GUIDEBOOK Social business roadmap
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GUIDEBOOK
Social business roadmap

The Social Business Roadmap has the aim to support young people in creating a social enterprise in 10 simple steps. It is an entrepreneurial guide tool for helping young people to make their first step in the social business world, as it’s easy to get lost on the entrepreneurial route, thus this small guide could be used as a road map.

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This guide provides some information about the social business world, the opportunities and the next steps. The Social Business Roadmap, as a non-formal educational tool, contains the necessary information, helpful instructions, and available support that will support a particular action or process regarding self-employability in social entrepreneurship. Therefore, this tool will be the appropriate instrument for any young person who wants to acquire the necessary support and empowerment for planning, launching, managing, and growing a successful social enterprise.

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Social Protection & Cooperatives Spotlight – Mobilizing social and solidarity economy units towards universal social protection
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Social Protection & Cooperatives Spotlight – Mobilizing social and solidarity economy units towards universal social protection

This ILO Spotlight brief is jointly developed by the Social Protection Department and the Cooperatives Unit in the Enterprises Department. It focuses on mobilizing social and solidarity economy units towards universal social protection. The brief builds on the related section of the Office Report on “Decent Work and the social and solidarity economy” prepared for general discussion at the International Labour Conference 110th Session, 2022 (paras 73 et seq.).

Przechwytywanie

Read the full text here: https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/—ed_emp/—emp_ent/—coop/documents/publication/wcms_844037.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.

 

The EU Pact for Skills – Skills partnership for the Proximity & Social Economy ecosystem
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The EU Pact for Skills – Skills partnership for the Proximity & Social Economy ecosystem

Today we recommend another great reading and educational material on the social economy – The EU Pact for Skills – Skills partnership for the Proximity & Social Economy ecosystem.

 

While it has been severely affected by the COVID-19 crisis, the proximity and social economy ecosystem has shown a particular resilience and a great potential to help the EU’s economic and social recovery as a whole, as its very raison d’être is to address economic, environmental and societal challenges in the most inclusive and innovative ways. This ecosystem is crucial to ensure a fair and inclusive recovery and to act as a catalyser of just transitions. With their deep local footprint and their approach based on collective governance and cooperation, social economy organisations (e.g. cooperatives, mutual societies, associations, including charities, social enterprises), impact investors (e.g. foundations, impact funds), microfinance, ethical and cooperative banks, and other legal forms which are specific to some Member States traditions, provide an excellent opportunity to develop and engage in partnerships. Many of these organisations are active in the field of skills development. Some of them focus on reskilling, upskilling and facilitating access to labour market. Others encourage social economy entrepreneurship and social innovation to address societal challenges and strive for developing entire new markets. This broad spectrum of activities makes them key in the EU’s future skills development. The social economy has a long and proven track record of labour market inclusion and is at the same time an important vector for an inclusive green and digital transition. To ensure the social economy can continue creating inclusive employment, there is a need to reskill its own workforce taking into account in particular the green and digital transitions. To remain competitive and to meet their economic and social responsibilities, the industry needs to invest significantly in the re/upskilling of its workforce.

Read the full material here: https://www.socialeconomy.eu.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Declaration-Pact-for-Skills-PSE-Ecosystem.pdf 

 

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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.

Inclusive Business Creation – Good Practice Compendium

Inclusive Business Creation – Good Practice Compendium

Today we present to you a report from the OECD’s Local Economic and Employment Development Programme (LEED) provides innovative ideas and practical solutions for how to build inclusive and sustainable communities with quality jobs for all. This series explores how national and local governments can promote local development, leveraging the social economy, entrepreneurship, employment and skills, and specific sectors such as culture.

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Inclusive Business Creation

Good Practice Compendium

This compendium contains 20 case studies of public programmes in European countries that are successfully supporting business creation by people from disadvantaged and under-represented groups in entrepreneurship. The populations targeted by these programmes include youth, women, seniors, the unemployed, immigrants, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities. Each programme description details the programme’s activities and approach, assesses the challenges faced in development and implementation, and offers tips for successful transfer to other contexts.

Public policy actions at national, regional and local levels can make an important contribution to economic growth and social inclusion by promoting business creation and self-employment by people who otherwise could remain outside of the mainstream of entrepreneurship. This compendium demonstrates that workable approaches exist and can help policymakers learn from each other’s experiences to achieve widespread results.

https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264251496-en  9789264251496 (PDF) 9789264257504 (EPUB)

Authors: OECD and European Union

Access to the full reading material here: 9789264251496-en

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Funding opportunities for social economy – update 2022

Funding opportunities for social economy – update 2022

Social economy and inclusive entrepreneurship are topics with transversal relevance for a variety of policy fields and economic sectors. Funding opportunities can therefore be found in most EU funding programmes.

