guide of good practices in social economy in italy and greece

GUIDE OF GOOD PRACTICES
IN SOCIAL ECONOMY
IN ITALY AND GREECE
Syros, November 2015
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface
2
Introduction: Brief review on Social Economy internationally and in Europe
2
Α. Legal framework for S.E. in Italy and Greece
5
Α.1. Legal framework in Italy
5
Α.2. Legal framework in Greece
5
Α.2.1. Brief historic review
5
Α.2.2. Contemporary legislative framework (non exhaustive)
6
Α.2.3. Brief analysis of the legislative framework
7
Β. Models of social economy in Italy and Greece
8
Β.1. Social economy models in Italy
8
Β.2. Social economy models in Greece
9
C. Good practices of implementing S.E. in Italy and Greece
10
C.1. Good practices in Italy
10
C.2. Good practices in Greece
12
D. Assessment of S.E. in Greece and proposals for transferring and implementing good practices
14
D.1. Assessment of S.E.: Difficulties and challenges
14
D.2. Proposals for the development of S.E.
15
References
17
1
PREFACE
The present Guide was carried out by the Development Agency of Cyclades SA within the framework
of Transnational Cooperation (Action 6: Transnationality for knowhow exchange in social entrepreneurship issues) of the project entitled “Promoting Social Economy for Supporting and Integrated
Inclusion of Unemployed in the Cyclades Prefecture”, implemented by the Development Partnership
“Social Partnership in the Cyclades Prefecture”, as a Local Action for Employment (TOPSA) and financed by the Operational Program “Human Resources Development” within the National Strategic
Reference Framework (NSRF) 2007-2013. Municipality of Collegno, in Turin area, Italy, is the transnational partner of the project.
The main project goal is the professional and, subsequently, the social integration of the project’s
beneficiaries through creation of a viable development model that will promote both employment,
and business start-up with respect to the possibilities offered on local level and those provided by
the social economy activities. At a higher scale, the project aims at the spreading of this promotion
to employment model in other areas of the economy and the society that will be able to “copy” it
and apply it as a benchmark in order to solve own problems under similar conditions.
The Guide is structured upon the following chapters:
 Comparative report of the conditions that gave birth to the so-called «Social Economy»
(S.E.) internationally and especially in the two countries under examination (Italy and
Greece), as well as of the social, economic, political and institutional framework that shaped
these conditions.
 Description and analysis of the S.E. models and implementation methods that were developed and applied in the two countries during the years, depending on the different areas.
 Identification and assessment of good practices of applied S.E., especially of good practices
of the so-called “Social Entrepreneurship”.
 Examination of the possibilities and means in order to transfer and apply good practices in
Greece.
This structure aims at drawing conclusions and shaping proposals that could be utilized as:
 Guidelines for becoming active in the sector, by the project’s beneficiaries and other interested parties.
 Supporting decision making tool to be used by those involved in the design and implementation of policies in the area of S.E. and the field of human resources development and social
policy in general.
 Resource and bibliographic reference for those involved in the design of programs and actions to encourage, promote and support S.E.
INTRODUCTION: Brief review on S.E. internationally and in Europe
Various organisations have been activating on international level in the area of S.E. since several
decades.
Especially after the early 1980s’ and having as staring point the Great Britain of the “iron” primeminister M. Thatcher, there has been a systematic deconstruction of the western post-war social
State and a gradual deregulation or decontrol of the economic markets and, consequently, of the
labour markets. This has led to the State becoming unable to cover several basic social needs and
similar situations became apparent in most Western Europe countries in which similar economic
policies were implemented. Parallel or even worse gaps took place during the 1990s’ in the Central
and Eastern European countries, after the collapse of the so-called “actually existing socialism” regimes in these countries.
Local authorities (Regions and Municipalities) were the first that came in to fill those gaps. They have
achieved - and often still do achieve - remarkable results in several sectors in the last two decades,
2
mainly on those of social welfare and primary health care, usually with State, and mostly European
Union, subsidies. However, it has become evident that, on the one hand, these activities do not
cover any more important parts of the new, emerging social needs, and, on the other hand, the viability of the structures and services developed by the local authorities has come to a critical point,
since it depends directly from the input of external resources that local administrations have difficulty in drawing.
This situation together with the strengthening of the so-called “Civil Society” movements during the
last decades, have led to an impressive growth of the role of Social Economy, which has changed
from old-fashioned agricultural and labour cooperatives to modern start-ups and incubators for social enterprises, networks between social cooperatives, etc.
