Read the latest guidelines “How to stimulate social entrepreneurship via non-formal and informal learning methods”
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Read the latest guidelines “How to stimulate social entrepreneurship via non-formal and informal learning methods”

Although young people constitute a substantial part of citizens worldwide, they are not fully recognised in policies and strategies, as a separate group of interest. They play a crucial role in societal and economic development and are often referred to as „agents of change“. Simultaneously, the unemployment of youth is one of the greatest global challenges.

Social entrepreneurship is a way to address this problem, contributing to sustainable and inclusive job creation.

Existing forms of youth engagement in economic activities are not sufficient and often not adequate for the targeted audience. Entrepreneurship education has very formal frames and structures, and it is rarely fostering an entrepreneurial mindset and attitudes among youngsters. There is an agreement, however, on the strong impact of youth work in entrepreneurship and culture. It develops transversal skills, gives an opportunity to exercise skills in practice and increases cultural activities which influence young people’s creativity.

Youth work and non-formal, as well as informal learning, play an important role in developing young people’s creative and innovative potential, including entrepreneurial skills underlined in recent youth policy and programmes at the EU and national levels. This brings us to the question of ”How to engage young people in this process successfully?”. The youth workers play a crucial role in the educational processes by introducing different initiatives (like youth cooperative activities) to the youth and providing information and advice on how to make a decision and provide the risk assessment, be creative and understand the market’s reality. But furthermost they help to develop social skills: establishing relations, leadership skills, conflict management and others.

  1. The first chapter of the guide introduces social entrepreneurship and its importance for developing the skills and competencies of youth.
  2. The second one presents the forms of learning methods: formal, informal and non-formal, their characteristics, advantages and disadvantages.
  3. The next chapter reflects on the qualitative research carried out by the project partners and presents points of view of experts invited to participate, aiming at explaining the ways in which social entrepreneurship of youth can be stimulated.
  4. The fourth, last chapter describes the situation in the partner countries, as for approaches towards social entrepreneurship and interesting initiatives that are undertaken.

The guide “How to stimulate social entrepreneurship via nonformal and informal learning methods“ is being developed to assist youth workers (teachers, youth leaders, etc.). It identifies methods, techniques, and strategies for working with youth and promotes a holistic approach to young people’s entrepreneurial attitudes.

Download the document here: Guidelines “How to stimulate social entrepreneurship via non-formal and informal learning methods”

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Why do so few social enterprises go international?

Why do so few social enterprises go international?

Recently EUCLID posted a summary report on the scaling of social enterprises. It is quite interesting and insightful.

Here is a full link to the article.

Recent years have seen a rapid increase in the number of social enterprises across the world, introducing a broad range of innovations to different industries. Recent estimates suggest that already 21% to 26% of start-ups in Europe operate with a social, community or environmental goal as a primary organizational purpose. Many of these ventures innovate and create novel approaches to address such challenges.

However, even the best innovations can only unfold their impact potential when they are brought to scale.  In light of the many pressing challenges global society is facing and the limited availability of resources, time, and attention to solving them, scaling of the most effective and efficient solutions has been argued to be an ethical imperative. As a popular quote, attributed to former US president Bill Clinton, puts it:

“Nearly every problem has been solved by someone, somewhere. The challenge of the 21st century is to find out what works and scale it up.”

In spite of this clear need for internationalising innovative social enterprises, the vast majority of social entrepreneurs operate only on a local scale. A survey of social entrepreneurs we conducted in the global Impact Hub Network showed that only 5.7% of early-stage social entrepreneurs declared having been actively internationalising their work in the past year, and only about 17% of organisations reported attempts to scale their activities overall (locally or internationally).

Why internationalisation is a challenge for social entrepreneurs

These small numbers of internationalisation and scaling efforts among social entrepreneurs can be attributed to a number of reasons. First, there are fewer monetary incentives for growth in social entrepreneurship than in commercial entrepreneurship. Unlike for-commercial entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs often serve disadvantaged groups and address problems affecting disenfranchised groups or future generations – in these cases the need for their services does often not translate into (financial) demand. Second, in comparison with commercial enterprises, growth is not as strongly driven by investors and shareholders, who often have more space-bound interests or mandates. Similarly, founders’ motivations can be hard to scale as well, as they often stem from a sense of responsibility towards their local community and the desire to fix a problem that they experience themselves.
Social Economy mainstreamed into the ESF Plus & the ERDF
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Social Economy mainstreamed into the ESF Plus & the ERDF