Some of these programmes include dedicated measures. Others can be tapped into by social economy and inclusive entrepreneurship actors, even if they do not target them explicitly. This official EU webpage https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=1561&langId=en  provides an overview of the most relevant EU funding programmes.

Employment and Social Innovation Programme and its 2021-2027 successor

Microfinance and social enterprise finance are key enablers for the development of social and inclusive entrepreneurship. This is why the EU is providing support to microfinance and social enterprise finance providers in the form of both repayable and non-repayable finance to enhance their potential in creating jobs and building a more social and inclusive Europe.

Microfinance

Lack of access to finance is one of the main obstacles micro-enterprises are facing. A significant unmet demand for microfinance exists for vulnerable groups, which face difficulties in accessing conventional credit markets, for start-ups, as well as existing micro-enterprises.

Microcredit providers play an important role in channelling EU support to entrepreneurs. However, this young and growing sector is quite heterogeneous due to the disparity of legal and institutional frameworks in Member States and the diversity of the microcredit providers.

The Commission has launched the following support and actions targeting microcredit providers under the Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) programme:

  • a European Code of Good Conduct for Microcredit Provision  defining a unified set of standards for the microfinance sector in Europe. To be able to benefit from an EaSI Microfinance Guarantee, non-bank microcredit providers have to sign up to the Code and banks have to endorse it;
  • a guarantee for microcredit providers to increase lending to micro-entrepreneurs;
  • a Technical Assistance programme, which provides an institutional assessment or a financial rating to microcredit providers, and supports the evaluation of their compliance with the European Code of Good Conduct for Microcredit Provision. It also provides capacity building and operates a dedicated helpdesk for microfinance providers;
  • an EaSI MicPro database which acts as a source of information about microcredit providers in each country.

Social enterprise finance

As highlighted in the Social economy action plan, lack of access to finance is one of the obstacles for social entrepreneurship to thrive.

The EU is enabling access to investments of up to EUR 500,000 through the Programme for Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI). Available support includes a guarantee, capacity building investments, a funded instrument and advisory support for social enterprise finance providers.

In addition, equity investments in social enterprises have been piloted under the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) Equity instrument, namely via funds linked to incubators/accelerators and co-investments with social business angels.

To complement financial instruments providing repayable finance, the Commission provides grant support with a view to addressing specific market gaps:

  • Grants aimed at covering part of the transaction costs of intermediaries. The grant serves as an incentive to intermediaries for making investments of below EUR 500,000 in social enterprises. Eight projects were selected in 2017 and an additional eight projects in 2019.
  • Grants for boosting the development of social finance markets in Europe: 21 pilot projects were selected in 2013, a further 20 projects were selected in 2016, and 14 projects in 2019. The projects served as basis for developing a practical guide entitled A recipe book for social finance.

The Commission also provides operating grants for EU-level networks active in the areas of microfinance and social enterprise finance. Moreover, Member States have the opportunity to support both microfinance and social enterprises through the European Social Fund.

In the period 2021-2027, the support to microfinance and social enterprises will be continued and reinforced under the InvestEU programme. More information will be available soon on the InvestEU portal. In addition, the Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) strand under the European Social Fund Plus will complement the InvestEU instruments with EU level support for the development of social enterprises, the emergence of a social investment market, and the development of the market ecosystem around the provision of microfinance.

Other relevant EU funding programmes during 2021-2027

The European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) is an important funding source for promoting the social economy and social innovation at national, regional and local levels. Social economy organisations are well placed to achieve most of the ESF+ specific objectives, notably in relation to enhancing the inclusiveness of labour markets and access to quality employment.

At the EU level, the Commission will support transnational cooperation specifically with a view to accelerating the scaling up of social innovation.

In addition to dedicated funding provided via the InvestEU and ESF+, several other EU funding programmes are providing opportunities for the social economy, social innovation and inclusive entrepreneurship:

The European Commission makes use of the Funding & tender opportunities portal to ensure applicants have a common entry point to EU grants.

Information on how to access this funding has been gathered in an European Funding Toolkit by the Euclid Network and in a Funding Toolkit for Early-Stage Social Innovators developed in the context of the European Social Innovation Competition.

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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.

DALBA – Beer that means more
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DALBA – Beer that means more

Meet DALBA, social enterprise which is a part of NESs’t Fund network which is investing in entrepreneurial solutions that lift people out of poverty.

