Tavoite

SOCENT SPAs will contribute to increase the regions competitiveness through social entrepreneurship in SPAs. More specifically, the action will foster interregional cooperation among six public and private non-profit entities of Finland, Germany, Slovakia and Spain in a view to improve by 2021 the effectiveness of their respective regional policies in actively supporting the visibility, incubation and acceleration of social entrepreneurs in SPAs as a driver to regional competitiveness and inclusive growth

 

A strong social economy is fundamental to tackle major challenges faced today by European societies; however, SEs face legislative barriers impeding them to implement satisfying solutions to social challenges. Governments are uniquely positioned to play a significant role in influencing the potential for SEs’ success by using their regulatory/legal powers to set up the right framework for SEs across sectors/geographical areas. For policymakers to have a solid understanding of the ‘state of the nation’ in terms of social innovation within their region, the Action, through its learning process and communication strategy, will raise their awareness i) on the social entrepreneurship framework, enabling them to gain insights into how to create more favorable conditions for SEs; ii) on social innovations organizational outputs and societal outcomes, enabling them to gain insights into social innovation impacts to best target support; iii) on entrepreneurial activities that produce social innovations, enabling them to better understand how social innovation emerges and how well it develops in societies

 

Through the learning process, the partners will learn what works best in different environments and will be able to design/implement adequate action plans aiming at integrating the lessons learnt into their policy instrument

 

Thanks to interregional cooperation, awareness raising and proposed appropriate instruments, the Action will engage policymakers to improve the policies

Tulokset

Enhanced the interregional cooperation and synergies among regional public and private non-profit bodies of the social economy of the target regions on the promotion and support of social entrepreneurship in sparsely populated regions

  • Raised awareness among public/regional authorities and key stakeholders on social entrepreneurship as an integral part of the SMEs eco-system and a driving force to influence the competitiveness of the regions and to ensure inclusive growth, social cohesion, and equal opportunities

  • Enhanced the target policy markers’ capacities in assessing the needs of social entrepreneurs from SPAs and appropriately address them

  • Improved the instrument policy strategic focus of the target sparsely populated areas in a view to support especially social entrepreneurs in SPAs

  • Improved understanding of the social entrepreneurship concept in the sector of services thanks to interregional cooperation

  • Identified and removed the barriers for social entrepreneurship support in the target SPAs

  • Enhanced knowledge on creating running effective support mechanism for service oriented social entrepreneurship start-ups in SPAs from other regions’ experience

  • Best practices of service oriented social entrepreneurship identified through interregional cooperation and implemented through specific action plans in the target regions

  • Improved support infrastructures (counselling, coaching) for social entrepreneurs in SPAs

  • Established support mechanisms and a favorable environment for social entrepreneurship start-ups

  • Created an ecosystem of service oriented social entrepreneurs in SPAs of target regions through   international linkages