Innovative ways to involve private investments to finance services of social interest

Alpine Space is facing challenges due to aging population, youth unemployment rates and increasing strains on budgets, so communities need to innovate their social sector by delivering better health and social outcomes. However, those cannot be generated if public money and traditional payment mechanisms, such as “fee for services”, are the only option available. The mobilization of private capital in order to finance effective interventions is a forward-looking approach, and spreading all over Europe. The aim of AlpSib project is to accelerate these new investment models in the Alpine Space, called Social Impact Investments (SIIs) and Social Impact Bonds (SIBs), through the development of policies in the field. SIIs and SIBs use private capital to finance interventions that generate measurable social impact, return on investments and value for the public purse. SIIs and SIBs are not new in the Area, but Alpine Space needs to be more coordinated and interactive in co-designing innovative solutions and partnership to address NEETs and Senior needs. Moreover, a common Alpine Space methodology for SII policies will guide policy makers in setting priorities, identifying targets and outcomes, commissioning interventions, measuring results and managing public-private investments in these fields. This will lead to a higher number of impact-oriented procurements and investments in the Alpine area and, in the long term, to a reduction of NEET and health care costs. These changes will be brought about by a transnational and cross-sectoral network of PPs and observers, working together like a Hub. Project intertwined activities are: designing of new solutions for NEETs and seniors through transnational co-creative labs, and developing, through advisory boards of policy makers, a joint approach to SII policies that will facilitate implementation of such solutions. Main outputs of the project are the AlpSib Forum, the AlpSib web platform and SII policies common methodology.