Social economy, the way to become development infrastructure
The National Social Economy Plan is an opportunity for the country, as long as it is not reduced to an administrative reconnaissance exercise
Key points
'Real' is social. There is no economy without relationships, no public value without community. This is the principle that should guide the National Plan for the Social Economy, launched by Mef Undersecretary Lucia Albano and in consultation until 12 November 2025: a crucial opportunity to redefine the foundations of our development model.
For the first time, Italy formally recognises the role of an economy that does not measure its impact only in terms of GDP, but in its ability to generate cohesion, trust and inclusion. But the risk is that everything will be reduced to an administrative reconnaissance exercise, to a 'compliance' of social economy actors, instead of an industrial policy for integral sustainability.
To understand how urgent this change of perspective is, one only has to look at one number: in 2014 there were 4.1 million people in absolute poverty in Italy; today there are 5.7 million. In ten years, while GDP has grown - albeit at a modest rate - poverty has increased. A contradiction that forces an uncomfortable question: is it inefficiency of the system or is it the system itself that needs to be rethought? The answer is not technical, but cultural.
A different way of producing value
L’attuale modello economico produce ricchezza senza riuscire più a redistribuirla: cresce, ma non rigenera. È per questo che l’economia sociale non nasce per “riparare” i danni di Stato e mercato, ma per costruire un modo diverso di produrre valore, capace di rafforzare sia il ruolo dello Stato sia quello del mercato, restituendo alle comunità una funzione generativa e non residuale. Oggi in Italia l’economia sociale rappresenta quasi il 9% del Pil, con circa 428mila organizzazioni, 1,9 milioni di occupati (Atlante dell’Economia Sociale di Aiccon) e oltre 5,5 milioni di volontari. È il tessuto che tiene insieme economie locali, servizi pubblici e capitale umano. È un’infrastruttura invisibile ma indispensabile: senza di essa il Paese perderebbe resilienza, coesione e capacità di innovare. L’economia sociale non è un settore, ma un paradigma produttivo. Non redistribuisce soltanto, ma crea. Amplia la torta e lo fa in modo più equo.
Social economy, the hour of integration
For this reason, the Plan must mark a change of pace and recognise this economy as the third pillar - together with the public and private sectors - of the real economy. The Plan, in its strategic lines, represents a turning point: it defines perimeters, identifies dedicated financial instruments, incentivises training and skills building, and promotes the measurement of social impact. But for it to become a true industrial policy, it must be governed by a principle: integration. The social economy must enter into production chains, territorial strategies, green and digital transition plans, and public investment programmes. Not as an 'ethical addendum', but as a development infrastructure.