Important information coming from the European Social Fund+ (ESF+) and European Regional Development Fund. Click on links to read full documents.
Social economy enterprises could play a key role in delivering on social innovation and contributing to economic and social resilience. The definition of a social economy enterprise should be in line with the definitions provided in national law and the Council conclusions of 7 December 2015 on the promotion of the social economy as a key driver of economic and social development in Europe

Article 4 (Specific objectives of the ESF): a) improving access to employment and activation measures for all jobseekers, in particular young people, especially through the implementation of the Youth Guarantee, for long-term unemployed and disadvantaged groups on the labour market, and for inactive people, as well as through the promotion of self-employment and the social economy;

 

Article 3 (Specific ERDF Objectives): enhancing the effectiveness and inclusiveness of labour markets and access to quality employment through developing social infrastructure and promoting social economy;

In order to promote social innovation and inclusive access to high-quality employment, the ERDF should support ‘social economy’ entities such as cooperatives, mutual societies, non-profit associations and social enterprises. 

This publication has been prepared within SENBS project No. 2020- 1-EE01-KA204-077999. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of the project coordinator and may not always reflect the views of the European Commission or the National Agency.

It is ok not to be a social entrepreneur

It is ok not to be a social entrepreneur

Not every NGO has to become a social enterprise in order to reach its mission.

When I came to North Macedonia for the EU-funded project on Social Entrepreneurship on the last day of August in 2020 I was pumped. I was pumped about making a change and enlighten local activists and social entrepreneurs. After all, we all want to be sustainable and strong, aren’t we?

Soon after arrival, I started to question myself. Is this really what locals need now? Imagine you are asked to break a wall with your bare head. What would you do? Imagine we as consultants are being told to tell you to hit the wall with your bare head. What would you do?

I have been meeting online and offline dozens of Macedonian NGOs. Most of them have been aware of social entrepreneurship but did no really had a pressure to become one or incentives that would make sense for them to do so. After all, if you get a grant why would you need to worry about developing your service or product, investing in the capacities of your staff, buying some production equipment (if necessary), starting to look for customers, competing with public and private companies as well as NGOs that sell the same stuff but are backed wither by governmental connections, private investments or donor’s funding. All of this sounds like a stupid idea. At the end of the day, you have to invest more into reaching your social mission and doing some impact than any other of your competitors out there. However, nearly 10 percent of the economy in the European Union belongs to the social economy. Do you think they are as stupid as you as well? Don’t you see the room for potential and action?

Finding your place in this mess may look like an impossible idea. But think long term. Imagine one day there will be no grants. What will you do? Social enterprise can give you wings.

So here comes our project. Despite 0 incentives and support from the government today, we want you to think about becoming a social enterprise tomorrow. We want to give you a helmet so that hitting the wall is less painful.

We want to provide you with the necessary skills, information, and connections that can make you better, faster, more professional, and more competitive. We want to give you nonreturnable startup capital of up to 30.000 EUR (separate grant from the EU Del) for your product development. We want to show you that there is life beyond being reliant on grants only as well.

Imagine you can make money and help destitute people every day, by providing them with work integration solutions, jobs, food, shelter on a rolling and sustainable basis. This is how we see it. Being a social entrepreneur is not easy, but it is very rewarding!

It’s up to you what will be your choice at the end of the day but getting enrolled in our training program, assistance, and grant scheme will not hurt for sure. Even if you will not use the opportunities we will still respect your choice.

After all, not everyone can be a social enterprise. But at least, you may try to become one! Will you try?

by Mindaugas Danys, Capacity Development Expert

Financing the social economy in Poland – Updated case study April 2021
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Financing the social economy in Poland – Updated case study April 2021

European Commission, together with the European Investment Bank and FI.Compas has prepared the latest version of the report presenting the financial landscape for social economy actors in Poland.

From the Fi.Compass website:

Financial instruments under ESF have long been supporting Social Economy Enterprises in Poland. This updated case study focuses on the National Fund for Social Entrepreneurship, showing its development over two programming periods, and its continued importance in providing affordable finance and soft support to the Polish social economy. Furthermore, the updated case study reports on the fast adaptation of the financial instrument in the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak, and its consequent ability to respond to changing needs.