Worldwide today social economy is an “industry” of more than 1.1 trillion dollars turnover. If nonprofit organizations are included, the social economy sector provides full employment to 19 million
people. According to the data available, in Europe there are about 2 million social economy enterprises and organizations, representing about 10% of the total business sector, that provide employment to 6.6% of the working population un EU-15.
This remarkable development of the S.E. sector in Europe is heavily due to the policies of European
Union and the funding coming from EU funds. European Commission has especially focused on the
sector within the 2007-2013 programming period framework, and also within the new 2014-2020
programming period framework, through measures included in the Social Business Initiative – SBI,
established in2011.
(http://ec.europa.eu/growth/smes/promoting-entrepreneurship/we-work-for/socialeconomy/enterprises/index_en.htm ).
3
4
Α. Legal framework for S.E. in Italy and Greece
Α.1. Legal framework in Italy
The main legislative framework related to S.E. includes the following:
Law 49/1987 for development NGOs
Law 266/1991, «Legge Quadro sul volontariato» (Framework Law for voluntary work)
 Law 381/1991: the main law for social cooperatives
 Legislative Decree 460/1997 for Onlus (Non-profit enterprises for social benefit)
 Law 68/1999
 Law 328/2000
 Legislative Decree 276/2003
 Law 118/2005 and Legislative Decree 155/2006 «Disciplina dell'impresa sociale» for social enterprises), as a complementary Act to Law 381/1991.
 Legislative Decree 163/2006.
Italian Social Cooperatives
Social cooperatives started in Italy in 1963, based on the concept that solidarity can take a business
form in practice, within the framework of a cooperative. The institutional framework for social cooperatives was set in 1991 under the Law 381/1991 that provided them with social recognition and a
set of rules. According to article 1 of the Law, the objective of social cooperatives is «to pursue the
general benefit of local societies and promote social inclusion of the population via a) the management of social, educational and health services, and b) carrying out of various activities, such as agricultural, industrial and commercial, or services, aiming at beneficial employment of vulnerable people”, which should be at least the 30% of the total employees.
The Law also sets the requirements for the cooperative to be able to register in the National Registry
of Social Cooperatives. According to the Law, there can be four legal forms of social cooperatives:
- Type A cooperatives that provide social, educational and health services.
- Type B cooperatives that provide employment schemes for socially vulnerable groups to be
included in the labour market.
- Mix Type cooperatives, as a mix of the previous two types.
- Joint ventures that are second level organizations built upon the cooperation of various legal
entities are structured as a cooperative business and at least 70% of their members are social cooperatives.
Α.2. Legal framework in Greece
Α.2.1. Brief historic review:
Even though is seems difficult to realize it, S.E. has a history of over 300 years in Greece. It was the
cooperative enterprises of the time that created flourishing local economies and dragged whole villages or areas out of poverty. The most known one was the “Common Brotherhood of Ampelakia”
that was founded in the Ampelakia area in Thessaly in the late 16th century and was activated on
cotton cultivation and commerce. All the inhabitants of the area were shareholders in this innovative cooperative: Land owners provided their land; capital holders provided economic resources,
while handymen and labour workers offered their work.
During the first decades of the 20th century the first cooperatives started to emerge. For example,
the Agricultural Cooperative of Almyros in Magnissia area was founded as early as 1900. Unfortunately, after the 1970s’ their evolution was undermined, mainly by the State, which used them for
years as a means for practicing social policies, not to mention that most of them were packed with
excessive and usually unsuitable personnel, with disastrous effects on their status and operation
cost.
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Α.2.2. Contemporary legal framework (non exhaustive):
 Law 1541/1985: This was the launching framework for the development of women’s agro touristic cooperatives that have had a remarkable growth and most of them continue to be successful
up to date.
 Law 1667/1986: This law allowed for non-agricultural cooperative to set up. Consumers’ cooperatives faced a number of problems, similar to the ones of agricultural cooperatives mentioned
above. On the other hand, retail cooperatives, mostly associated with public services’ personnel
and personnel of large private and public organizations, have showed a steady growth.
 Law 2076/1992: This was the founding law for cooperative credit institutions (banks) that did
well, with the aid of State subsidies, until the recent crisis in Greece emerged.
