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BENEFITS Project launches to develop framework for measuring the multidimensional value of social services

The new BENEFITS project will create a holistic framework that quantifies the multidimensional benefits of social services.

On 8-9 January the BENEFITS (Building Economic, Needs-Based and Environmental evaluation Frameworks for Inclusive Transformation of Social services in Europe) project kicked-off in Athens, Greece. Funded by the European Union’s Horizon Europe Programme, the ambitious project will create a holistic framework that quantifies the multidimensional benefits of social services beyond financial metrics.

Public and private social services—including healthcare, education, childcare, employment, and housing support—play a critical role in ensuring the well-being and functioning of societies, particularly during times of crisis.  Despite significant investments in the sector, traditional methods of evaluating their impact often focus solely on monetary costs, failing to capture the broader social, economic, and environmental benefits these services provide to individuals, communities, and society as a whole.

The BENEFITS project will build on current innovative methodologies including the Reframing Welfare Index and microsimulation models to develop a Holistic Appraisal Framework to measure the social, economic and environmental value-added of social services.

A key feature of the project is promoting the active engagement of policy makers citizens, state and non-state stakeholders, civil society and local communities.  To facilitate this collaboration, the project will establish a Social Services Policy Observatory (SSPO) and a Visualisations Platform, enabling stakeholders to explore trends, compare outcomes, and co-create more effective social policies that reflect community priorities. These tools aim to improve decision-making and increase the overall impact of social services.

The project’s pilot activities will focus on working with local communities, including authorities and social services and local authorities, to co-design, co-develop, implement, and test policies. These activities will prioritise increasing access to and scaling up the uptake of social services in diverse settings, including rural areas and underserved social groups.

Bringing together an international, multidisciplinary partnership, the project is led by the Social Action and Innovation Centre (KMOP, Greece). Project partners include: University College London (UK), Headway (Greece), webLyzard technology (Austria),  Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Spain), the European Association of Service providers for Persons with Disabilities (EU),  Ayuntamiento de Zaragoza (Spain), Support Group Network (Sweden), Oxfam Italia (Italy), EthosLab PC (Greece).

EASPD will be responsible for leading the communication and dissemination of the project as well as contributing to the engagement with key stakeholders  and identification of potential organisations to participate in the pilot implementation.  

Following the kick-off meeting the partners will begin an in-depth meta-analysis of existing beyond-GDP indicators and models that evaluate social value added. This analysis will help to understand the scope, limitations and applicability  of these models in diverse contexts. The partners will also identify possible social services to participate in the pilot phase of the project.

To find out more about the BENEFITS project, visit the project webpage here.