In spite of Poland’s strong economic growth, many find it difficult to secure stable employment and reliable wages. More than 18% of young people under the age of 30 are unemployed, with women, people living in rural areas, and people with disabilities especially affected. NESs’t investments in Poland focus on social enterprises that connect these potential workers with training and jobs in growth industries like technology, business process outsourcing and health care.

DALBA is an award-winning craft beer brewery in Puck, Poland that employs people with intellectual disabilities. It is the first in Poland and sixth in the world of its kind. The business addresses one of the most serious social problems in Poland: labour exclusion and social marginalization of people with intellectual disabilities. Today, only 10% of people with disabilities participate in the labor market.

The production process of DALBA’s craft beer counts on a group of 30 young men with disabilities who are also shareholders of the cooperative. Some prepare malts with a recipe and boil it, while others are involved in bottling or labeling. They do so without supervision, having received training from management to work with precision.

DALBA was co-founded by Agnieszka Dejna, a mother of children with disabilities, and Janusz Golisowicz, an occupational therapist of patients with disabilities. Agnieszka and Janusz often heard these young people seeking greater independence in their lives, but unable to achieve it as a result of their parents fear of discrimination and harassment in the workforce. Today, DALBA’s craft beers are rated Top 50 out of 270+ brands in Poland.

Browar Spółdzielczy (Cooperative Brewery) originated from the passion for beer, sea and the need for change. We brew our beer in a traditional manner, in small brewery in Puck, Poland. The brewery is owned by Spółdzielnia Socjalna DALBA (Social Cooperative DALBA).

This is not just an ordinary workplace, this is passion. Most employees of the cooperative are the people who have not had a chance on the open job market due to their disabilities. Their engagement and determination results in our beer being something exceptional, dreams coming true and a chance.

That’s why DALBA slogan reads “Piwo, które warzy więcej” – it’s a word play on the Polish words “warzyć” (to brew) and “ważyć” (here: to mean).

DALBA and NESsT partnered to increase the production capacity of the enterprise, positioning it to generate higher revenues and to increase its employment of people with disabilities. With a grant from NESsT, DALBA upgraded its equipment, generating a production growth of 15%. The next phase of investment is the expansion of its production hall.

DALBA’s tailored business mentoring focuses on consolidating its rapid growth, leveraging co-investments, and strengthening its impact measurement. As it prepares to launch five locations in the next two years, NESsT and DALBA have also been collaborating on managing the enterprise’s product portfolio, by identifying and developing products with higher margins, and on ramping up its sales efforts.

NESsT is excited to support DALBA as the enterprise has proven to be equally committed to empowering youth with disabilities and developing award-winning craft beer.

Answering the global Covid-19 crisis, NESsT has developed a special support plan for its portfolio. To support Dalba, we are working together to remodel communication and marketing strategy in order to generate additional revenues to sustain Dalba’s operational costs and revenues that decreased due to Covid crisis.

Source and more information: https://www.nesst.org/dalba; https://en.browarspoldzielczy.com/strona-glowna

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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.

The Social Procurement Manual
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The Social Procurement Manual

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This manual is a practical guide to integrating social businesses into corporate value chains created by Yunus Social Business as a part of research series “Business as Usual“. 

What is social procurement?

We de-ladder fine ‘Social Procurement’ as the purchase of goods and services by companies from social businesses. Through social procurement, companies integrate social businesses into their supply chains with the explicit intention of creating social or environmental impact through their procurement. Social Procurement enables companies to drive impact directly via their supply chains (‘do good’ approach), extending beyond awareness building and mitigating supply chain risks (‘do no harm approach’).

More about the background of the manual

Today, there are already many successful examples of commercial partnerships between large corporations and social businesses. For instance, IKEA began working with the Indian social business Rangsutra in 2013, procuring small batches of handcrafted cushions. Eight years on, Rangsutra provides IKEA with more than 400,000 pieces a year, working with 2,000 artisans under a model in which most of them are also shareholders of the social enterprise.

Inspired by these stories, we wanted to understand the range of challenges that both sides face when working with each other, and the practices that are key success factors for both business value and social/ environmental impacts. For this research, we conducted qualitative interviews with over forty corporate leaders, social entrepreneurs and intermediary organisations that have extensive experience in these partnerships (our sample composition is available in the Appendix). We then created a survey for our research participants to validate some of the assumptions that we extrapolated from our interviews and preliminary research.

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Our Social Procurement Manual is designed for companies who want to engage with the topic of Social Procurement. We share insights and frameworks to help them better understand the concept of Social Procurement, its value for corporations and the tools needed to create partnerships with social businesses more efficiently, increasing the impact on social businesses and corporate partners alike.

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.