 Law 2716/1999: In 1999, the Greek Government established a legal framework that supported
the creation of social cooperatives of limited liability for people with mental health problems
(Kinonikos Sineterismos Periorismenis Efthinis” or Koi.S.P.E.). Koi.S.P.E. is an organizational form
that encompasses the status of both an independent trading enterprise and an official mental
health unit. The law regulated the ownership and employees of Koi.S.P.E.s as follows: at least
35% of the employees must come from the target group of people with mental health problems;
up to 45% can be mental health professionals, while up to another 20% can be other individuals
and sponsoring organizations. Koi.S.P.E.s can receive State aid and are exempt from corporate
taxes (except VAT). The law also stated that those who work for a Koi.S.P.E. may earn a wage
without losing their social benefits. The first Koi.S.P.E. was established in November 2002 on the
island of Leros involving mentally health patients from the Leros psychiatric hospital as well as
individuals from the local community. The structure received unanimous acceptance and participation of the local community and authorities. Almost immediately after its establishment, it
started its productive activities and was soon recognized as a good practice example of social
and economic reintegration of persons with mental health disorders.
 Law 4019/2011 on "Social Economy and Social Entrepreneurship": Until this law, business activities in the field of S.E. were fragmented, without any central State support. It is worth mentioning that that the first two national laws exclusively on S.E. within EU Member States come from
the two countries most severely hurt by the crisis: Spain and Greece, both enacted in 2011. The
law-making process in Greece lasted more than five years. The quality and impact of the social
cooperative enterprises created has been subject of scientific and political debate. This law offers the possibility to groups of individuals to set up a Social Cooperative Enterprise (SCE or
“KoinSEP”), as one of three types of social enterprises described below:
- Social Cooperative Enterprises for Inclusion: These enterprises focus on social and economic
inclusion of vulnerable groups (e.g. disabled persons, drug addicts or former drug addicts,
young offenders, etc.). Furthermore, at least 40% of their employees must come from these
social groups at risk.
- Social Cooperative Enterprises for Social Care: These enterprises focus on providing social
services for specific population groups such as elders, infants, kids and people with chronic
diseases.
- Social Cooperative Enterprises for Collective/Productive purposes: These enterprises are active in the field of promoting local and collective interests, supporting employment, fostering social cohesion and local or regional development. They focus on the production of
goods and the supply of services in the sectors of culture, environment, education, exploitation of local products, support of traditional occupations etc.
A specific role in the implementation of the Law has been assigned to the General Registry for
S.E. and the Sub-Registry for SCEs, which was established in 2012 under the responsibility of the
Ministry of Labour.
All these form the main legal background for the start-up and the operation of social enterprises.
The registered enterprises are eligible for funding by the National Fund for Entrepreneurship and
Development and can benefit from various legal arrangements and incentives. Resources can
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come from donations, income from business activities, subsidies from the Public Investments
Program and EU, etc.
Α.2.3. Brief analysis of the legal framework:
Law 4019/2011 is undoubtedly a very positive fact for the development of S.E in Greece, since it
provides the necessary framework for the social cooperatives to be legally recognized within real
economy and, consequently, within society. It is mainly based on the good legal practice of Italy (Law
381/1991), as Italy stands for several years now in the forefront of S.E. also from a legal perspective.
However, the Law is rather restrictive as to its scope, since it regulates only a part of the S.E. sector,
which is the social cooperatives, now on called SCEs. This means that all the other initiatives or organizations that activate already or wish to activate in the sector and do not (or do not want to) fulfill the requirements set for a SCE, are obliged either to adjust to the form of a SCE, or to find another legal framework to adapt to, thus perpetuating legal fragmentation and bureaucracy.
Also, the law imposes a considerable number of formalities and obligations on social enterprises.
Initially, the rationale of this administrative control mechanism was that social enterprises registered
in the Social Entrepreneurship Registry would automatically be awarded direct access to special
funding instruments and fiscal benefits. In this light, the level of control was considered necessary to
avoid cases of abuse of this favorable legal treatment. However, the excessive bureaucracy has led
to confusion and discouraged entrepreneurs from taking advantage of the legislation.
Furthermore, some provisions of the law are still not fully implemented, such as the establishment
of the Social Economy Fund, the publication of the SCEs’ implementation reports on the internet, the
inter-ministerial committee for “social reference contracts”, and fiscal advantages available to social
enterprises were abolished as part of the horizontal type cuts of privileges under Greece’s fiscal adjustment program.
On the other hand, one has to admit that the enacting of the law sets a milestone in Greece since for
the first time the concept of economic profit from a cooperative business activity becomes legally
acceptable, and S.E. joins the field of competitive economy. This comes in contrast to the numerous
non-profit legal entities, for which profit is officially prohibited, in exchange for nearly exemption
from taxes, and their function and real social contribution are hardly monitored or controlled.
