Infrastructure for the social economy

The development finance section identifies methods and actors that are part of the infrastructure of the social economy, and considers what the literature has to say about the factors that have enabled or hindered their growth. [...] In other words, behind each of these regional successes is a web of supports, or infrastructure, to assist the growth of the social economy, through promoting and advocating for an enabling policy environment, the development of effective financing systems, opportunities for education and training, the development of new tools for evaluation and monitoring, and building networks. [...] As stated by the Honourable Eleni Bakapanos, then Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Social Development with special emphasis on the Social Economy, “…there is ample room to increase our knowledge and build the networks and infrastructure to make the social economy an active and sustainable sector of the Canadian economy” (pg I. Government of Canada 2005). [...] Whether based on historical experiences of social economy or of present day successes, infrastructure and the ability to scale-up a web of supports is an important element to the growth and development of the social economy. [...] The purpose of this section is to identify development finance methods and organizations that are part of the infrastructure of the social economy, and consider what the literature has to say about the factors that have enabled or hindered their growth.