Missions x
Social
Innovation

Mission-oriented policy is a strategic public policy approach that sets specific, ambitious, and time-bound goals to tackle major societal challenges. It focuses on systemic transformation by coordinating efforts across ministries and sectors to drive innovation, investment, and collaboration towards economic, social, and environmental change. Unlike traditional policies, it targets clear missions that require broad, cross-sector cooperation and transformative solutions.

Key questions

  • What is the potential of social innovations in mission-driven policy agendas?
  • How can different actors – SI funders, investors, social innovators and R&I policymakers – at European, national and local level collaborate to the missions?
  • What is the potential of social innovations in mission-driven policy agendas?

Our work in missions

Social Innovation
Mission Facility

The EU has launched five major missions seeking to mobilise diverse public and private actors and citizens to deliver concrete, measurable solutions by 2030. These missions reflect the EU’s ambition to build a greener, healthier, more inclusive and resilient society.

More about the project

While the EU Missions are a positive, large-scale initiative with high initial interest and a strong normative framework, it faces a significant gap between ambition and implementation.

Social innovation has a vital role to play in achieving the EU Missions objectives. Social Innovation Mission Facility is a Horizon Europe project which aims to unlock the potential of social innovations into mission-oriented policy and practice. The project will engage and mobilise key actors in the EU Missions, including funders, investors, social innovators and R&I policy makers.

SIX’s role in the project is to create a SI Funding and Investor’s Network to advise and engage private and public funding authorities in supporting financing and scaling powerful SIs for the EU Missions’ purposes and by expanding the range of financial instruments with the help of a SI Investment Lab.

Partners

While the EU Missions are a positive, large-scale initiative with high initial interest and a strong normative framework, it faces a significant gap between ambition and implementation.

Launch of the SI Mission Facility

SI Mission Facility launched on 3-4 July 2025, in Vienna.

Find out More

From related readings

Explore further readings from our friends and partners.

Mission Innovation and Moonshot Philanthropy in the UK: Becoming The Experimenting Society 

This report summary is a snapshot-in-time of the start-up of one country’s experiment in mission innovation, mission government and moonshot philanthropy. Hopefully there are takeaways from the UK’s experience that could inform Canada’s approach for adopting intentional societal innovation more successfully and systematically. The report was commissioned by Prof. Sandra Lapointe.  In July 2024 the … Mission Innovation and Moonshot Philanthropy in the UK: Becoming The Experimenting Society 

Launch of the Social Innovation Mission Facility for EU Missions in Vienna

On 3-4 July, 2025, partners from Austria, Germany, Portugal, Netherlands, UK gathered in Vienna for launch of the Social Innovation Mission Facility.