 

Download it directly from the website: https://www.fi-compass.eu/publication/case-studies/financing-social-economy-poland 

 

This publication has been prepared within SENBS project No. 2020- 1-EE01-KA204-077999. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of the project coordinator and may not always reflect the views of the European Commission or the National Agency.

EU Study: “Making Socially Responsible Public Procurement Work: 71 Good Practice Cases” #WeBuySocialEU
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EU Study: “Making Socially Responsible Public Procurement Work: 71 Good Practice Cases” #WeBuySocialEU

Socially responsible public procurement (SRPP) is about achieving positive social outcomes in public contracts. Procurement affects a large number of people, whether as users of public services, those involved in production and delivery, or staff of the buying organisation. Beyond those directly affected, SRPP has the potential to influence the broader market on both the demand and supply sides.

By purchasing wisely, public buyers can promote employment opportunities, decent work, social inclusion, accessibility, design for all, ethical trade, and seek to achieve wider compliance with social standards. For some products, works and services, the impact can be particularly significant, as public purchasers command a large share of the market in sectors such as construction, healthcare and transport.

Public buyers are major investors in Europe, spending 14% of the EU’s gross domestic product. By using their purchasing power to opt for goods and services that deliver positive social outcomes, they can make a major contribution to sustainable development. Increasingly, the need to address all three pillars of sustainability (social, environmental and economic) in procurement is recognised by both the public and private sectors.

 

This case study collection prepared by the European Commission aims to improve awareness and understanding of the potential of SRPP, by showcasing 71 examples of how public procurers have achieved social benefits in practice. The case studies demonstrate correct bidding procedures and effective policies and act as an inspiration – both for procurers but also for operators in the social economy – with the aim to stimulate replication across Europe.

For more information on how the social aspects of the EU Public Procurement Directives were transposed at a national level, plus further good practices on SRPP, with a particular focus on access to public markets by social economy enterprises, see the Buying for Social Impact report. In addition, the European Commission is currently updating the Buying Social guidance, which will provide practical advice on implementing SRPP (expected 2020).

Read the study here: https://www.socialeconomy.eu.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/SRPP-EC-Publication.pdf

 

This publication has been prepared within SENBS project No. 2020- 1-EE01-KA204-077999. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of the project coordinator and may not always reflect the views of the European Commission or the National Agency.

How social entrepreneurship helps to educate the world?
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How social entrepreneurship helps to educate the world?

How do social entrepreneurs and the projects they create impact the world at large?

Maximillian Goetz, founder of the non-profit organization Robotics for All, discusses his experiences with social entrepreneurship and the real-world impacts he has witnessed firsthand. Maximilian Goetz is a first-year student at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. In April 2017, he founded Robotics for All when he was a high school freshman at Henry. M Gunn High School in Palo Alto, CA. He built Robotics for All from the ground up, teaching its first classes and eventually expanding it into a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. In addition to Robotics for All, Maximilian is a pro-bono nonprofit consultant for three student organizations, a tour guide for Georgetown’s Blue and Gray tour guide association, and an online English teacher to students in China. In the past, Maximilian served as a student advisor to Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, a lead legislative aide to Councilman Greg Tanaka, and was a member of the Palo Alto Youth Council. Maximilian has served over 3,000 community service hours since his freshman year of high school and is honored to be a two-time President’s Gold Community Service Award recipient. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cET6kV83tO8[/embedyt]

 

Source: https://www.ted.com/tedx

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This publication has been prepared within INDIGISE project. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of the project coordinator and may not always reflect the views of the European Commission or the National Agency.

POKAŻ MNIEJ

Recap on Baltic – UK Social Entrepreneurship Forum
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Recap on Baltic – UK Social Entrepreneurship Forum

On June 4th the first Baltic – UK Social Entrepreneurship Forum took place. In this phygital* event a row of social entrepreneurs, as well as the government officials shared their stories and knowledge about the social entrepreneurship ecosystem in their respective countries. Throughout the day it allowed not only to find out more about the current trends and the development of this area in the Baltics and the UK, but also gave the chance to gain new ideas and inspiration about new approaches.  The main topic of the event was cooperation, and here is a short recap on what was discussed.

