In the EU there is a general contraction in marginal areas of local economic activity in favour of their concentration in more densely populated areas, which of course leads to higher unemployment and poverty. These are conditions that also lead to the depopulation of these areas, with flows concentrating on larger urban areas. This socioeconomic gap means that large areas lack the ability to manage essential services, enhance or protect the environmental heritage (also mitigating the damage caused by climate change), commons and cultural assets. The reduced capacity of the territories is also due to a reduced entrepreneurial competence in the population that prevents the full realization of this potential, and the most difficult entities such as young adults and women; for both the cause is to refer to a reduced awareness of their entrepreneurial skills. Ultimately, in these territories there is a lack of endogenous capacity for participation in collective life, and therefore also reduced competences in the field of participation. One possible response to this scenario are Community Enterprises. They are socioeconomic entities that rely on the production of benefits for the reference communities through the involvement of citizens in the planning, production, financing and exploitation of activities. The CEs are therefore ideal places where renewed participation and responsible citizenship are expressed and enhanced. The project intends to invest in policies and instruments that facilitate these developments, while fulfilling a dual objective: to promote the employability of young people and women, at a disadvantage because they are lining in internal areas, and to respond to shared local needs. The aim is to provide support for the learning of skills needed to combat depopulation and impoverishment of marginal areas through the start-up of CEs. Young adults and women living in marginal areas who want to get back in the game in order to achieve greater social and work integration with a view to self-enterprise will be involved in the project as main target groups, with a particular focus on disadvantaged people; the target communities will also participate in the process.The project results will benefit to adult guidance and vocational system, which will have new tools available for this type of development. The project will produce: 1. Community Enterprise start-up form. It will be a path of skills development and active accompaniment at the start of a CE that will include a tool for self assessment of skills, a training path for the enhancement of entrepreneurial, vision and relationship skills, and operational models for Start-up phase. 2. Portal for Community Enterprise development. It will be an accessible and free online tool that allows to implement and use the tools referred to in the previous point. The methodology followed will be based on a rigorous scientific approach which, from the teaching point of view, will favor interactive and involvement methodologies, considering also the non- formal aspects and closely linking learning to concrete developments. An experimentation phase is foreseen to validate the processes. Up to now, the theme of the development of civil commitment and democratic participation in the life of the territories has been more developed on the activism level, often triggering subsidiarity processes which are mostly located in the voluntary sector. The project, on the other hand, intends to enhance the impact that these practices can have, placing them within a new economy that can promote, in addition to the growth of social and civil commitment, sustainable development, the theme of ECs, is, between the other, still underdeveloped in the EU, and therefore this proposal can make important contributions. Through the project it will be possible to increase the participatory skills and entrepreneurial skills of the target groups, in the CEs sector in particular by supporting their creation and diffusion, also thanks to the tools that will be made available, generating positive externalities both in terms of integration of people in difficulty and of creation fo jobs and sustainable development. In the long term, the project will be able to contribute to the strengthening of sustainable growth in the EU, in particular in internal areas, through the growth of ECs (the quality of the accompaniment of which will have been improved) which will lead to full entry into law enforcement policies to marginality.
The main objective of the project was to promote the development of Community Enterprises (ComEnters) with the aim of addressing the issues of depopulation and economic decline in marginalized areas, as well as the potential marginalization of certain groups, particularly young people and women. The project also aimed to enhance the capacity and skills of these groups for civic participation and engagement. This approach sought to achieve greater social inclusion for individuals at risk of marginalization while simultaneously meeting local needs and stewarding common resources in an innovative and democratic manner.
In the EU, there is a general trend towards the contraction of economic activity in marginal areas, with a preference for its concentration in more densely populated regions. This trend results in a reduced availability of opportunities for those residing in these marginalized areas, especially in addressing emerging needs, be they social, environmental, or economic. Local responses to these needs are often inadequate. Consequently, this situation hampers active participation in public life, ultimately diminishing overall quality of life. In light of these challenges, it has become necessary to take action to reverse these trends by investing in a specific type of enterprise, namely, community-based enterprises. These enterprises have the potential to revitalize these marginalized territories, foster integration, rekindle citizenship, and address contemporary challenges. To address the lack of appropriate support systems for these enterprises, this project was conceived. It aims to provide the necessary tools to facilitate this process and promote the establishment of Community Enterprises.