PROJECT "PROMOTION OF AND SUPPORT TO SOCIAL ENTERPRISES” TEP: North Barese Ofantino

TYPOLOGY Insertion

TRANSVERSAL THEMES COVERED Environment TERRITORIAL AREA INTERESTED 8 Townships out of the 9 in the North Barese Ofantino territorial Pact for employment: , Corato, , , Barletta, Canosa, Trinitapoli, Margherita di Savoia.

Key factors having contributed to the launch of the initiative In 1997, when the Pact action plan drafting was started and an in-depth debate about the initiatives for employment and social development to be carried out in the territory was taking place, the partners assessed the need to foster the creation of tertiary-sector enterprises in 9 Pact Townships. The purpose was to promote the development and improvement of the area public interest services. On the one hand, it was necessary to assess the latent need for such services, on the other to foster the emerging of a services new offer. A sector survey, carried out after a course held in Andria on the “management of social co-operatives”, highlighted the territory insufficient offer with regard to: personal services; environmental and territorial services; tourist services (in particular social tourism); cultural services; recreational services, sport and leisure time services. From the very beginning, the idea was to rely upon social co-operatives for a territorial development of the necessary services offer. Therefore, within the Pact, an action to promote this kind of entrepreneurship was envisaged aiming at the creation and development of services within the sectors in need of supply.

ORGANISATION CONTACT Agenzia per l’Occupazione e lo Sviluppo Ruggiero NANULA and Antonio COMASTRI dell’Area Nord Barese Ofantina s.c.a.r.l. (Agency for Development and Employment in the area Tel. +39. 0883 578601/2 North Barese Ofantina) Fax +39. 0883 578604 Castello Svevo of Barletta [email protected] BARLETTA (BA) Italy

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Project's description The partners have agreed upon the introduction in the action plan of North Barese Ofantino Pact of a specific action for promotion and support of social co-operatives. The action has been financed within the Multi-regional Operational Plan “Local development”, ob.1 Italy (December 1998).

In April 1999, the pact issued a public call to assign grants for the establishment and/or development of territorial and population services by tertiary-sector/social co-operatives. The call aimed at supporting both the projects for new co-operatives and the projects for upgrading and consolidate those already operating on the territory. Through a “Services Conference”, with the participation of townships and the social partnership of the Pact, a dissemination and awareness-raising campaign for the actual and potential users of financial facilitations was launched, in order to have the highest possible number of projects to be selected.

On the whole territory 33 projects have been selected: 18 (55%) for implementation of new activities; 15 (45%) for upgrading and consolidation of already existing activities. 13 projects deal with the development of daily life services; 10 with the development of life quality services; 8 aim at developing cultural and leisure time services; 2 concern environmental services. Among the projects funded, a 50% is dedicated to the elderly and the disabled. 191 people are employed in the 33 projects implementation.

Objectives and target groups The call rationale was in particular the creation of B type social co-operatives and the support to the already existing ones, in order to plan and implement still insufficiently spread public services. Up to that moment, these services had been managed by the local Governments through approximately 1% of their annual budget. As far as the services offer is concerned, the target groups are the unemployed and people at risk of social exclusion. With regard to the demand, the target groups are families, elderly people, the disabled, children and young people at risk of deviation.

Partners: names, type, roles / competencies and contributions The 9 Townships of the North Barese Ofantino territorial Pact for employment, schools, including the only school for social services training located in the territory, volunteering Associations and Confcooperative (Co-operatives Association), trade unions. They all have initially boosted the intervention. Currently, there is a monitoring and accompanying group for the initiatives under implementation.

Project's piloting structure In its planning step the project has been piloted by the Pact social partnership; in the operation and dissemination step of Pact envisaged opportunities, by the “Services Conference”, with the participation of all the townships: in the operational step, it has been piloted by an animator and by the Board of Directors Deputy Chairman of the Agency for development and employment in the area. 2

WHAT HAS BEEN ACHIEVED ?

Innovation For the first time a development action in the tertiary sector is carried out in the North Barese Ofantino area. If, on the one hand, the demand trend is still to be assessed since the services are not fully operational, on the other some difficulties have arisen in making the potential suppliers understand that the social co-operatives system can produce employment, also with qualified jobs, and that by now it has become an integral part of the European economic systems. The first course on social co-operatives management, held between 1997 and 1998, has however turned out human resources sufficiently trained to establish a first co-operatives network. In any case, they need a further staff training and qualification and it is necessary to find within the Pact local Governments an environment suitable to carry out services agreements, mainly to meet the demand.

Results realised and expected A strong training commitment is requested to the beneficiaries in order to be able to adjust the services supplied to the quality demanded by users/consumers/customers (local Governments and population). As far as job creation is concerned, as of today 30 people have been employed in the various beneficiary social co-operatives. At the end of the actions, taking into account that out of 33 projects only 22 will be fully implemented, it is foreseeable that 127 people will be employed.

WHAT IS THE COST?

Initial investment (material, immaterial) and financing source : Total public funding committed for 33 projects as of 31 December 1999; 1.291 million Euros Funding presently granted to 22 already started projects: 946,204 Euros The private sector co-financing amounts to no less than 25% of the public contribution for each project.

Income The figure is not available since it is held by the financial management subject (bank).

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Demographic, social, economic, political and cultural characteristics Territorial surface : 1 413.36 km2 Per head GDP : 71% of EU average Total population: 354 676 Active population: 36.9% Unemployment rate : 25.8%

Employment distribution by sector: * agriculture, fishery, forestry 14% * industry 38% * tertiary 48%

Conditions Technical conditions: To have implemented or to foresee the implementation of a territorial study aimed at underlining three basic conditions: the latent and undeclared demand; the potential offer, including the professional training and human resources qualification within these sectors; a participant political environment propitious to the social and employment impact of the initiative.

Political and legal conditions: A basic “political” agreement concerning the division of services between those to be directly supplied by the local Governments through their own staff and those to be supplied with some functions tasked to outside subjects or entirely externally carried out services. A gradually decreasing support to services demand within contexts not accustomed to request family (in particular for elderly and disabled) and environmental services.

Transfer procedures and costs Estimated transfer costs and procedures (in EURO): The costs concern the territorial study carried out by experts, with partnership support, and the technical assistance to start up the initiatives.

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