Public Policy Trends and Instruments Supporting the Social Economy: International Experiences

This paper highlights public policy trends and instruments from around the world that use the Social Economy as a framework to enhance socio-economic development and environmental sustainability.

It aims to capture information on ways governments are creating new policies and programs that strengthen the Social Economy in response to challenges such as: poverty, social exclusion,income inequality, urban decline, unemployment, environmental and ecological degradation, and community sustainability. The paper is structured into categories of policy typologies including:

territorial development, sectoral, disadvantaged populations, and tools for development. The policy scan also includes how public policies are advancing the socio-economic development of Indigenous communities. The second of a three part series for the public policy program, this paper is prepared for the Canadian Social Economy Hub (CSEHub), a five-year community-university research alliance on the Social Economy funded by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council(SSHRC). The findings of this paper point to examples of policy and program instruments used by governments in various jurisdictions internationally that may be relevant to achieving similar socioeconomic development outcomes in the Canadian environment.