Der Zukunftskongress der Sozialwirtschaft

In April 2017 and focusing on the idea of organising our network-based society in a socially responsible manner in the future, the tenth Kongress der Sozialwirtschaft (Congress on Social Economics) convened in Magdeburg to discuss dominant trends in society, such as demography, digitalisation, and austerity and sustainability and their impact on how social enterprises are run.
The presentations, workshops and debates held at the congress focused on the question of what kind of future we want, during which suggestions were made as to the ways in which our future could be actively organised and how they could be implemented in a business context. The main challenge social enterprises face is being able to look beyond their conventional parameters and rethink their approaches. In more concrete terms, this means designing a concept for the future and using it strategically rather than simply projecting and developing the current status quo.
Among other subjects, the congress dealt with digitalisation in the field of social work, highlighted future influences on the organisation of social environments, considered social enterprises’ ability to innovate, and enquired about the transparency of their impact and the future of their non-profit status. It provided young social entrepreneurs with a forum to engage in debate with representatives of traditional social economics, and allowed innovative approaches and projects to be introduced. All the papers presented at the congress are documented in this volume.