Programme

Join us for this spotlight session: a new format we are introducing at the conference this year for the first time! Spotlight sessions offer 45 minutes of deeper exploration into an innovative research or practice-based case studies. Each session begins with a focused presentation, followed by an interactive audience-driven discussion that dives into questions and details around the featured work. These are in-person only sessions to ensure a high level of engagement with participants.

Participants should come ready with their questions as we delve into our case study exploring the two largest outcomes funds from the UK: the Life Chances Fund and the Commissioning Better Outcomes Fund.

Join us for this spotlight session: a new format we are introducing at the conference this year for the first time! Spotlight sessions offer 45 minutes of deeper exploration into an innovative research or practice-based case studies. Each session begins with a focused presentation, followed by an interactive audience-driven discussion that dives into questions and details around the featured work. These are in-person only sessions to ensure a high level of engagement with participants.

Participants should come ready with their questions as we delve into our case study from Latin America on nurturing ecosystems for outcomes-based partnerships.

Join us for this spotlight session: a new format we are introducing at the conference this year for the first time! Spotlight sessions offer 45 minutes of deeper exploration into an innovative research or practice-based case studies. Each session begins with a focused presentation, followed by an interactive audience-driven discussion that dives into questions and details around the featured work. These are in-person only sessions to ensure a high level of engagement with participants.

Participants should come ready with their questions as we delve into our case study from Sweden: establishing a Swedish outcome lab - national support function and outcomes financing.

Join us for this spotlight session: a new format we are introducing at the conference this year for the first time! Spotlight sessions offer 45 minutes of deeper exploration into an innovative research or practice-based case studies. Each session begins with a focused presentation, followed by an interactive audience-driven discussion that dives into questions and details around the featured work. These are in-person only sessions to ensure a high level of engagement with participants.

Participants should come ready with their questions as we delve into our case study on a framework for capturing transaction costs, drawing insights from the Mental Health and Employment Partnership SOPs.

Join us for this spotlight session: a new format we are introducing at the conference this year for the first time! Spotlight sessions offer 45 minutes of deeper exploration into an innovative research or practice-based case studies. Each session begins with a focused presentation, followed by an interactive audience-driven discussion that dives into questions and details around the featured work. These are in-person only sessions to ensure a high level of engagement with participants.

Participants should come ready with their questions as we delve into our case study from India on strengthening grassroots collective action for education.

Join us for this spotlight session: a new format we are introducing at the conference this year for the first time! Spotlight sessions offer 45 minutes of deeper exploration into an innovative research or practice-based case studies. Each session begins with a focused presentation, followed by an interactive audience-driven discussion that dives into questions and details around the featured work. These are in-person only sessions to ensure a high level of engagement with participants.

Participants should come ready with their questions as we delve into our case study on Camden’s (London) dual pilots for pregnancy and youth employment.

Join us for this spotlight session: a new format we are introducing at the conference this year for the first time! Spotlight sessions offer 45 minutes of deeper exploration into an innovative research or practice-based case studies. Each session begins with a focused presentation, followed by an interactive audience-driven discussion that dives into questions and details around the featured work. These are in-person only sessions to ensure a high level of engagement with participants.

Participants should come ready with their questions as we delve into our case study on leveraging technology and machine learning for better impact measurement, taking lessons from an impact bond helping refugees and their host communities in Jordan and Lebanon.

As impact investing continues to gain global traction, and aligning private capital with public good continues to grow, social outcomes contracts are gaining renewed attention as a way to finance measurable impact. But what draws investors to this model? What makes it work in practice? And what needs to shift to unlock greater investment at scale?

This interactive workshop, hosted in partnership with Better Society Capital, brings together investor perspectives from both the UK and Sweden to explore the fundamentals of investing in social outcomes. Together, in this dynamic workshop, we’ll examine how social outcomes finance is evolving, what makes it attractive to mission-driven investors, and how to strengthen the ecosystem across borders.

The workshop is especially ideal for private sector actors, investors, philanthropies, and foundations – from those new to outcomes-based commissioning all the way to seasoned practitioners with insights to share.