The event consisted of three parts – the Forum, workshops, and “house parties” at six Baltic social enterprises. During the first hours of event a brief insight in the Social Entrepreneurship (further SE) field in the Baltics was established. First, by pitches from the ministries, then the associations. It was great to see the differences in the established policies and trends in social entrepreneurship, and especially the role of partnerships.

For example, Andrew O’Brien from “Social Enterprise UK” gave a great insight on how this field of business has developed in the UK in the last decade. Back then the biggest challenge for SE’s was the ability to be trusted and recognized, but nowadays it has shifted to finding ways to ensuring resources for support of all the many entities that have been founded in the last years. In the Baltics, on the other hand, the field is still developing – in Lithuania and Estonia the governments are yet to establish a unanimous definition of SE by law. One might think that the experiences of the UK is something that social enterprises in the Baltics should look at in order to predict the potential course of development locally.

Meanwhile the global turn of events with the Covid-19 has pushed many relatively robust SEs to transition into more digital ways and increased their responsiveness, but then again upping the digital presence required bigger financial capital. A good example of a business model taking advantage of this situation is a UK based company called Bikeworks. They repair bikes, teach people to bike and bring the message of a more sustainable means of transportation. After the virus struck, they introduced a Cycle Delivery Service, using the bikers and the bikes they already had to keep the business going, but also further the social impact.

According to many of the speakers there is a common understanding that the SEs are the innovators, the disruptors of standard business practices, and thus have this strength in finding new ways to make things work also in the toughest situations. But nonetheless, they are just businesses irrespective of the social goals. As Tim van Wijk, the Founder & CEO of „Pirmas blynas“ said: “We don’t want your help, we want you to buy our product!”

Some conclusions and advices from the speakers:

  1. The main goal of the social entrepreneurship is to increase a social impact. Through partnerships we can be more successful and create larger resonance.
  2. Social entrepreneurship is becoming more and more recognized. As Colm McGivern said: “The next big social enterprise could be invented by someone on this call today!”
  3. Competition and collaboration goes hand in hand when talking about SEs. While collaboration is crucial, competitiveness with other businesses is the driving force that allows SEs to bring new approaches and disrupt the classic business models. It is the aspect that brings innovation and drives change.
  4. Even when collaborating with larger corporations, the SEs should not lose their integrity and move forward only if the values for the cause align for the both entities. Simultaneously, as the turnover of the SE increases, one should never lose the focus on social change.
  5. Being an SE, you have to be better than most ordinary businesses. People will expect you to be average and fail, but your task is to achieve more.
  6. If you are a beginner or an aspiring entrepreneur willing to start your business, the best way to do it is by finding out if your idea is viable and sustainable. The easiest and quickest way to do it is by googling and finding the closest SE accelerator or incubator, and signing up for a consultation. This way you will get a quick feedback – does it makes sense going forward!

If you missed the Forum, but would like to see these inspiring speeches in full length yourself, watch the recorded video here.

To strengthen the impact of the gained insights, forum proceeded with four practical online workshops and concluded with a possibility to visit one of  six online “House parties” at Baltic social enterprises – “Natures’ Horses” (LV), “Glass Point” (LV), “Tėviškės namai“ (LT), „Pirmas blynas” (LT), “Soomlais Studio” (EE) , Fudler” (EE). First of all, what a nice way to package this part of event in such a fun concept! I joined the latter one myself to see what is it all about, and had a chance to hear their story of success together with about 10 other listeners. Fudler is a platform that connects hungry customers with more than 50 restaurants in Estonia that have leftover meals. The main conclusion they mentioned was:

“There were many similar initiatives in Estonia before us, but none of those saw the daylight. We managed to do it because we actually made the platform and were consistent at our efforts, we didn’t quit!”

The Forum was supported by the British Council Latvia, and organized by Social Entrepreneurship Association of Latvia in cooperation with the Estonian Social Enterprise Network, and the Lithuanian Association of Social Enterprises.

* Phygital is an event concept where the physical and digital worlds are blended.

 

This publication has been prepared within SENBS project No. 2020- 1-EE01-KA204-077999. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of the project coordinator and may not always reflect the views of the European Commission or the National Agency.

The first European Social Enterprise Monitor report has been launched

The first European Social Enterprise Monitor report has been launched

Euclid Network (EN) in collaboration with organizations in eight European countries has published the first “European Social Enterprise Monitor” report (ESEM) – that collects data on social enterprises in the eight participating countries.

