On 24 February, Bilbao hosted the 2nd Social Impact Gathering of Eraldatu, driven, among others, by Fundación Aranzabal. The event brought together companies, investors, the third sector, universities and public administrations to reflect on a question that is no longer peripheral, but structural: how to make impact a genuine lever of economic and social transformation (eraldatu).
The result was an honest, deep and, at times, uncomfortable conversation. Because talking about impact today means talking about coherence, rigorous measurement, patient capital and also about limits.
What is (and what is not) impact?
One of the first panels addressed an essential question: what distinguishes impact from other approaches such as ESG?
For María Ángeles León, President of OVF, impact begins with a clear and vocational definition: ‘wanting to do something good for people or for the planet’. Intentionality is the starting point. It is not just about improving internal processes or mitigating negative externalities, but about detecting an unresolved challenge in the environment and making it the central purpose of the business model.
Compared to the ESG approach, which focuses on how a company manages its own risks and performance, impact demands additionality: if the initiative did not exist, that positive result would not occur. That is the structural difference.
The risk of cosmetic impact was also discussed: although greenwashing persists, social and market pressure is raising the bar. Coherence is often a privilege, but also a growing requirement.
Measuring to manage (and to legitimise)
Measurement was one of the central axes of the event. Not as a regulatory compliance exercise, but as a strategic tool. It was stressed that measurement must be relevant both to the business and to the impact, and must connect with the ‘why’ — with the indicators that allow verification of whether the outcome contributes to the ultimate objective.
The theory of change emerged as a fundamental tool, especially for the necessary construction of models in dialogue with stakeholders. Measuring is not just about quantifying: it is about aligning expectations, generating legitimacy, facilitating decision-making and legitimising activity in terms of impact generated and social value contributed.
In this context, Eraldatzen was presented — the proprietary methodology driven within the Eraldatu framework and with support from the Directorate of Social Innovation and Agenda 2030 of the Basque Government — for the development of impact actions in companies. Eraldatzen conceives impact as an active and measurable process oriented towards generating positive socio-environmental transformations. It proposes applying initiatives from intentionality, additionality and measurement through concrete indicators, facilitating organisations to integrate impact into their ordinary activity. The tool will be launched in the coming weeks.
Impact ‘the basque way’: collaboration and territory
The gathering highlighted the Basque ecosystem as an advanced laboratory of impact. The Basque Country has differentiating characteristics that explain this position: a strong rootedness in the social economy and cooperativism, a solid and committed business and industrial fabric, sustained institutional backing and a culture of public-private collaboration perhaps less common in other territories.
In this context, impact is not perceived as an ‘imported’ trend or fashion, but as a natural evolution of a way of doing business linked to the community. The tradition of shared projects and collective construction facilitates the integration of purpose, measurement and business strategy into a single conversation.
During the event, a possible ‘Basque-style impact’ was alluded to: a combination of global ambition and territorial identity. Ambition to attract capital, innovate in financial instruments and engage with Europe; identity to maintain the focus on employment, social cohesion and territorial development.
More than a label, this is a way of understanding the economy: with solid roots, long-term vision and the will to generate shared value.
Democratising impact: languages and alliances
The afternoon panel, which exceeded expectations in attendance, was focused on the social economy and the third sector. One of the most important messages was that impact needs a shared language and ‘simultaneous translators’ between worlds: business, investment, cooperation, public administration, social entrepreneurship.
But it also needs to accept the existence of different approaches and integrate or combine them: market approaches, philanthropic capital… Not all social problems need to be profitable. Making profitability an excluding criterion can generate new forms of exclusion. However, harnessing diverse sources of capital can broaden the reach of solutions.
The 2nd Social Impact Gathering of Eraldatu made it clear that the debate has matured. The question is no longer whether impact is a trend, but how to manage it with rigour, ambition and collaboration.
Events such as this reinforce our conviction that impact is not a niche, but a necessary evolution of the economic system. Territories like the Basque Country are demonstrating, once again, that when there is a shared vision and genuine collaboration among actors, it is possible to accelerate that transformation.
For this reason, SpainNAB is delighted to closely accompany processes like Eraldatu, which are contributing to consolidating a more solid, ambitious and connected impact ecosystem.