It should be noted though that the deficiencies aforementioned are already visible at political level
and a revision of the law is under way, so that cooperative legislation is unified and all specific cases
are covered, on the basis of best practices from other countries. More specifically, the objective is to
support the development of social and solidarity economy initiatives in several dynamic sectors,
such as agro-food sector, tourism, new technologies, energy and environment.
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Β. Models of social economy in Italy and Greece
Β.1. Social economy models in Italy
According to the data of the Italian Statistic Authority (Istat1), at the end of 2011 there was a total of
301,191 S.E. enterprises, showing an increase of 28% compared to 2001 and an increase of their personnel by 39.4%.
As recorded by Istat, the typology of services provided by non-profit enterprises per sector is as follows:
 Culture, sport and recreation: organizing sport events (23.7%).
 Education and research: nursery services and education (33.3%), vocational training and counseling (28.2%).
 Health services: blood and organ donation (33.6%), emergency care and transport (19%).
 Social support and protection: social inclusion of socially vulnerable groups (27.5%), social and
training support (24.2%).
 Environmental services: environmental protection (47%), pet accommodation and care services
(22.4%).
 Economic development and social cohesion: promotion to employment in companies or cooperatives (49.3%).
The total turnover of non-profit organizations is estimated at 64 billion Euros, whereas total expenses are at the level of 57 billion Euros, thus leaving a gross profit of about 7 billion Euros.
Hereafter, we will focus on the dominant model of Social Cooperatives. Information on the other
available models of S.E. in Italy are given in the Transnational Guide to Social Entrepreneurship carried out by the Center for Research and Development of the Holy Episcopacy of Syros within the
scope of the current transnational cooperation.
It should be made clear that social cooperatives, as defined in the Italian legislation, refer to the legal form of the organizations. In terms of the legal framework, however, the term in use is Social
Enterprises (Imprese Sociali), which does not refer to a different legal form but to a legal “identity”
that can be obtained by any organization that fulfils a number of predetermined criteria set by law,
regardless of its proprietary or organizational state.
Social Cooperatives:
As recorded in September 2011, 11,808 social cooperatives were active in Italy at the time, and their
associations had risen by 57.7% since the previous 6 years. Their personnel count more than 350,000
employees. Apart from these, another 30,000 people from socially vulnerable groups that have been
employed by “Type B” (inclusion into labor market) social cooperatives should also be encountered.
The biggest national confederation of social cooperatives is Federsolidarietẚ-Confcooperative
(www.federsolidarieta.confcooperative.it). It represents its members, and it supports them in unionlike, legal, technical and economic issues. It also promotes and develops social cooperatives by training their leaders, transferring of good practices, research and piloting of innovative activities and by
organizing conferences and seminars.
By the end of 2011, Federsolidarietẚ-Confcooperative included 5,721 social cooperatives – members, 256 of which
were associations between local cooperatives. Two thirds of
its members activate in the area of social, educational and
health services, while the rest one third of them takes actions in the area of inclusion of vulnerable
groups in the labor market. All these cooperatives account for 220,000 members, 22,500 of which
1
Istat, Identikit delle Istituzioni Non Profit in Italia, 2015
8
are volunteers. They provide employment to about 218,000 employees and create a total annual
turnover of more than 5.7 billion Euros.
At national scale, another confederation, called Legacoopsociali, also operates. This includes about
2,700 members – social cooperatives (www.legacoopsociali.it).
A very important feature of the way S.E. is structured in Italy is the highly developed support framework for social enterprises, both on national, and on local level. Support measures and initiatives are
taken not only by the public sector, but also by the private one and by third parties (NGOs, institutions, etc).
An innovative and effective example of support structure is the «Impresasociale.net – Isnet»
(www.impresasociale.net) network, which operates a web platform for exchanging good practices,
organizes events and provides legal support to more than 1,120 social enterprises of all types all
over the country.
Β.2. Social economy models in Greece
i) Before the establishment of SCEs:
Cooperative banks
Agricultural cooperatives
Cooperatives of the construction sector
Cooperatives of electricians
Cooperatives of plumbers
Women’s’ agro-touristic cooperatives
Cooperatives of pharmacists
Social cooperatives with limited liability
(KOISPEs)
Cooperatives of mutual insurance
Maritime cooperatives of mutual insurance
Total of cooperatives and similar organizations
Mutual aid funds
Vocational insurance funds
Total of mutual insurance funds and similar
organizations
TOTALS
No of enterprises
25
6,376
545
23
33
130
41
23
Employees
Members
1,238
11,300
200
200
100
1500
400
196,179
713,714
120,242
600
2,500
2,000
5,500
2,000
7
1
7,204
40
5
14,983
10,000
50
1,052,785
4
7
11
1,100
40
1,140
150,000
30,000
180,000
7,215
16,123
1,232,785
Resource: Ι. Nasioulas, Social Cooperatives in Greece – Introducing New Forms of Social Economy and Entrepreneurship, International Review of Social Research, June 2012
Within the scope of this guide, special focus is given to two of the models aforementioned: Women’s’ agro-touristic cooperatives and social cooperatives for people with mental diseases (KOISPEs).
