Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship “IO1 - Research on the existing legislation and tools for support of social entrepreneurship education” 2019-1-BE01-KA204-050396 1 Disclaimer The information, documentation and figures in this document are written by the “Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship” project consortium under the EU’s Erasmus+ Programme (Project 2019-1-BE01- KA204-050396) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission. The European Commission is not liable for any use that may be made of the information contained herein. 2 Contents Section 1: Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 4 Section 2: Desk research - Legislation, methodologies and good practices ........................................... 7 2.1. Social entrepreneurship at EU level ................................................................................................. 7 2.2. Social entrepreneurship in Belgium ............................................................................................... 14 2.3. Social entrepreneurship in Bulgaria ............................................................................................... 25 2.4. Social entrepreneurship in Croatia ................................................................................................. 36 2.5. Social entrepreneurship in Greece ................................................................................................. 53 2.6. Social entrepreneurship in Italy ..................................................................................................... 65 2.7. Social entrepreneurship in Latvia ................................................................................................... 82 Section 3: Field research ..................................................................................................................... 106 3.1. Belgium ......................................................................................................................................... 107 3.2. Bulgaria ......................................................................................................................................... 129 3.3. Croatia .......................................................................................................................................... 145 3.4. Greece .......................................................................................................................................... 160 3.5. Italy ............................................................................................................................................... 182 3.6. Latvia ............................................................................................................................................ 201 Section 4: Conclusions ......................................................................................................................... 216 References ........................................................................................................................................... 219 3 Section 1: Introduction In recent years there has been a steady growth in the number of social entrepreneurial ventures globally. A Social Enterprise is the way of using innovative solutions by startup companies and entrepreneurs to tackle social issues. Unlike regular businesses, profits are not distributed to owners or shareholders. They are reinvested in the company or used to fulfil a clear social goal such as: creating job opportunities; meeting health care need or preserving the environment. There are three models that could describe Social Entrepreneurship: Leveraged nonprofit ventures, Hybrid nonprofit ventures, Social business ventures.1 Social entrepreneurs are agents of positive change who address challenges through an enterprising approach. They develop businesses which trade for a social or environmental purpose, reinvest profits into their mission, and are accountable for their actions. They create jobs and bring hope to our most disadvantaged communities, delivering social, environmental and economic value. Through their innovative approaches to reduce inequalities, social enterprises might even provide a model for rebalancing how money and power are controlled.2 The main goal of a social entrepreneur is not to earn a profit, but rather to implement widespread improvements in society.3 Furthermore, challenging socioeconomic context of some EU countries has played a major role in the growth of the Social and Solidarity Economy sector since 2010, including factors such as a high unemployment rate, a lack of job security in the private and public sector, reduced public sector spending, and the emergence of political movements linked with the Social and Solidarity Economy. 1 Social entrepreneurship as an alternative for young unemployed. Erasmus Plus Project (2018): So Vet, Retrieved from https://sovet-project.eu/en/project/ 2https://www.britishcouncil.org/sites/default/files/british_council_social_entrepreneurship_in_education_web _final.pdf 3 Barone, A. (2020, February 3). The Aims of Social Enterprises. Retrieved from: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/social-enterprise.asp 4 However, social entrepreneurship is not a newly defined concept, on the contrary, social entrepreneurs have been around for a long time. What has changed over the years is the incremental acknowledgement of the importance of social entrepreneurship in and out of the business world nowadays. In Europe, the concept first appeared in the early 1990s associated with the community and voluntary sectors.4 Social entrepreneurship is a complex practice which is considered a social business practice in the US whereas in Europe, SE is primarily perceived to be a way of generating public benefit. There has been strong development in theory and business practices in this specialised field in the past fifteen years, but there has been less attention to education related to the field. Providing learners with a robust understanding of social entrepreneurship will enable further development of theory, strengthen practice and assist policy makers to design appropriate ways to address complex and entrenched issues of disadvantage.5 The aim of this research is to highlight the importance of education on the field of social entrepreneurship by analysing the existing legislation and the tools that support the field. This research is composed of two sections – the desk and the field research. In the desk research each partner will expose the current situation in their country in terms of legislation, methodologies, and good practices in social entrepreneurship. The field research is based on a survey applied to different groups of people that are in contact with social entrepreneurship as well as to sectors where social entrepreneurship education could be taught and introduced. Ever since the appearance of the concept of the "Invisible hand"6 by Adam Smith and Schumpeter´s concept of entrepreneurship, we can observe a fast development of entrepreneurship and private companies. One of the preconditions for the active participation of private companies in the market is a market economy based on freedom of competition. This freedom allows the entrepreneur to act as if he was guided by an "invisible 4 Apostolakis, C. (2011) ‘The role of higher education in enhancing social entrepreneurship’, Int. J. Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Vol. 1, No. 2, pp.124–137 (PDF) The role of higher education in enhancing social entrepreneurship. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264813267_The_role_of_higher_education_in_enhancing_social_e ntrepreneurship#fullTextFileContent 5 Douglas, H. 2015. Designing social entrepreneurship education. International Journal of Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation 3(5), 362-373 (PDF) Designing Social Entrepreneurship Education. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/288004364_Designing_Social_Entrepreneurship_Education 6 https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/definition/invisible-hand 5 hand" and thus acquires benefits not only for himself but also for his environment. In theory, then, the quality of life of individuals would depend on the number of entrepreneurs. To a large extent, this is the case, but due to the way of doing business of standard companies where (other than social) profit is the main goal, entrepreneurship at its core cannot solve the world's problems. So, in a world that is richer than ever, 800 million people are starving and living in poverty. A large number of people with physical disabilities cannot live a normal life due to a lack of understanding of society and the inability to find employment. Many governmental and non-governmental organisations are trying to alleviate these problems but cannot find a more lasting and sustainable solution. Social entrepreneurship is perhaps one of the solutions to address social problems. Whereas this model has existed already in the past, lately it has gained popularity, due to the growing self-consciousness in society of the own impact in sustaining and contributing to a fair and sustainable society and world overall. Unlike a common company, in a social company, profit is not the main goal of the business, although it is important for the very survival of the company. The main difference between a regular business and social entrepreneurship is that the latter strives for is