Study on the social enterprises ecosystem in Emilia-Romagna RaiSE Enhancing social enterprises competitiveness through improved business support policies This publication only reflects the author’s views. The programme authorities are not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained therein Contents Summary 1. Definition and Criteria in the regional context 2. Characteristics and development of social enterprises 3. Needs assessment and main challenges for scaling social enterprises 4. Ecosystem of business support tools and instruments 5. Gap analysis and policy recommendations Annex 1 Interview Grid Annex 2 Summary of the Interviews Bibliography Sitography – enterprises involved in the mapping 1 SUMMARY This research project was carried out within the framework of the European RaiSE Interreg Europe project, whose objective is to improve regional policy instruments for the competitiveness and sustainability of social enterprises. The development agencies involved in the project - from Emilia-Romagna, Catalonia, Ireland, Scotland, Hungary (Budapest) and Orebro (Sweden) - mapped the economy and social entrepreneurship ecosystems in their respective regional contexts, bringing out a highly varied and interesting scenario. ERVET internal working group, in charge of mapping and analysing the needs of the Emilia-Romagna social cooperatives and enterprises, involved the regional project stakeholders (Emilia-Romagna Region, Legacoop, Confcooperative, AGCI, Forum del Terzo Settore, Aster, ANCI). These contributed to identifying the survey sample whilest AICCON (Italian Association for the Promotion of the Culture of Cooperation and Non Profit) supported the work from the scientific point of view. Chapter 1 of the research report outlines the framework for social enterprises starting from the definition given by the European Commission and describes the social economy context in Emilia-Romagna. Chapter 2 explores the characteristics of social enterprises from a legal point of view in Italy and Emilia-Romagna, by highlighting the potentials, and characteristics of social enterprises and cooperatives in Emilia-Romagna. Chapter 3 describes the methodological approach used to carry out the survey, the way in which the sample was selected and the interview grid was constructed. This chapter also includes an analysis of the data collected for each company in terms of: Mission and organizational culture, Main areas of activity; System of relations; Change processes; Strategic development lines; Social impact; Organizational development; Geographical reference size; Perception of the need to change; Training for employees; Entrepreneurship and economic resources Chapter 4 outlines the ecosystem of policy and financial instruments supporting social enterprises at national and regional level, while Chapter 5 presents policy recommendations to promote the competitiveness of social enterprises. Annex 1 contains the grid of the interview administered to the managers of the mapped social enterprises while Annex 2 features a summary of the 21 interviews that were conducted. 2 1. Definition and Criteria in the regional context Recently, policies at national and European level have recognised the importance of social enterprises in contributing to development, promoting growth, triggering virtuous paths to exit from the crisis and reducing unemployment. This originates from the common awareness – also confirmed by research, studies and official documents of the European Union - of the need to promote the overcoming of the traditional binary model of market-plus-State in order to achieve the progress objectives that the European countries have set themselves. Although there is now widespread use of the term social enterprise and gradual agreement on its meaning at the European level, social enterprises are still conceived in very different ways in the individual national laws, in the strategic policies, and even in the relevant literature. In the “Social Business Initiative”, launched in 2011 to promote the development of a more competitive social economy market, the Commission defined the social enterprise as a business characterised by the following: social aims and the common good as the main reason of any commercial activity, often accompanied by a high degree of social innovation; reinvesting earnings in order to achieve the social objectives set; internal organization that reflects the social and ethical nature of business through democratic and participatory decision-making processes inspired by the idea of social justice. The 2014 report titled “A map of social enterprises and their eco-systems in Europe1” and its 2016 update make this definition effective by identifying three dimensions, which in turn are made up of several indicators. The first dimension, called entrepreneurial, refers to the provision of goods and services which distinguish social enterprises from non-profit enterprises. The social dimension, on the other hand, reflects the social inclination of an enterprise within the wider for-profit market scenario. Finally, the governance dimension aims to recognise the actual social orientation of such an enterprise, expressed through the inclusion of social objectives as the foundation of the organization and implemented through mechanisms of "locking in" the objectives. A social enterprise therefore arises from the combination of the three elements mentioned above. It is part of the broader spectrum of Social Economy which is defined as follows: "all formally constituted enterprises with decision-making autonomy set up to meet the needs of their members through the production of goods and the provision of services (including insurance and financial ones), where both the decision-making process and the distribution of profits are not directly linked to the share of capital paid in by each member2.” 1 European Commission (2016), Social enterprises and their eco-systems: Developments in Europe 2 CIRIEC (2007), The Social Economy in the European Union, publication for the EESC, in: <http://www.socialeconomy.eu.org/IMG/doc/A_DI_CES97-2007_DI_en-rev.doc>. 3 The Emilia-Romagna Region has long been engaged in a process of revising the concept of development to highlight the important role of the social dimension, through the development of integrated instruments aimed at promoting Social Economy in its geographical area. The survey titled "Un altro welfare: esperienze generative3" (Another welfare: generative experiences) - carried out in 2011 by the Regional Social Policy Department, ERVET and AICCON - has brought out the value generated by the Social Economy. The Social Economy represents one of the "products" with the highest added value in the Region, one which has played and continues to play a decisive role both in terms of social cohesion and leverage for local development. Social Economy organizations also represent a point of excellence in the territory: the presence and activity of social enterprises, social cooperatives, associations and voluntary organizations contribute to create and consolidate the regional social and economic fabric. Indeed, the Social Economy and the added value it produces in a certain area (at economic, social, institutional, cultural or environmental level), contribute to improving its competitiveness with a positive impact on the community, the local businesses and the functioning of the Public Administration. Alone the presence of non-profit organizations in a certain area is a proxy indicator of development. A competitive territory favours the competitiveness of companies which are based there and generates innovative processes at different levels. The literature has repeatedly analysed the close link between competitiveness and the relations established within a certain area. The systematic and permanent interaction of the three vertices of the triangle representing the whole of society, i.e. the vertex of the political and institutional sphere, the vertex of the commercial sphere and the one of the civil sphere, becomes fundamental for the development and growth of a community4. As pointed out in the "Welfare e Benessere: il ruolo delle imprese nello sviluppo della comunità5" (Welfare and well-being: the role of enterprises in community development) study in 2014, policies and practices that increase the competitiveness of a company also improve the economic and social conditions of the communities in which it operates. 3 Regione Emilia-Romagna (2011), Un altro welfare: esperienze generative, in: http://sociale.regione.emiliaromagna.it/documentazione/pubblicazioni/ricerche-e-statistiche/ricerca- welfare.pdf 4 Zamagni, S. (2012), Lo sviluppo dell’Economia civile, in P. Venturi e S. Rago (a cura di), Federalismo fiscale e disuguaglianze territoriali: il ruolo dell’Economia civile, proceedings of Le Giornate di Bertinoro 2011 – XI ed., AICCON 5 Regione Emilia-Romagna (2014), Welfare e Ben-essere: il ruolo delle imprese nello sviluppo della comunità, in http://sociale.regione.emilia-romagna.it/documentazione/pubblicazioni/prodotti-editoriali/ricerca- 201cwelfare-eben-essere-il-ruolo-delle-imprese-nello-sviluppo-della comunita/at_download/file 4 The enterprise thus becomes a primary actor in development through the creation of shared value, i.e. the creation of economic value on top of value for the society, thus responding to its needs and challenges6 (Figure 1). This survey investigates some case studies concerning shared value production by for-profit businesses