The goals pursued by the Cutting-Edge HUB Economy are as follows:

1. To consolidate the knowledge of the social economy, which is currently dispersed across multiple publications, into a single network. This network will include universities, sector organisations, entities, public administrations, and national and international bodies. The Social Economy model is presented as a solution to inequality and climate change.
2. To become an international reference centre for knowledge and expertise in the sustainable development of social economy companies and organisations.
3. To become a point of social economy reference for socialisation for new generations of young people. This will enable them to learn about a different, fairer, more egalitarian and participatory way of conducting the economy. The ultimate goal is to attract talent to the social economy.

The Ministry for Labour and Social Economy, as the competent Ministry in the field and promoter of the initiative through the Strategic Project for the Recovery and Economic Transformation (PERTE, as per its Spanish acronym) of the Social and Care Economy, has promoted the creation of the Cutting-Edge HUB. This was achieved through the Secretary of State for Work and Social Economy.

The initial action taken is the signing of an Agreement, which was approved by resolution on 24 July 2023 by the General Technical Secretariat of the Ministry for Work and Social Economy. This Agreement publishes the Framework Agreement with the Spanish Social Economy Business Confederation, which defines the legal framework for collaboration in the creation of the Cutting-Edge HUB in the Social Economy..

The purpose of this framework agreement is to establish the Cutting-Edge HUB as a system that consolidates all information on the social economy. This will be achieved through the transfer and exchange of benchmark knowledge for the Social Economy in Spain, with the aim of creating a European and international impact.

This is why the Cutting-Edge HUB is seen as the epicentre of a strategic innovation system. This system includes a series of actions aimed at promoting greater development and innovation in the social economy sector through the exchange of good practices and the sharing of value propositions.

Finally, it is agreed that the Cutting Edge HUB will be endowed with funds from Investment 6 of Component 23 ‘Integral plan for the promotion of the social economy for the creation of an inclusive and sustainable economic fabric’, which contributes to Objective 349 of the Annex to the Proposal for a Council Implementing Decision [COM(2021) 322 final] and constitutes a means for its achievement.

The next significant achievement was the implementation of Royal Decree 959/2024, of 24 September, which established the direct allocation of a subsidy to the Spanish Social Economy Business Confederation (CEPES). This was part of the Integral Plan to Promote the Social Economy for the Generation of an Inclusive and Sustainable Economic Fabric, within the framework of the  Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan.

This Royal Decree’s objective is to establish the terms and conditions for the direct award of a subsidy to the Spanish Social Economy Business Confederation (CEPES). This grant’s objective is to establish a Cutting-Edge Hub, which will facilitate the transfer and exchange of knowledge, bring together research, generate synergies between actors and promote networks of action in the social economy. This will have a positive impact on the Spanish ecosystem, as well as on the European and international ecosystems.