This project was developed with the purpose to enhance the professional skills of social enterprises, in order to increase their ability to meet the new challenges for labor inclusion of disadvantaged groups. Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs) face persistent challenges integrating disadvantaged groups of the population into the labour market and facilitating their access to decent work opportunities. Simultaneously, the new paradigms of social and economic sustainability of the third sector organisations demand more innovative and professional solutions for those organisations. The WISEs need to strengthen the professional skills of their staff and integrate new professional profiles into the organisations in order to better respond to these current challenges. To meet to these needs, our project aims to: 1) To increase the professional competences of social enterprises and rise their ability to meet the new challenges for labor inclusion of disadvantaged groups; 2) To recognize which are the emergent professional profiles needs of the social enterprises; 3) To define professional profiles and suitable training resources of two of those emergent professional profiles in social enterprises; 4) To contribute with guidelines and training solutions to improve the professional competences and respond to the most relevant corporate needs of social enterprises. Four digital publications will be produced: 1) an overview on the emergent professional profiles of social enterprises, 2) one professional profile and training package for the job-tutor/coacher of disadvantaged groups, 3) one professional profile and training package for the social marketing professional in WISES, 4) guidelines and recommendations to enhance WISES' human resources and effectiveness in social inclusion. To support the multiplier impact of these outputs and validate its results, we will develop five national workshops (one in each participating country), two training validation sessions with the contents of each professional profile and, lastly, a final European seminar. In addition to this, all partners will meet six times over the project life-cycle to debate and agree on the main aspects of the thematic addressed, visit national WISEs in each country and develop a deeper understanding on the different national contexts of social entrepreneurship. This project is built on a project methodology of mutual learning and working together, designed to stream and capitalize partners’ knowledge and experience. A variety of different participants will be involved in this project: 2 staff members from each partner organisation (project managers, social researchers, trainers, business development professionals) will contribute to the project implementation; each organisation’ representative will participate at least in the final seminar; 20 national participants will attend the national workshops in each country, including WISES professionals, WISES beneficiaries, VET professionals, private business professionals and public employment services professionals; 20 WISES professionals will attend the two training validation sessions in Portugal; 64 people will attend the final seminar, including policy makers, social and employment services providers, business associations professionals, WISES professionals, WISES beneficiaries, VET professionals, students, mostly from Portugal but also, at least, one guest from each partners’ country. Other trainers, consultants and evaluators with expertise in labour inclusion and social entrepreneurship should be also involved in the implementation and evaluation of the project outputs. Finally, we expect that, by the end of the project: i) the WISES’ professionals of the participating countries have raised their level of knowledge and competences on the professional inclusion of disadvantaged groups; ii) the most relevant emergent professional profiles needs of the social enterprises are mapped and disseminated at national and European levels; iii) the professional profiles (knowledge, attitudes and behaviours) and training packaged of two emergent professional profiles of WISES are available in five languages and widely disseminated; iv) the WISES and VET professionals and other relevant stakeholders are more aware of possible strategies and capacity building initiatives to promote more effectively the labour inclusion of disadvantaged groups. Lastly, we expect that, on medium and long term, this project will allow clear pathways to the formal recognition of the emergent professional skills and profiles in social enterprises, often acquired by non-formal and informal learning processes; the aligning of VET policies with territorial development strategies and a stronger ecosystem for innovation on social inclusion throughout work.
Organisations from this partnership have lengthy experiences in training, consultancy, research, networking and lobbying in the fields of third sector and social enterprises, especially WISE – Work Integration Social Enterprises. We are: A3S Association, a Portuguese research & development association on social economy and social entrepreneurship (coordinator); Arbeit Plus, an Austrian national umbrella network of WISE; SCF a regional Italian training centre dedicated to the qualification and innovation of their member (social cooperatives/WISE), SEE, a social enterprise based in the UK, dedicated to developed and managed training programmes in Europe, Asia and Africa; ENSIE the European Network of Social Integration Enterprises, based in Belgium. We are members of ENSIE, sharing a common mission of social and professional integration of disadvantaged groups. Partners share concerns on the persistent challenges of labour and social inclusion of disadvantaged groups, the economic sustainability of social enterprises and social innovation. These are forcing changes in the skills profile required from WISES human resources, from the bottom level of the daily activity (catering/gardening), to the daily follow up of disadvantaged people in integration pathways and to the top management level. The labour inclusion field has been widely developed in the last decades in Europe through the initiatives of social enterprises, also fostered by Active Labour Market Policies promoted by the different states. A wide range of integration models have been developed: therapeutic or occupational schemes; professional training; class room training interchanged with real work context; sheltered work; transition schemes or permanent subsidised jobs. By giving a step forward from previous projects in the field of lifelong learning (namely Grundtvig), partners aimed to establish a comprehensive approach to the European context of the changes in the sector professional profiles and the challenges of its human resources skills development. More than mainly mobility and mutual learning projects we wanted also to work in a more deep level and produce outputs together. Outputs that enable partners and other key stakeholders to go furthers in the training, advocacy and lobbying in the field of work integration of disadvantaged groups. EPP three specifics objectives were: i) to identify commune needs and challenges of training, qualification and certification of skills of professionals working in this sub-sector of social enterprises in EU, ii) to create instruments for intervention in the field of professional qualification of WISE and iii) to lay the foundation for a structured and strategic intervention of medium and long term partnership for advocacy and lobbying on the qualifications of WISE professionals To accomplish these objectives we have developed a work stream methodology were all partners have their own assignment role in a set of articulated activities, producing their own outputs and contributing to the output produced by the other partners. EPP produced 4 intellectual outputs: 1 exploratory study on the coaching and marketing functions in WISE in five European countries (A3S); 2 training packages addressed to the professionals carrying out coaching and marketing duties (Arbeit+ and SCF); 1 report to support European and national advocacy and lobbying activities in the field of WISE’ human resources training and qualification (ENSIE). Additionally to the initial plan, the UK partner produced an essay on Professional Development in WISE. The outputs production was based on a methodology of action research focused in ten case studies and in the sharing and debate of the interim results with the key stakeholders, through multiplier events (workshops, professional training and final seminar).Transnational meetings have also played an essential role by providing study visits to the case studies in the five European countries and by providing mutual learning with partners and with national stakeholders. Beyond the intellectual outputs, other important results were achieved by EPP. At the project’ staff personnel and professional level, at the level of partners organisations, at the level of the partnership and at the European level. The direct benefits are the strategies that are being followed after the end of the project such as advocacy and lobby meetings in Austria, training plans in Portugal and Italy, the creation of new section of tools in a web learning platform in the UK or the EPP dissemination by ENSIE. There are also new ideas for European projects to continue EPP work, strengthening ENSIE projects and positions on the WISE human resources qualification and certifications.