Social Services Transformation – BENEFITS Project
Building Economic, Needs-based and Environmental Evaluation Frameworks for Inclusive Transformation of Social Services in Europe
In recent years, the European Union has faced numerous challenges, including the conflict in Ukraine and the COVID-19 pandemic, which have significantly impacted economies, public infrastructures, and social systems. These crises have put pressure on social services, energy markets, and livelihoods, revealing the crucial role of public and private service provisions. Although significant investments have been made in these sectors, traditional methods of assessing their effects are limited to monetary costs and do not consider the broader social benefits they provide. The EU-funded BENEFITS project aims to develop a more comprehensive understanding of how social services contribute to economic growth and social welfare, particularly by examining their short-term and long-term social, economic, and environmental implications.
Towards a Holistic Assessment of Social Services
To realize its vision, BENEFITS will develop a Holistic Appraisal Framework to assess the added value of social services. This framework comprises innovative research, technology, and experimental solutions that leverage active citizen engagement to provide well-founded evidence on the social and economic returns. BENEFITS …
- sets up a research and engagement plan in multiple countries to
- identity, measure, and visualize the social, economic, and environmental value-added of social services as well as the
- enabling, inhibiting, and mitigating factors that will allow for the scale-up of the positive effects of these services while
- ensuring a prosperous, inclusive, and just transition that works for all.
Supporting Policymakers, Empowering Citizens
BENEFITS will consolidate these findings by setting up a Social Services Policy Observatory. It will document, assess, evaluate, and co-design policies across multilevel governance in the EU.
The Conference on the Future of Europe (COFE) highlighted the critical need for creating equal conditions and rights across various sectors to eliminate discrimination based on age, residency, nationality, gender, religion, or political preferences. Therefore, BENEFITS will also organize citizen’s assemblies, integrating participants from all backgrounds to deliberate on proposed policies.
The Visualisation Platform of BENEFITS, co-developed by webLyzard technology, will collect and visualize content from various sources (i.e., social media, news outlets, and the Web) on issues related to the provision of social services, welfare and prosperity, providing citizens, stakeholders and policymakers the necessary information to promote change. The content will be automatically enriched with metadata and made available through a visual analytics dashboard and the recommendations of the Storypact editor.
Through the data and insights collected, BENEFITS will build a Policy Evaluation Toolkit to inform policymaking with co-designed recommendations. The final aim is to promote social services’ uptake and scale up their value.
BENEFITS Project Overview
Project Start: 01 Jan 2025; Coordinator: Kentro Merimnas Oikogeneias Kai Paidiou (KMOP); Project Partners: webLyzard technology, University College London (UCL), Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB), Headway – Symvouloi – Oikonomologoi Anonymi Etairia, Ethos Lab – Centre for Governance & Sustainability Studies, European Association of Service Providers for Persons With Disabilities (EASPD), Oxfam Italia, Ayuntamiento de Zaragoza, Support Group Network.
BENEFITS has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme (HORIZON) under grant agreement No. 101179032.
