Designing an International Master in Social Enterprise and Social Economy

ended

The “Designing an International Master in Social Enterprise and Social Economy” (DIMSE) partnership will explore the feasibility of offering a unique joint Master programme on the social economy and social enterprise. Social enterprises refers to the variety of initiatives in many different sectors of activity—work integration, social finance, short supply chains, recycling, personal services, collaborative economy, culture, and many others—whereby citizens, private sector actors, and public officials are carrying out new opportunities to promote societal goals. These initiatives open up new activities that create jobs; inspire trust among citizens and public authorities through a value-based economy and contribute to the institutional plurality of our economic systems, opening the door to citizen involvement, participation, and empowerment. The social economy refers to the wider sphere where these social enterprises and other traditional legal forms (cooperatives, associations, mutual, foundations) emerge and thrive. DIMSE will explore the feasibility of offering a unique programme through a partnership that will address three highly relevant objectives as described in the Erasmus Mundus Programme Guide: the inclusion of countries and institutions with a low representation in the 2014-2020 period as well the incorporation of under-represented thematic area in the Erasmus Mundus programme offer. DIMSE will draw from the experience accumulated in the framework of the EMES International Research Network, providing a solid basis to explore the feasibility of a Joint Master nurtured by high-quality and recent research that innovates the training offering of the participating universities and increases the international attractiveness of such a programme.