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Regional Workshop: “Strengthening the Sustainability of Community-based Development through Social Entrepreneurship” Bratislava · 4 December 2009 . Rationale and Impact. Main Issues. Social enterprise in western Europe Context of development Social enterprise institutionalization
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Regional Workshop: “Strengthening the Sustainability of Community-based Development through Social Entrepreneurship” Bratislava · 4 December 2009 Rationale and Impact
Main Issues • Social enterprise in western Europe • Context of development • Social enterprise institutionalization • Recent evolution • Social enterprise in CEE and the CIS • Context of development • Impact
Context of development of social enterprises in western Europe • Changes in the demand for and supply of welfare services • Bottom-up mobilization • Emergence of new types of enterprises and concepts
Social enterprise institutionalization • High innovation potential (product /process) of social enterprises • Institutionalization of recent evolution
Social enterprise institutionalization Institutionalization of SEs in EU-15 • pre-existing legal forms • association • cooperative • legal frameworks designed for SEs • adaptation of existing legislation (via cooperative form in Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, Poland) • adoption of new laws on social enterprise (Belgium, UK, Italy)
Context of development of social enterprises in CEE and the CIS • Re-organization of SS system still weak (gaps in service delivery) • Liberalization of former mechanisms of social inclusion=reduction of fundamental social rights • High rates of unemployment rates among certain segments of the population (disadvantaged people; minority groups; single-women; etc.) • Institutional pluralism = pre-condition for balanced economic development
Context of development of social enterprises in CEE and the CIS • Institutional framework capable of managing transactions effectively presupposes: • well-functioning markets • efficient public agencies • investor/consumer/producer-owned enterprises/NPOs • SEs=unique way to address un-tackled socio-economic challenges
Context of development of social enterprises in CEE and the CIS • Boom of civil society initiatives in the early transition • Distrust towards economic initiatives carried out by third sector organizations • Negative image of cooperatives
Impact of social enterprises SEs make at least 5 important contributions to socio-economic development in CEE and the CIS
Impact of social enterprises 1. Social enterprises complement the supply of general-interest services • interesting experiences of cooperatives and social enterprises guaranteeing access to general-interest services in CEE and the CIS
Impact of social enterprises 2. Social enterprises contribute to a more balanced use and allocation of resources • influence on the management of economic and social development • promote inclusive governance models • empower the local community in strategic decision-making
Impact of social enterprises 3. Social enterprises generate new employment • develop new activities and create new employment in the sectors where they operate • employ unoccupied workers and disadvantaged workers • promote new forms of work organization
Impact of social enterprises 4. Social enterprises enhance social capital • supply goods and services that are characterized by a high social potential • inclusive and participatory approaches result in the active participation of citizens • mobilization enhances the sense of social responsibility towards the belonging community • contribute to overcome the low citizen trust in political institutions
Impact of social enterprises 5 Social enterprises contribute to regularizing informal activities • several social enterprise-like initiatives arise informally and become formal once they are legally recognized • social enterprise-like initiatives may be prevented from becoming part of the formal economy as a result of an inappropriate legal and fiscal system • when legal/fiscal environment enabling, social enterprises can facilitate irregular workers to get out of the black market