This happened at the European Commission’s European Social Economy Summit (#EUSES) on 26 May 2021.

The ESEM project was launched in 2020 and is the first survey for social enterprises to be conducted at European level. The project aims to address the current lack of data on social enterprises and to keep decision-makers in governments, civil society and actors in the economic system informed of the status of social enterprises.

The goal is that The goal is to communicate, support and promote the needs and interests of companies in the social and solidarity-based economy throughout Europe and elsewhere.

The ESEM study provides the data needed to make evidence-based policy-making, supports collaboration across Europe and disseminates best practice examples.

Results from the ESEM survey can be useful in decision making on both  local to the national to the European level.

The European Social Economy Action Plan will also be strengthened through the insights and data provided by the ESEM project.

The ESEM project aims to include even more countries in the next ESEM study, that will start in September 2021.

Wieteke Dupain, who is the head of the ESEM project at Euclid Network says that decision-makers now have the opportunity to set the course for a more successful transition to a sustainable economic paradigm as the ESEM study provides insight into some of the most important organizational concepts, that can make this possible – the social entrepreneurship model ”.

The ESEM project builds on the success of previous studies and reports from Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. The national reports have provided detailed data on socio-economic enterprises and startups, which have led to important changes in policy formulation, investment decision-making and increased visibility and understanding of the social enterprise model and its crucial role in meeting the UN SDG´s.

Learning from the good experiences from the Netherlands, Germany and England and cooperating with leading academic institutions through the research group associated with the project, the ESEM survey has been designed and conducted in eight European countries in its first year.

The ESEM project is supported by the European Commission through the EaSI program and has received personal political support from Nicolas Schmit, EU Commissioner for Employment and Social Rights. Other partners who have helped develop the project is: Bertelsmann Stiftung, ImpactCity, SAP, the COVID Response Alliance for Social Entrepreneurs, the World Economic Forum and the Schwab Foundation.

The project consortium is led by the Euclid Network and consists of national network organizations for social enterprises, universities and research centers in eight European countries. Each country has a lead partner which is: Act Grupa (Croatia); Social Entrepreneurs in Denmark (Denmark); Social Enterprise Estonia (Estonia); Social Entrepreneurship Network Germany (SEND) (Germany); EsLider (Portugal); ESADE (Spain); Forum for Social Innovation (Sweden) and Social Enterprise UK (England). Research guidance is provided by Hertie School, Otto-von-Guericke-University of Magdeburg, Tallinn University, ESADE, Roskilde University, Católica Lisbon, University of Zagreb, Institute Ivo Pilar and Utrecht University.

The next European Social Enterprise Monitor survey 2021-2022 will be launched in September 2021, where new countries and country partners are expected to participate in the project.

If you run a social enterprise enterprise and want to make future ESEM reports even better, join the survey next time. You can sign up via this link to the Euclid Network website here

You can do so even though your country is not yet part of ESEM – Your contact info will be saved til your country is participating.

Read the European Social Enterprise Monitor Report 2020-2021 here

Read more about the ESEM project here

 

This publication has been prepared within SENBS project No. 2020- 1-EE01-KA204-077999. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of the project coordinator and may not always reflect the views of the European Commission or the National Agency.

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European Social Enterprise Monitor (ESEM)

THE HAGUE (Euclid Network) – We are proud to announce the official launch of the inauguralEuropean Social Enterprise Monitor (ESEM) report at the European Commission’s European Social Economy Summit #EUSES, held virtually in Mannheim on 26th May 2021. The Monitor aims to close the current gaps in data, knowledge, awareness and understanding of social enterprise on  both national and European levels. 

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ESEM is a panel research project launched in 2020, aiming to provide in-depth data and insights on social enterprises and social start-ups across Europe. The first of its kind, ESEM fills the current gap in data on social enterprises in Europe and offers an unparalleled opportunity to develop policies that have a strong, broad and comprehensive evidence base. The report ensures that data provided by impact practitioners is readily available for decision-makers in politics, civil society and the wider economy. The outcomes highlighted by the ESEM report aim to ensure that funding opportunities and policies on national as well as European level are more responsive to the needs of social entrepreneurs.

Read the European Social Enterprise Monitor (ESEM) here