The Third Sector model is becoming increasingly more attractive as a prime provider of services in particular for the public sector as it falls in line with Government initiatives across the European Union, for example The Big Society in the UK and other regional responses to the financial difficulties of the last five years. When trained appropriately these organisations can be as effective, if not more so, in the delivery of products and services for local communities as they are committed to their social purpose. This brings vast amounts of added value to their work and a significant contribution of social and economic capital to individuals , local communities and the wider society. They are also overlooked as a growing source of employment crossing over a range of more traditional sectors such as public services, niche design and manufacture and hospitality and health. The project has been developed to overcome the lack of EU exchange of best practice and appropriate support models for social businesses, described within Objective 4, as a model of social business support (SBSM). The ultimate product is the OnlineIncubator which is the on-line platform hosting the SBSM and all of its functions: incubator for partnerships and mobilities; a model of European best practice for social enterprise support and training. The project partnership has been working on the proposal for several years and comprises SMEs (social enterprises), local authorities and a university. An essential outcome of this project proposal is access to greater mobility across the EU alongside the formal recognition of the lifelong learning that this will bring. New initiatives in training and business support models for social enterprises, voluntary/ community groups, co-operatives and regional hubs of expertise will be generated through this proposed initiative. New strategies for successful and innovative delivery will be developed and shared across the project teams. The current partnership has evolved over several years of working on this project proposal. Initially the partnership developed from contacts made via the Ecorys database, or from previous project partnerships. The innovative aspects of the project proposal are considerable and will lead significantly to the development of ‘future capital’ and European Added Value for each partner as a consequence of shared experience and best practice. The innovations within this project include the unification, development of shared good practice to support new start SMEs, social enterprises and the third sector; the sharing of good practice, especially with respect to innovative and interactive methodologies, for both TVET and adult education; the development of internships and work experience across the third sector of the EEA/ EU and the greater use of social media platforms for marketing, dissemination and communications which may not be innovative per se but is for the third sector. The aims of the project is (1) to bring together a network of likeminded agencies, Social Business support providers (SBSPs) to cooperate and support the development and growth of social enterprises and co-operatives across Europe through the development of sector-led training. This forms the basis of the Social Business Support Model (SBSM). This new network will share expertise and experience and then transfer that knowledge to new or emerging community based initiatives through training, dissemination events and using various ICT models, particularly social networking. (2) In keeping with the processes of ECVET and EQAVET as identified within ET 2020, another key aim of this project is to work towards the standardization of the accreditation of social business support models and training and to give it a currency which can lead to progression to formal academic education if wished. Key Aim of the Project: The project will develop an integrated pan-European approach to the educational and training support of social business in all of its forms. Objectives By the end of the project, the following would be completed …….. 1. To identify and analyse stakeholders and existing Social Business Support Providers (SBSPs) across Europe to identify specific needs. 2. To establish the OnlineIncubator which is a platform for communication, co-operation, training and resources. 3. The exchange of training and best practice of SBSPs/ infrastructures across Europe. 4. To develop a model of social business support (SBSM) 5. To establish a European (global) network of social business support providers (SBSPs) The project is in line with the General Objectives of Erasmus Plus, which is the implementation of the EU2020 and ET2020 strategies and the EU HE Modernization Strategy of 2011, in particular the emphasis on capacity building, harmonization of training and the development of strategic partnerships.
Social enterprises are an important driver for inclusive growth and play a key role in tackling current economic and environmental challenges. It is estimated that they employ some 14.5 million people, 6.5% of the workforce in the European Union. The European Commission has given support to the development of social enterprises and in 2011 has launched the Social Business Initiative. Yet, only eight countries (Bulgaria, Greece, France, Italy, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Sweden, and United Kingdom) have a policy framework in place to encourage and support the development of social enterprises. In addition, “the lack of business support and development structures, training, and workforce development” is one of the five main barriers faced by social enterprises, according to the first in-depth study on mapping social entrepreneurship in all member states commissioned by the European Commission. This barrier in training and support was also identified in a report by Richardson (2013) commissioned by the School for Social Entrepreneurs (SSE), which brought together public authorities and social enterprise organisations with extensive experience of developing strategies to support social enterprises. SENSCOT (2015) has made the following recommendations to policy makers, in terms of start up support and training: • Start-up support should be provided at two levels: mainstream business advisers should be capable of giving initial advice, and should signpost potential social entrepreneurs to a specialist support infrastructure, well linked to existing federal and support bodies of the social economy • Training for social entrepreneurs should focus on leadership • Training support should be provided that is appropriate to the enterprise life-cycle; start-up support of should include new business creation but also also worker takeovers and growth plans, include diversification, replication, acquisition and stronger relationships with conventional enterprises. • Networking capacity of social enterprises should be geared by supporting scaling and replication mechanisms such as social franchising • Social Impact Measurement methods which provide an evidence base should be supported The project aimed to address the lack of business support and development structures, training, and workforce development by developing an online incubator for social enterprises where they are able to offer technical support, training and achieve knowledge transfer from the most advanced countries/regions (UK, Germany) to countries with least experience (Cyprus) but also by creating a common curricula for the managers and trainers of these support structures, which will include thematic units as SENCOT has identified. The recommendations made by SENSCOT were: • Social Entrepreneurship (for mainstream business advisors) • Leadership for Social Entrepreneurs • Social Impact Measurement Tool • Social Franchising One of the essential outcomes of this project proposal was access to greater mobility across the EU alongside the formal recognition of the lifelong learning that this will bring. New initiatives in training and business will support models for social businesses and were generated through this initiative. New strategies for successful and innovative delivery were developed and shared across the project teams. The project was in line with the General Objectives of Erasmus Plus, which is explicitly, the implementation of the EU2020 and ET2020 strategies and the EU HE Modernization Strategy of 2011, with particular emphasis on capacity building, harmonization of training and the development of strategic partnerships. The project was also committed to the Priorities of the 2015 Call especially the priorities previously identified and in addition: the development and ultimate accreditation of basic life skills as well as transversal skills such as innovation and creativity, working with under-represented groups as part of a commitment to Equality and Inclusion, and using new and innovative approaches to teaching and learning. The conceptualization of the project owes much to the social inclusion dimension of Leuven and Louvain-la-Neuve communiqué (2009) and the Bucharest communiqué of 2012 with its emphasis on providing higher education for all, enhancing employability and strengthened mobility. The project aim was to develop an integrated pan-European approach to the educational and training support of social business in all of its forms.