Social Innovation (ESF+ 2021–2027)
Supports socially innovative pilot and model projects in Bavaria that serve the development and testing of innovative, better, and more efficient solutions, services, organizational forms, and cooperation models to meet inadequately addressed social needs.
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Grant criteria
Funding objective
The aim of the funding is to support social innovations that develop new approaches and solutions in the areas of work, education, health, and inclusion. This includes improving access to high-quality education, promoting the employment participation of women, and actively including disadvantaged groups by developing, testing, and, if successful, scaling innovative models and pilot projects in Bavaria.
Eligible expenses
- Personnel costs
- Material costs
- Travel expenses
Non-eligible expenses
- Expenditures before the start of the approval period
- Value-added tax (for recipients entitled to input tax deduction)
- General flat rates
- Discounts
- In-kind contributions
Eligible to apply
- Companies
- Non-profit Organizations
Funding requirements
- Legal entities under private and public law with registered office and place of business in Germany
- Implementation of the project in Bavaria
- Fulfillment of the project selection criteria of the ESF+ program
- Consent to participate in monitoring and evaluation
Documents required for application
- Project proposal
- Complete application via ESF Bavaria 2021
- Job description of the deployed personnel
- Consent declarations of the participants
Evaluation criteria
- Innovative content
- Feasibility
- Implementation efficiency
- Scalability
- Achievement of project objectives
- Public impact
Description
The funding program Social Innovation (ESF+ 2021–2027) of the Free State of Bavaria supports socially innovative pilot and model projects that develop novel, more effective, and efficient solutions for previously insufficiently addressed social needs. The program is aimed at legal entities under private and public law as well as social partners, social enterprises, and organizations from the civil society sector with headquarters and operational sites in Bavaria. The funded projects focus on the areas of work, education and training, health, and social integration, with the goal of improving equal access to high-quality education, promoting women's participation in the workforce, and actively involving disadvantaged groups. Innovative approaches in organization, service offerings, and cooperation are supported, which accompany social change and open up new perspectives in social policy.
Within the funding program, specific pilot and model projects are subsidized as non-repayable grants. The funding covers personnel and material expenses, travel costs, as well as other eligible expenditures, with the project duration generally being 24 months. Thanks to the financing capacities of the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), it is possible to implement projects that go beyond mere modeling to also enable the scalability and transferability of new concepts on a larger scale. The selection criteria include, in addition to the degree of innovation, feasibility, implementation efficiency, public impact, and the potential for sustainable adoption of the developed solutions by other actors.
Thus, the funding offers a strategic opportunity to test and establish forward-looking social policy measures. The Bavarian State Ministry for Family, Labour and Social Affairs, as the responsible funding authority, plays a central role by carefully managing project selection and evaluation together with recognized experts and partners. Through continuous monitoring and evaluation measures, the achieved results are documented, forming the basis for transferring successful approaches to other regions and policy areas. Overall, the program significantly contributes to paving innovative paths for strengthening social participation and professional integration in Bavaria.
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