CBSEs in Public Service Ecosystems: Enhancing Liveability through Social Capital and Government Collaboration

Description

Social enterprises (SEs) and Community-based social enterprises (CBSEs) have been proposed as solutions that can enhance liveability and sustainability over deprived areas that suffer from decreasing public services (Olmedo et al. 2024). Because of their hybrid mission (social aims and financial sustainability), (CB)SEs blur the traditional boundaries of public, private and non-profit sectors (Doherty et al., 2014) and shape the traditional way of public service production (see Rinne-Koski & Lahdesmäki, 2023; Tuurnas et al. 2021). Governments have been suggested to enhance building of enabling ecosystems to provide SEs with adequate local resources and capacities (Perikangas et al. 2024).

In this research we uncover, what are the enabling and hindering factors for enabling ecosystems. The research also explores the role of social capital in building capacities within communities and how this, in turn, drives sustainable development of the deprived areas. We aim to reveal dynamics that show how cooperation of CBSEs and local governments in deprived areas transforms the roles of local governments in service provision and governance. The research utilises a theoretical framework built upon literature of enabling ecosystems and institutional capacity identifying what can be done to strengthen the resilience of deprived areas.

This is a multiple case analysis depicting three different CBSE ecosystems in deprived areas in The Netherlands, Finland and Japan. The data consists of interviews, and supplementary documents. By fostering cooperation between communities and governments, CBSEs strengthen the local institutional capacity (Healey et al., 1999) and provide pathways for local governments to rethink their roles in service delivery.

We contribute to panel P11 by presenting an analysis and practical suggestions for how civil society and community self-organisations can tackle complex social problems and create a more socially and environmentally sustainable world, and what role social capital plays in the relationship between civil society and governments.

References

Biggeri, M., Testi, E., & Ferrannini, A. 2018. “A framework to understand enabling ecosystems for social enterprises.” In Social Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation. Edited by Mario Biggeri. Taylor & Francis, 179-199.

Doherty, Bob & Haugh, Helen & Lyon, Fergus. (2014). Social Enterprises as Hybrid Organizations: A Review and Research Agenda. International Journal of Management Reviews. 16. 10.1111/ijmr.12028.

Healey, P., Khakee, A., Motte, A., & Needham, B. (1999). European developments in strategic spatial planning. European Planning Studies, 7(3), 339–355.

Perikangas, S., Kostilainen, H. and Kainulainen, S. (2024), "Co-production of social innovations and enabling ecosystems for social enterprises", International Journal of Public Sector Management, Vol. 37 No. 3, pp. 351-369.

Rinne-Koski, K. & Lähdesmäki, M. (2021). Kuntalaiset palveluita tuottamassa – maaseudun yhteisölähtöinen palvelutuotanto kunnan viranomaisten legitimaatio-puhunnan ristiaallokossa”, Focus Localis , Vol. 49, No 3.

Tuurnas, S., Jäppinen,T., Pekkola, E. (2021). “Searching for patterns of innovative public service delivery: Institutional design in Finnish public sector context” in Organising and governing governmental institutions : Essays in honour of Dag Ingvar Jacobsen, edited by Rómulo Pinheiro & Jarle Trondal, pp. 425-446, Fagbokforlaget Vigmostad & Bjørke, Bergen

Period	2025
Event title	IRSPM 2025, Bologna: Civic engagement and social capital in contemporary public administration: Facing the challenges of social equity and environmental sustainability
Event type	Conference
Conference number	28
Location	Bologna, ItalyShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International