 

DESIGN THINKING FIELDGUIDE FOR SOCIAL ENTERPRISES AND INNOVATION
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DESIGN THINKING FIELDGUIDE FOR SOCIAL ENTERPRISES AND INNOVATION

This field guide has been developed in response to the specific needs of Social Enterprises and other stakeholders within the social economy. Design Thinking has been proven as a way to help businesses and organizations respond to customer needs with innovative and human centered solutions. The guide is organized within a bespoke, socially oriented design thinking framework, containing free to use tools for each section and instructions and links to other resources within the instructions for each tool. There is a section on training and facilitation for support agencies, VET’s and in-house design thinking trainers.

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The Design Thinking Guide is for social enterprises. The guide will be useful for many levels of social enterprises, from social entrepreneurs or start-up social enterprises to larger, longer standing social enterprise who are looking to become more sustainable. The guide is also designed for NGOs and civil society organizations, consultants and advisers in the social economy and design thinking sectors. It includes a well-documented step-by-step path to introduce you into the logic of the design thinking phases and how they are applicable to the philosophy and the challenges of social enterprises.

Below you can see the introductory video, but to access the whole guide, please click HERE.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSXCA3B_36w[/embedyt]

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.

 

 

From Tczew with Love
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From Tczew with Love

“Szafa serc”/Wardrobe of Hearts/ Charity Shop is a new social initiative based in Tczew, Poland, which started its’ activity in June this year.

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Recently we’ve visited “Szafa Serc”, as we were interested in finding out on our own how the 1st charity shop in Tczew works. We were amazed by the warm welcome, the genuine and heartwarming social idea behind the shop and the fantastic community gathered around the shop. Owners not only support women who had trouble with finding a suitable workplace when having a small child but also engage the local community and in the local community, i.e. by helping the family foster care located nearby. Read more about this great place, and do not miss your chance to stop by if you visit Tczew in Pomorskie Region, Poland, in the near future.

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It is a place with a soul, where things get a second life, people get new career opportunities, and the natural environment is taken care of. The shop was founded on the initiative of 3 active women, citizens of Tczew, who represent the “Prosto z Serca” Association, in cooperation with Social Entrepreneurship Supporting Centre “Dobra Robota” and the local community who care for their weakest members and sustainable development.

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The idea of ​​the charity shop is to help others. “Szafa serc” sells new and used items donated by organizations or individuals – clothes, small interior furnishings, toys etc. It offers articles at very affordable prices and good quality, often branded companies. Therefore, it contributes to balancing the social difference in local society. The basic principle of the charity shop is to donate the entire amount of money earned (after deducting the costs of maintaining the shop) for statutory purposes.Profits from the shop will go in financial or in-kind assistance to people in need and a difficult life situation. The initiative will permanently support heating space for homeless men in Tczew, and in addition, every month, it will choose specific institutions or families to give them the support needed.

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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.

Social Economy entities from Pomorskie Region will be present at the St. Dominics Fair in Gdańsk, Poland!
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Social Economy entities from Pomorskie Region will be present at the St. Dominics Fair in Gdańsk, Poland!

Social Economy Support Centre from Gdańsk (dobrarobota.org) invites you to Pomorska Street in Gdańsk during the St. Dominics Fair in Gdańsk, Poland, where you will find stands of social economy entities from all over Pomerania! Our exhibitors will sell their products from July 24 to August 15, 2021, on Szeroka Street and Ołowianka Street. Social economy entities are workplaces employing people who cannot find a job or are excluded from the labour market for some reason, e.g. due to disability or homelessness.

What is the social economy? It’s the kind of economic activity where more than just profit is essential. These activities lead to the achievement of social goals. The social economy also supports the development of the local community and enables the social integration of socially excluded people.

By purchasing products and services of social economy entities, you can support people in need, co-create jobs and contribute to local development.

The exhibitors representing the Pomeranian social economy will include:

The exhibitors’ offer will be vast and varied:

  • food products (casseroles, cookies, lemonade, bio syrups, craft beer),
  • handicraft items (jewellery, ceramics, wooden boxes and chairs, paintings, etc.),
  • zero waste products (bags, backpacks, sachets),
  • soy candles and bath products,
  • clothing and antiques,
  • and many more.

Indeed everyone will find something for themselves! Check their fan page of Pomorskie Social Economy (https://www.facebook.com/pomorska.es/), will keep you updated on new exhibitors presenting their offer. The event is part of the project “Pomeranian social entrepreneurship system: coordination of the development of the social economy in the Pomeranian Voivodeship for 2019-2022”, implemented by the Regional Center for Social Policy of the Marshal’s Office.

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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.