias Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Administrative Contact María Paz Suárez Rendueles (Dr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data