History
Over 30 years of history
In 1992, on the initiative of Professor Jacques Defourny, the Centre for Social Economy was set up at the University of Liège. His intuition was clear:
‘Because it develops responses to major societal challenges based on innovative economic models, the social economy has the potential to transform society on a large scale’.
Prof. Jacques Defourny, pioneer and founder.
During this period of creation, the Centre for Social Economy carried out research (conceptual, statistical, legal) aimed at accrediting the existence of the social economy in Belgium. The Centre for Social Economy was soon supported by strategic public and private partners through the creation of university chairs, and began to carry out its research and teaching missions.
In the mid-1990s, the Centre for Social Economy gained greater international recognition thanks to the emergence of the EMES network, of which it was one of the co-founders and for which it hosted the coordination team for several years.
What is EMES?
It's an international scientific network that brings together 14 research centres and builds knowledge on social enterprise, the social economy and social entrepreneurship.
Key dates
2010: Launch of the 1st Master's programme mainly dedicated to the management of social enterprises in Belgium. This programme is now called ‘Management of Social Enterprises and Transition’ and is one of the options offered to students of the Master in Management Sciences at HEC Liège.
2012 – 2017: Steering of an inter-university hub (PAI) on social enterprise entitled "If not for profit, for what? And how?"
2013 – 2019: Coordination of the International Comparative Social Enterprise Models (ICSEM) Project involving over 200 researchers from 50 countries, which aims to identify, analyse and compare social enterprise models around the world.
2016 – 2020: Scientific co-ordination of the VISES project, a research-action project bringing together 21 partners to co-construct, test and disseminate a social impact assessment system validated by social economy enterprises.
2000: Cera Chair in Cooperative and Social Entrepreneurship.
2010: SRIW-Sowecsom Chair in Management of the Social Economy.
2012: Baillet Latour Chair in Philanthropy and Social Investment.
2013: Academy of Social Entrepreneurs - supported by CBC.
2018 – 2022: Coordination of the interdisciplinary DISEIN-FOOD project (ARC) to support the development of short food circuits by studying the mechanisms that enable local initiatives to be scaled up.
2019: Launch of a specialised master's degree in social economics (coordinated by FOPES, UCLouvain).
2019: Chairs in Social Economy, supported by the Walloon Region.
2020: Chair in Prosperity and Post-Growth (in partnership with ICHEC), supported by the Tero Fund and Etopia.
2020: Design and coordination of escap, a programme for the co-construction and transfer of knowledge between scientific research players and the Walloon social economy ecosystem (modelled on Quebec's TIESS).
2021: Piedboeuf Chair in Extra-Financial Performance of SMEs.
2021: Coordination of the feasibility study for an incubator dedicated to the social economy in the Walloon Region (IES!).
2021: Inauguration of the Inter-University Certificate in Management of Social Economy Enterprises, a programme coordinated by the Center for Social Economy and supported by the four chairs in social economy (ULiège, UCLouvain, UMons, ULB).
Download the complete history of the first 30 years of the Centre for Social Economy (in French)
The Centre for Social Economy today
Since 2020, the Centre for Social Economy has been directed by Professor Sybille Mertens.
The Centre for Social Economy is a research centre of HEC Liège, the business school of the University of Liège, within which it runs the “Social Enterprise and Collective Action for Transition” centre of excellence.
The Centre for Social Economy currently has 3 academic staff and around fifteen researchers or project managers. In 30 years, more than 70 people have worked on the Centre's various missions.
The aim remains to think about the economy differently, while exploring new questions such as:
- Extrafinancial performance and robustness of companies
- Social enterprise business models
- Social economy and just transition of the economic system
- Social economy and market moralisation
- Social economy and post-growth paradigms
- Social economy and democratic issues
- Social economy and fundamental rights
- Social economy and digitalisation
