Social innovation and social economy in Greece are relatively new concepts mainly associated to what is known as ‘Solidarity Economy.’
While in other European countries discussions related to social innovation have taken place for almost 30 years now, in Greece, organised forms of social ventures are apparent for only about 10 years, though in an experimental stage. It was especially due to the economic crisis that heavily hit Greece that has led to social innovation becoming a necessity.
In September 2011, a law for Social Economy and Social Entrepreneurship was passed by the parliament and the distinct legal form of Co-operative Social Enterprises was created. As of January 2015 over 700 Social Cooperative Enterprises have been established. The Social Economy is not the only channel; the Orthodox Church also stands as a significant actor of social innovation in Greece.
Social innovation is time and context specific. That means it can mean different things in different context. What might not seem innovative in one country, may be ground breaking in another. The political and cultural background is important to understand. There are also a wide variety of organisations involved in this field, each have different perspectives. So, the purpose of this page is to demonstrate a variety of views on what social innovation means to different kinds of organisations in Greece.