Women’s’ agro-touristic cooperatives, starting back in 1986 have seen an impressive growth during
the 1990s’ and 2000s’, when they reached a number of about 100, whereas today there are about
90 of them. They have had a significant contribution in women’s’ employment and local development, however, their economic sustainability is nowadays at risk: about one third of them have
started to downsize their activities.
KOISPEs started to appear after Law 2716/1999, based on international trends, mainly according to
the Italian model of social cooperatives for inclusion of patients with mental health problems. They
still operate today providing a wide range of services (e.g. agricultural crops, sweet and pastry confection, operation of canteens, honey production, etc), as proven by the good practice of the Social
9
Cooperative with Limited Liability of Mental Health Sector Dodecanese that is located on the island
of Leros. It was founded in 2002 and today it offers employment to about 43 individuals, having 441
members. Since 2011 the Hellenic Federation of KOISPEs was established (http://pokoispe.gr). This
was the first second-level organization of Social Economy to be officially established in Greece, aiming at representing KOISPEs as a whole and coordinating the activities of socio-economic integration
and vocational inclusion of people with psycho-social disabilities.
ii) After the establishment of Law 4019/2011:
During the last years and in the middle of the rough economic and social crisis in Greece, numerous
initiatives of social actions have emerged all over the country. This has led to the current situation, in
which SCEs are a dynamic “player” of the Greek economic and social development. However, it is
still to be answered whether this is a real change in the approach concerning production and development in the country, especially as far as local/regional development is concerned, or it is another
“firework” as many others that have appeared through the years.
Given that the available quantitative and qualitative data, especially those concerning the SCEs, are
still rather vague and not fully reliable, the following picture can be drawn, approximately:
 8,400 traditional cooperatives, with more than 950,000 members.
 90 active women’s cooperatives, with more than 1,900 members.
 68 cooperative-type therapeutic units within mental hospitals, with 571 members – patients.
 10 similar enterprises, deriving from therapeutic labs and cooperatives, with 98 members.
 32 protected labs, with 395 members- patients.
 16 KOISPEs
 1,500 – 2,000 voluntary organizations.
 Unknown number of mixed-type organizations, charities, non-profit organizations, foundations, etc.
 More than 850 SCEs (KOINSPEs) already registered in the Social Economy Registry up to now.
It is estimated that the real number of existing SCEs is about 40 to 50% higher than this
number. In terms of typology according to Law 4019, about 77% of them are SCEs for Collective/Productive purposes, 19% of them are SCEs for Social Care, whereas only 3% of them
are SCEs for Inclusion.
C. Good practices of implementing S.E. in Italy and Greece
It does not fall within the scope of this Guide to have an analytic or representative report of the numerous good practices that can be found in the two countries, and especially in Italy, where S.E.
shows a vast background. The following selection of good practices is about giving an indicative
snapshot of the efforts carried out to implement and promote in practice the principles od S.E., emphasizing on those initiatives that show a greater interest, in terms of their approach to given problems, their viability and endurance, their potential, and their impact on local society and economy,
and, as far as Greece is concerned, their origin from insular areas.
C.1. Good Practices in Italy
“La Fonte”2 (The Source) is a reality that has been operating in Tuscany Region for 30 years in the
field of disability. Its headquarters is in Cercina, a farm on the hills around Florence on the slopes of
Monte Morello. It consists of a voluntary association and two social cooperatives. It was established
in 1994 with the aim of supporting social inclusion for people with disabilities, commonly excluded
from normal patterns of life and work, and offering them an opportunity for emancipation, personal
development, and restoration of their self-respect. This voluntary organization manages integration
and social inclusion projects in collaboration with local social services.
2
http://www.lafontecercina.org/
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The methodology is based on the principle of equal opportunities for all, not as a slogan, but as an
applied reality: everyone has something to give as well as something to receive regardless of his/her
condition and all individuals have the right to feel useful and valued into an inclusive community and
work activity framework. In this sense, work is seen as the fundamental and irreplaceable cornerstone for personal emancipation. Work activities are of three types: agricultural activities (farming,
olive growing, fodder, horticulture), environmental services (garden maintenance for public and private sector) and craft activities (metal, wrought iron and artistic restoration).
