On 30 September, findings from the DICES project’s mapping of the Lithuanian social economy were presented to the working group preparing Lithuania’s social economy strategy. The group brings together representatives of the ministries involved and relevant organisations from across the sector.
Ieva Žebrytė, Associate Professor at Vilnius University and DICES national expert for Lithuania, presented the Lithuania country report she co-wrote for the DICES deliverable “Conceptual framework and mapping of the social economy in Europe”. Anne Guisset, Senior Researcher at KU Leuven, opened the session with an introduction to DICES and its mapping of the social economy across eight European countries.
The Lithuanian country report describes a small sector that yet provides essential services. Social economy organisations account for about 2.2% of national employment, compared with 6–8% in countries with more developed social economies. Most of their work is in care, education, recreation and inclusion services. Lithuania has no legal definition of the social economy, no national strategy and no body coordinating policy across the four ministries responsible for it.
The report identifies four gaps that hold the sector back:
- Data is unreliable: estimates of the number of social economy entities range from 7,474 to more than 17,000, and of people employed from 12,000 to more than 70,000.
- Research on the social economy is underdeveloped, and innovation labs remain temporary (project-based).
- Governance is rarely participatory, as users seldom sit on boards and no law requires organisations to involve users or employees in decisions.
- Business models rely on short-term EU project funding and other public funds, while co-financing rules favour larger urban organisations.
Public support for action is broad, arguably because Lithuanian equate social economy with social services provided by the third sector. According to the 2025 Eurobarometer, 89% of Lithuanians want public strategies and legislation for social economy organisations, and 86% support direct public funding for them.
The country report sets out six recommendations. It calls for a national strategy that treats the social economy as a distinct policy field, and a coordinating interministerial national body. It proposes new legal forms for social cooperatives, to be piloted in rural territories, and rules for participation in social business accreditation. It also recommends multi-annual funding and fiscal incentives linked to impact and governance quality. Finally, it suggests reforming public procurement for care contracts, along with recognising unpaid care work.
At the end of the presentation, working group members called for a clear definition of social economy organisations in Lithuania and a shared vision for the sector, echoing the report’s finding that the country has neither a legal definition nor a national strategy for the social economy. Their feedback will be reflected in the final version of the report. You can find a first summary of the larger study at this link.