At SOC24, participants helped us take the first step: identifying what gets in the way of contracting for complex public services - and what might make it better. Building on those early insights, we convened a series of follow-on workshops with commissioners, lawyers, and practitioners to co-develop a prototype formal-relational contract model for public services.

Now, at SOC25, we’re coming full circle. This workshop will introduce the draft model, invite feedback, and road-test its core components. Together, we’ll explore how this approach might translate to other sectors and service areas, laying the groundwork for broader application and impact.

Achieving impact at scale has long been the holy grail for those leading outcomes-focused partnerships. While the challenges are well-documented, recent practice suggests progress is being made partnerships are increasingly designed with scale and sustainability built in from the start, alongside a greater recognition that pathways to impact vary widely based on context.

There isn’t a single blueprint. Some approaches focus on expanding and mainstreaming these models, while others involve adoption of innovative service delivery models at the national level, new ways of working within local ecosystems of service, or a different approach to how central government works with local communities to balance accountability and flexibility. Regardless of the approach, accelerating progress requires collective learning, open dialogue and honest reflection on the barriers to scale.

This interactive session will bring together experienced researchers, delivery organisations, policymakers, and technical advisors, and intermediaries to explore different pathways for impact at scale in outcomes-based partnerships. We’ll blend research and practical insights to examine the strategies that different organisations have pursued to grow their impact. The discussion will kick off with real-world examples that showcase the diversity of approaches, before inviting participants to share their experiences and collaboratively sketch roadmaps to greater impact

This interactive session explores impact measurement as a management tool within social outcome projects. Through the presentation of selected contributions, we will discuss how impact measurement can create value by facilitating mutual learning among stakeholders, enhancing governance practices, and informing the design of interventions. The session offers a critical reflection on the strategic role of evaluation in advancing social outcome projects

Back by popular demand and now officially part of the main programme, these sessions will last 90 minutes, and are designed to connect experts around a specific challenge or question that they can solve (or seek to make progress on) together. With croissants in hand, participants are invited to contribute their expertise and ideas in a relaxed, conversational setting.

Attendees should come ready to join together in this session to discuss how we can build regulatory frameworks for outcomes-focused partnerships.

Back by popular demand and now officially part of the main programme, these sessions will last 90 minutes, and are designed to connect experts around a specific challenge or question that they can solve (or seek to make progress on) together. With croissants in hand, participants are invited to contribute their expertise and ideas in a relaxed, conversational setting.

Attendees should come ready to join together in this session to discuss how we can help nurture social outcomes markets.

Back by popular demand and now officially part of the main programme, these sessions will last 90 minutes, and are designed to connect experts around a specific challenge or question that they can solve (or seek to make progress on) together. With croissants in hand, participants are invited to contribute their expertise and ideas in a relaxed, conversational setting.

Attendees should come ready to join together in this session to discuss how we can build preventative spending into budget rules and how to take more preventative approaches.

Back by popular demand and now officially part of the main programme, these sessions will last 90 minutes, and are designed to connect experts around a specific challenge or question that they can solve (or seek to make progress on) together. With croissants in hand, participants are invited to contribute their expertise and ideas in a relaxed, conversational setting.

Attendees should come ready to join together in this session to discuss how we can create a health system with a focus on outcomes.

Back by popular demand and now officially part of the main programme, these sessions will last 90 minutes, and are designed to connect experts around a specific challenge or question that they can solve (or seek to make progress on) together. With croissants in hand, participants are invited to contribute their expertise and ideas in a relaxed, conversational setting.

Attendees should come ready to join together in this session to discuss how we can help better connect the local with impact at scale.

Back by popular demand and now officially part of the main programme, these sessions will last 90 minutes, and are designed to connect experts around a specific challenge or question that they can solve (or seek to make progress on) together. With croissants in hand, participants are invited to contribute their expertise and ideas in a relaxed, conversational setting.

This session is a special one for Life Chances Fund (LCF) projects to have the opportunity to come together. Projects should come ready to join together in this session to discuss and share their key learnings from the LCF.

