TSI: The Contribution of the Third Sector to Europe’s Socio-economic Development

The project TSI - Third Sector Impact examines contributions of the third sector to socio-economic development. It is funded by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme for Research and runs from January 2014 to January 2017. Bernard Enjolras (Institutt for samfunnsforskning), Ruth Simsa (Institut für Soziologie) is responsible for the Austrian part. The aim of the project is, on the one hand, to collect and present the contributions of the third sector to economic development, innovation, participation, social conditions, etc.. The basis for this is the conceptualisation of the sector and its inventory - in the 15 participating countries, size, composition, structure and sources of funding are surveyed and impact indicators are developed and tested. On the other hand, the identification of internal and external barriers that limit the impact of the sector is also important. The aim is to make recommendations to the European Commission for the promotion of the third sector.