The mission is to foster a close integration of young people with various disabilities within the country-house, which is also their residence. Today, about twenty individuals with various disabilities live
and work in the country-house, giving the best meaning to the principle “inclusion is not only accommodation”.
All individuals, together with social workers and staff, are members of the two type B social cooperatives operating within the organization. Since 2006, La Fonte is listed among the first three best practices in the area of Florence.
Laboratorio Zanzara3 (Mosquito laboratory): this is a social cooperative established in Turin, aiming
at integrating people with mental disabilities. Is operation is based on two basic principles: on the
one hand, development of an environment that respects creative process and working time of the
participants, and, on the other hand, acknowledgment of the participants as complete individuals
that bear their own distinction in every activity.
Villa 5 project (www.villa5.it): This is an ongoing project of transforming one of the bigger, closedtype mental facilities in Italy into an integration structure open to the community.
The large complex of buildings which formed the former mental hospital is situated in the town of
Collegno, a municipality in the suburban area of Turin with an average population of about 50
thousand people.
The vast complex was built as a monastery in 1641 by Christine of France, and was developed within
a century, with the main entrance hall designed and constructed by the architect Filippo Juvarra in
1725.
After the introduction of the “Basaglia” Law in 1978, a progressive de-institutionalization process
started taking place. As other Italian mental hospitals, the Collegno complex was considered closed
in December 1998. At that time, near 450 patients were still residents in the pavilions of the
complex. Progressively, all former patients were re-addressed to community-living facilities, which
meant that they could host their own families when possible, in their individual or shared
apartments. Also, various social cooperatives, both of type A and B, were establishes specifically to
support their accommodation.
The vast complex was abandoned for several years, and lately it was restored for public use, and for
supporting the operation of social economy practices. At this moment, the former mental hospital
complex hosts various municipal and health services, together with a variety of facilities4 open to the
community and run by different associations, cooperatives and social enterprises. These include art
studios, restaurants, a sauna with hammam, a residential building, a kindergarten, music and
performance halls, and university classrooms.
COOP ΝΟΝCELLO (www.coopnoncello.it): This is a social cooperative that started in 1981 by the initiative of 3 psychiatrists and 6 patients of the mental diseases’ centre in Pordenone in the area of
Udine, after the abolishment of mental asylums. In the beginning, its activities were focused on
cleaning services for hospitals and universities in the area, while later it expanded to care services
3
http://laboratoriozanzara.blogspot.it/
4
For a general presentation in Italian, this is the link to Villa 5 project.
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for elders’ and patients with mental diseases. Nowadays, it is the largest of the 3,800 social cooperatives operating in the country, as since 1996 it has expanded its activities to environmental services,
i.e. electric appliances recycling and garden maintenance, and also to maintenance and preservation
services for cemeteries. Its members, employees and associates account for 650 people in total. This
makes it the largest social cooperative of its kind in Europe.
C.2. Good Practices in Greece
Fair Trade Hellas (www.fairtrade.gr): This is a non-governmental organization (NGO) established in
2004 under the legal form of non-profit organization. It has been the first organization in Greece that
promotes the concept of fair and solidarity trade. It focuses on the promotion of ethical and responsible consumption and distribution of products of small producers from poor countries in the Greek
market.
Lakoniki Bioenergiaki SA (www.bioenergeiaki.gr): This enterprise is a highly innovative initiative for
Greece. It was established in the city of Sparta in 2012 by 30 local businessmen with the objective to
solve the waste management problem in the area. In typical terms it is not a SCE, as defined by Law,
but it clearly falls within the scope of S.E organizations. It is the first enterprise socially based, since
its stakeholders are the inhabitants of the local society themselves and represents an alternative to
local administration in the field of waste management, introducing its own method for waste separation at the source. Today the enterprise is responsible for the waste management of at least 1,000
families and other local enterprises. All the residents of the area can be stakeholders in the enterprise, excluding major stockholders and companies, and the objective is to share profits between the
citizens participating according to their participation and also to fund projects needed by local society.
“We Protect the Forest, Social Enterprise”: This is the first SCE in the Region of Peloponnese, located in the village of Stemnitsa, in Arcadia, and is also the first forest SCE in Greece. Its objectives include the protection of Mount Menalon that was burned in 2011, the
collection and processing of forest spare woods and the production of
wood products, such as wood pellets, as well as the establismhnet of an
environmental education center focused on the forest. The endeavor
was awarded in the 2nd START UP LIVE event that took place in Athens in
2012 and this award was published in the British newspaper “The Guardian” and in various websites for green energy all over the world.