Back by popular demand and now officially part of the main programme, these sessions will last 90 minutes, and are designed to connect experts around a specific challenge or question that they can solve (or seek to make progress on) together. With croissants in hand, participants are invited to contribute their expertise and ideas in a relaxed, conversational setting.

This peer-learning session is particularly for those who have been involved in running an outcomes funds. Attendees should come ready to share their experiences and learn from one another.

With governments, investors, and communities grappling with how to deliver better outcomes in a time of mounting social, economic, and environmental pressure, the concept of an impact economy is no longer a fringe concept—it's fast becoming a policy and investment imperative. But amidst the buzz, there's still a need for clarity and coherence: What exactly do we mean by the impact economy? How can it be built in practice, not just in theory? And why does it matter now more than ever?

This Big Picture session brings together senior policymakers, sector leaders, and cutting-edge academics to unpack the what, how, and why of the impact economy — from mobilising private capital for public good, to embedding accountability and evidence in decision-making. Featuring senior voices from government, academia, and the frontlines of delivery, expect bold ideas, international perspectives, and a candid conversation about what it takes to shift systems towards impact at scale.

Delivering effective public services in complex environments requires collaboration across government, service providers, intermediaries, and philanthropy. Yet, traditional data systems—built to monitor performance through fixed outcomes and linear theories of change— fall short in capturing some key drivers of impact: trust, relationships, and adaptive local responses.

This panel will explore how we can reimagine data infrastructure to better support test-and-learn approaches in the design and implementation of social programs. We will discuss limitations of existing data infrastructures but also remain pragmatic to what can be done at every level of programs to generate learning from data on complex services.

This session explores how results-based financing (RBF) can be institutionalised and scaled to improve maternal health outcomes in complex, resource-constrained settings. Drawing on two rich case studies—from Zimbabwe’s national rollout of RBF in reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health, to South Africa’s innovative integration of mental health into maternal care pathways in rural Limpopo—the session provides concrete insights into designing, implementing, and sustaining outcome-based approaches. Presenters will share lessons on building local ownership, aligning funding and verification systems, and co-producing outcomes with communities. The session will conclude with a panel discussion featuring implementing partners and policy experts, reflecting on the enabling conditions and challenges for embedding RBF into national health systems.

Cuts to foreign aid budgets by major donor-countries have thrown development and humanitarian work into crisis. Organisations across the sector face a challenge: using fewer resources to meet the needs of vulnerable populations, all while global fragility remains at a record high. This session will reflect on the future of development and humanitarianism, with particular consideration of highly fragile contexts. We will draw from emerging evidence on alternative strategies and funding models to indicate how partnerships might support better social outcomes in fragile settings. Key themes include: accountability and efficient spending; the role of local organisations; translating investments into long-term sustainability of impact.

This deep dive will explore how innovative financing and strategic data use are reshaping the future of foundational learning and education. Drawing on the South African Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) outcomes fund and large-scale data-driven reforms in India's Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) mission, speakers will examine how governments and partners are building ecosystems that prioritise outcomes over inputs.

Key themes include unlocking political will for outcomes-based financing, embedding data in decision-making at all system levels, and designing scalable interventions that respond to real-world challenges.

How can employment services better support those furthest from the labour market into stable, welfare-enhancing and sustainable work? This session brings together diverse international case studies – from England, Australia, and South Africa – that challenge the conventional placement-driven systems and instead spotlight more relational, person-centred and capability-enhancing models of employment support.

Presentations will explore how local partnerships are embedding systems thinking and co-production into youth employment initiatives; how pay-for-performance and outcomes funds are fostering innovation and better coordination between government, training providers, and employers; and how flexible, personalised support models can deliver improved labour market outcomes for disadvantaged groups.

Together, these examples show how employment interventions that focus not just on rapid job placement but on wellbeing, confidence, and longer-term job sustainability can more effectively meet the complex needs of individuals. The session will also share new quantitative evidence on what works, highlighting the potential of outcomes-based funding mechanisms to deliver better results, both for service users and for improving value for money in public service delivery.