Crowdsourcing platform Hooandja for CSO-s and social enterprises in Estonia
The crowdfunding platform Hooandja started in 2012 and has grown to the biggest crowdfunding platforms of civil society in Estonia.
The mission of the Hooandja platform is to help of getting funding for activities and projects of CSO-s or creative businesses trough the platform. In addition of getting financial support there is also an option to get volunteers or other resources for your project.
The platform is waiting social entrepreneurs and their projects and is ready to help forming an attractive project description, presentation, etc.
The webpage of Hooandja: https://www.hooandja.ee/.
Scotland, Iceland and New Zealand established the Wellbeing Economy Goverments (WeGo) initiative in 2018. The project was inspired by the Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WeAll). In September 2019, Kartín Jakobsdóttir, Prime Minister of Iceland, introduced the proposed 39 well-being indicators under 3 main sections: Society, Environment and Economy. In April 2020, the Icelandic government has approved a motion from the Prime Minister to implement the use of 39 well-being indicators to measure prosperity and quality of life in the country. At a time when the government faces some tough decisions related to the COVID-19 epidemic, these 39 indicators are proving very effective in creating their relief policies.
Shifting focus from GDP
Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir states: “Gross Domestic Product and economic growth are certainly important metrics and will continue to be so, but these factors do not tell the whole story about people’s quality of life and the successes of communities. It is important to have metrics that take the environment, society, and economy into account.”
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
Iceland’s 39 well-being indicators are separated into three categories – social, economic, and environmental – and relate to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. On page 3 and 4 of the Well-being measurements document is a table of how each of the indicators can be mapped to a particular SDG.
Social enterprises in Iceland
Social enterprises at their core fulfill one or more of the SDGs in transforming the world into a more equal and just world. With this newly released and approved well-being indicators, social enterprises are positioned to offer effective solutions to meeting the 39 indicators. In addition, social enterprises continue to measure their successes not just through financial indicators (akin to GDP in governments) but also KPIs and impact measurements to continually improve on their effectiveness in delivering their services to their designated customer base. The social enterprises of Iceland are therefore well positioned to be the ground crew that assist the Icelandic government in fulfilling their 39 indicators.
For the 4th time already an annual summer camp on social entrepreneurship took place in Antaliepte – a small Lithuanian town nearby Latvian border in August 22-23.
Over 200 participants took part in the traditional summer camp BIZZZ ’15. The main topic of this year camp was sharing economy. During the course of two days participants have been not only listening to inspiring presentations, but also attending workshops and doing hands on work in repurposing surrounding area.
Our project partner from Lithuania – Mindaugas Danys was sharing his experience and ideas as well as introducing the Baltic SE Network to participants.
New challenges require new ways of thinking. Old business and entrepreneurship text-book examples might not be relevant anymore and, what is more, they are not enough to inspire or to help generate ideas for solving emerging challenges. New tools should be used in order to tackle new problems and get to the core of a challenge we are facing. One of those tools is “Design thinking instrument set” issued by Design Elevator. This new product is a set of cards that helps individuals, entrepreneurs, organizations, educators and students to efficiently solve various problems in a creative manner by improving processes and services and focusing on the real needs of the consumers or service users. Each set of cards contains creative and practical tasks for both individuals and teams. Tasks are explained with schemes and illustrations.
Design thinking emerged as a creative problem solving method for designers, but is now used also in various other fields. This thinking method involves 5 main steps: empathize, define, ideate, prototype and test stage. Throughout all of these stages elements of many different disciplines are used, such as organizational learning, psychology, economics and others. This interdisciplinary method puts its main emphasis on the customers and their needs. Design thinking proves to be useful not only when planning to introduce new products, but also when forming policies, developing new services or simply when facing challenges in the decision-making process. By using this thinking method one can challenge existing assumptions and explore problem areas by involving in the process also consumers that the production or services are targeted at.
Design thinking method and the new “Design thinking instrument set” can be very helpful also for social entrepreneurs – by focusing on the needs of consumers and the society, social business owners can go through the stages of design thinking and explore new solutions for existing challenges. While there are few instruments created for this thinking method for English-speaking users, “Design thinking instrument set” is created for Latvian-speaking audience.
The social economy is an essential field in promoting gender equality. In most countries, women often make up more than 60% of the workforce, and gaps in leadership and pay have been reported lower. It is because social economy organisations prioritise people over profit and embody values such as solidarity, inclusivity, equality, and democratic governance. Therefore, the social economy field is an excellent example of how to start advancing gender equality in the wider economy.
Women’s jobs are of higher quality, offer better stability, and have smaller wage gaps. In fact, gender gaps in pay and leadership are much lower in the social economy, especially in comparison to other economic fields. In most cases, women earn only around 6% less than their male colleagues. However, lower pay gaps are not the only thing attracting women. Other motivational factors are more resilient jobs, and the fact that the share of women in management positions in many social economy enterprises is higher than in the broader economy. This means that women represent a larger share of managers than in the total labour force in most European countries. Therefore, women are really more likely to become managers in social economy enterprises. Overall, it shows that the social economy can inspire the broader economy through principles of primacy of people or profit and more democratic and inclusive modes of governance.