Kalloni – Kellia Tinos SCE (http://kalloni-tinos.gr): This SCE was
founded according to the provisions of Law 4019/2011 and its
scope lies in the Social Cooperative Enterprises for Collective/Productive purposes. Its main objectives include economic,
environmental and cultural upgrade on the island of Tinos to
the benefit of local society. Based on August 2014 data, the enterprise achieved the following recycling figures: 15 tons of glass, 14 tons of paper, 20 tons of used oils, 160,000 of plastic bottles, 4 tons
of plastic bags, and 13,000 aluminum cans.
“Μoikonos” recycling cooperative (https://moikonos.wordpress.com): This cooperative is the result
of a local civil society movement that started to act in 2013 against the pathetic situation concerning
recycling and waste management on the highly touristic island of
Mykonos. All the decisions are taken on the basis of general assemblies and complete transparency, since all its invoices related
to the trade of recyclable materials are published on the internet.
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Agro-touristic womens’ cooperative “The Kastri” (http://tokastri.blogspot.gr): This cooperative, located on the island of Syros is one of the pioneer women’s’ cooperatives,
starting bank in 2000 and today employing 28 women. 20 of them –
mostly unskilled – cook on a daily basis traditional Greek dishes which
are delivered in the cooperative’s restaurant in the town center. Food
not sold is distributed via charities. Despite the crisis, the cooperative is
still coming through with success thanks to the fact that most of its employees are also its members.
Halandri Parents Association (www.sinetairismos.gr): this is a SCE created by the need to offer
childcare services to preschool and school-age children and their families. The founding members
are parents who met at the parents' committee formed in 2011 to oppose the shrinking of preschool
education in the city of Halandri. Meanwhile, Law 4019/2011 on "Social economy, social entrepreneurship and other provisions" provided the opportunity to establish a legal entity trading under the
name "Halandri Parents Social Cooperative Enterprise". Since the end of August 2012, this SCE is a
member of the Ministry of Labor Social Economy Registry. The activities of the cooperative focus on
developing an information network with regard to issues pertaining to preschool, primary and secondary education, developing welfare structures for preschool and school-age children, developing
social solidarity and mutual-assistance networks between parents and teachers, developing welfare
structures that ensure school-age children have access to educational services, etc.
The most emblematic and innovative activity of the SCE is the 1st Halandri Social Cooperative School
of Private Tuition that was established out of the need for an alternative to schools of private tuition
that charge exorbitant fees and offer minimal wage to teachers; schools that treat students as clients and offer education that is based on off-the-shelf practices and rote learning. It started operating at the school year 2013-2014 and it is focused on the needs of both students and parents, proposing an entirely different operating and administrative model. The School's teachers are responsible for any educational matters, while they participate jointly and equally in all decision-making processes. They have designed and submitted a comprehensive syllabus, from the 1st Grade of Senior
High School to the university-entry exams. The syllabus focuses on developing the students' critical
thinking and self-action, as we believe this is the only safe method for exam candidates to deal with
the tough papers they have been sitting for in the last few years. Parents are mainly responsible for
any issues relating to the operation of the School and, along with the teachers, aspire to offer comprehensive and well-rounded support to the students.
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D. Assessment of S.E. in Greece and proposals for transferring and implementing good
practices.
D.1. Assessment of S.E.: Difficulties and challenges
Based on the analysis of the data aforementioned, a number of conclusions on the development of
S.E. in the two countries examined (Italy and Greece) are drawn.
S.E. in Italy shows a significant background going back to several decades ago. For several years now,
the country has established an innovative and integrated legal framework for the sector, which has
allowed a considerable development of S.E., especially based on the social cooperatives model. It
also noted that a large number of these cooperatives activate outside the big urban centers and in
most cases are focused on the social inclusion of specific vulnerable social groups, such as people
with disabilities or people suffering from mental diseases, rather than on activities such as integration of unemployed in the labor market or the promotion of entrepreneurship.
On the other hand, S.E. as a discrete activity sector in Greece is still at an early stage of development. One of the main reasons for that, can be found at the overdevelopment of the “wider” public
sector which led to S.E either being absorbed or at largely economically dependent by the State. This
state funding of S.E. organizations has not allowed for the development of a social funding culture,
and has also resulted in the transformation of these organizations - at a large extent – into auxiliary
activities of the public sector (e.g. agricultural cooperatives).
