Universities x philanthropy - SIX | Social Innovation Exchange

Universities x
philanthropy

The world faces polycrisis with climate volatility, inequality, forced displacement, technological disruption, and democratic backsliding. This demands renewed alliances across sectors and solutions that are interdisciplinary, inclusive, and locally resonant. This moment calls for a new kind of partnership: one that combines the depth and systems thinking of academia, the catalytic energy of philanthropy, and the grounded wisdom of underserved and hard-to-reach communities.

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.

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.