Another point is that the social economy puts people over profit for equity, solidarity, and mutuality. The promotion of such important values makes the social economy boost the value of traditionally female or women’s roles and stimulate more sustainable practices. In the social economy, labour conditions are generally more favourable to the reconciliation of family life and work obligations, which is an essential factor for women beyond their salary and power. Moreover, the majority of the enterprises offer material and parental leave, and around three-quarters offer sickness leave. Therefore, this is another crucial condition that fosters an inclusive working environment, promoting gender equality.
Ultimately, the social economy is an excellent field for women as it offers opportunities to transition from informal to formal employment. It is also a much better field than other economies, as it increases women’s participation in the labour force by either supplying standard jobs to women or providing essential care and education services that enable women to participate in the economy. Furthermore, it applies a gender lens and more sustainable approaches to doing business, reducing gender gaps in leadership and pay.
However, an important fact must be highlighted: even though women are in a better situation in social economy companies than in other companies, there is still a long way to go.
Original article available on Revitalese.eu website!
The European Commission has today presented an Action Plan to help the European social economy thrive, tapping into its economic and job-creation potential, as well as its contribution to a fair and inclusive recovery, and the green and digital transitions.
Social economy organisations are entities which put social and environmental purposes first, reinvesting most of their profit back into the organisation. There are 2.8 million social economy entities in Europe that employ 13.6 million people and which offer solutions to key challenges in our societies. They span a diverse range of sectors and forms, from care services to recycling; from cooperatives to social enterprises.
Enhanced support to the social economy not only creates jobs, but also allows organisations to increase their social impact across the EU. Today’s Social Economy Action Plan smooths the way for social economy organisations to prosper and grow.
The Commission proposes to act in three areas:
1. Creating the right conditions for the social economy to thrive
Policy and legal frameworks are key in creating the right environment for the social economy to thrive. This includes taxation, public procurement and State aid frameworks that have to be adapted to the needs of the social economy.
To address these issues, the Commission will propose a Council Recommendation on developing the social economy framework conditions in 2023. It will also publish guidance for Member States on taxation frameworks for social economy organisations and facilitate easier access to guidance on State aid. The Action Plan also aims to improve good practice on socially responsible public procurement and promote the targeting of the social economy outside EU borders.
2. Opening opportunities for social economy organisations to start up and scale up
Social economy entities should benefit from business development support to start up and develop, as well as to reskill and upskill their workers. For 2021-2027, the Commission is aiming to increase its support beyond the estimated €2.5 billion allocated to the social economy previously (2014-2020).
Among other actions, the Commission will launch a new EU Social Economy Gateway in 2023 to ensure social economy actors can find all the information they need in one place on EU funding, policies, training and initiatives. It will also launch new financial products in 2022 under the InvestEU programme and improve access to funding. In 2022, the Commission will also set up a European Competence Centre for Social Innovation.
3. Making sure the social economy and its potential are recognised
The Action Plan aims to make the social economy more visible and improve the recognition of its work and potential. The Commission will carry out communication activities emphasising the role and specificities of the social economy.
Furthermore, the Commission will launch a study to collect qualitative and quantitative data to better understand the social economy across the EU. It will also organise training courses for public officials on various topics with relevance for the social economy, promote the social economy at regional and local levels by fostering cross-border exchanges, and much more.
With today’s Action Plan, the Commission is also launching a “transition pathway” to help the green and digital transitions of the social economy in dialogue with public authorities and interested parties.The Commission seeks public views on the transition pathway through an EU survey open until 28 February 2022.
Background
The social economy includes a variety of businesses, organisations and legal entities, such as social enterprises, cooperatives, mutual benefit societies (a specific type of collective insurance), non-profit associations and foundations. They put people and the environment at the centre of their mission and reinvest most of their profit back into the organisation or a specific social cause. They are governed in a participatory, bottom-up way.
Building on the Commission’s 2011 Social Business Initiative, the Action Plan is the result of an extensive consultation process with citizens and stakeholders. More information can be found in the Staff Working Document accompanying the Social Economy Action Plan and in the Staff Working Document on the transition pathway on social economy.
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.
Future Heroes is a growth mindset-driven leadership & entrepreneurship program for girls aged 13 -17 to unlock their potential and create positive impact in the world.
Future Heroes program is also a competition and every hero should come prepared for a fair battle! The program consists of 7 workshops, all held in English and free of charge.
Community
We all need role models, courage, support and determination to believe we can achieve anything we set our mind and heart to. It takes guts to stand alone, speak up and make great change happen. Future Heroes dares to be real and do things differently.To have more daring and diverse heroes to look up to, we’ve created an open environment for a driven community of girls with a passion to grow, work together and solve problems.
Growth
Welcome to a personal growth and change program to unlock your potential. During 4 months and 7 skills & mindset workshops, girls get to test their strengths, boost their life skills, grow their sisterhood and be inspired by diverse role models. Most importantly, dreams are made a reality by running projects that girls are most passionate about in teams of five, supported by mentors. Consider it a support network to jump-start your future.
Change
We want every business or social action that’s created during the program to have positive impact on the society. Be it a start-up that works towards mental well-being. Be it a social action project with a focus on better education or climate action. You get to decide what creates the most meaningful change in the future and we’ll make sure to be your sisterhood without borders. It’s literally the time and place to become a hero.
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.