Nevertheless, today’s social and economic conditions of the country (i.e. downscaled public sector,
emerging social and production needs not able to be covered by either the public, or the private sector, outsourcing of a number of services until recently provided by the State, etc) in conjunction to
the establishment of a non-integrated, but still modern and dedicated legal framework, call for S.E.
to play a decisive role in building a new economic development model that will overcome crisis. As a
result, during the last 3-4 years a significant number of social cooperative enterprises have been established, aiming at various objectives: provision of urging social needs no longer provided by State
services, lack of employment opportunities, especially for younger people, etc. This boost has been
made possible largely due to focused funding the European Social Fund of the European Commission, and the regulatory support provided by Law 4019/2011.
However, it should be underlined that a lot of these start-ups - social and conventional / commercial
ones – often present low levels of professionalism, show inadequate commitment to their financial
obligations and their business plans are not integrated or long-term. All these are features of the socalled “emergency entrepreneurship”, meaning that these enterprises are most probably a kind of
last-minute resort and aim at short-term results.
Generally speaking, the initiatives already developed may be large in terms of numbers, but are – in
most cases –small-scale, scattered, incomplete and non-integrated. Therefore, it is crucial for social
entrepreneurs and all the other parties involved to realize that if social enterprises aim at playing an
important role in a long-term structural change in the economic, especially the regional, development of the country, they should be designed and function in a way that creates turnovers and
commercial profits and not in a way that would be dependent to funding or donations.
As concluded by these remarks, social enterprises in Greece today face a number of challenges that
include the following:
a) Strengthening of their role and their social awareness.
b) Overcoming of regulatory and administrative inflexibility of the public sector, including local
administration, in terms of opening up activity fields for S.E. enterprises (e.g. waste management and environmental protection, natural resources management, culture management, etc).
c) Shaping of an integrated and focused framework of funding and support.
d) Overcoming the lack of integrated strategic policies, both on national and regional level: Despite the efforts made, the country has not yet achieved to have a strategic plan for S.E.,
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whereas a “Central Support Structure” and “Regional Support Structures” are currently under development.
D.2. Proposals for the development of S.E.
Taking into account the current legal framework, the social and economic conditions in Greece, the
profile of S.E. as already described, and also the models and good practices from abroad, specifically
the ones coming from Italy, an integrated set of specific short and mid-term proposals for the sustainable development of social enterprises, including the parties involved per proposal, is listed as
follows:
 Strengthening and acceptance of the Civil Society principles, as the necessary conceptual background for the sound development of S.E., by society (parties involved: State, social enterprises,
support structures, supporters).
 Awareness of local societies on the benefits of social entrepreneurship, mainly through the introduction of relevant courses in schools and the empowerment of collaborations with both private sector and local administration (parties involved: State, Local Administration, social enterprises, support structures, private enterprises and organizations).
 Elimination of the various definitions and categorization of the various forms of S.E. organizations according to the Italian model of social cooperatives, so that they will be able to gain a
common identity on the basis of specific values that should be embraced, and wide public acceptance (parties involved: State, Local Administration).
 Insuring the necessary funding resources: a) to support start-up social enterprises and b) to support potential expanding and development of social enterprises at short and mid-term level.
 Developing business models and corresponding business plans on the basis of real priorities and
needs, after close assessment of sustainability and development potential per case. This means
that creating “false” needs conditions just to justify the initiative and open up short-term, nonsustainable, protected and subsidized employment vacancies in order to satisfy small-scale political interests or favors, or to utilize them for attracting funding should be definitely eliminated.
In general terms, business plans should incorporate methodologically the implementation stages
to reach the set objectives and focus on: taking concrete development and dissemination actions, achieving networking and collaborations with other similar organizations to ensure scaletype economies, as well as with other parties involved (i.e. Local Administration, cooperative
banks, support structures, private institutions, volunteers’ movements, etc), developing
knowhow exchange and innovation management, tracking of self-funding opportunities, and expanding over the critical point that corresponds to real effect, at least at local scale (i.e local
businesses and support structures).
 Empowerment of trustworthiness and transparency in the S.E. community via the establishment
of accountability procedures for social enterprises, aiming at minimizing “false” entrepreneurship phenomena. Also, demand for introduction of a commonly acceptable methodology for the
assessment of the socioeconomic impact of social enterprises, following the example of Italy and
other European countries (parties involved: State, social enterprises).
ATTENTION - DANGER: A possible stain in the reputation of social enterprises at this stage
will certainly cause a major negative effect on their development and may even drive them to
obsolescence, as shown by the past experience of agricultural and other cooperatives in
Greece.
 Establishment of an integrated, permanent and reliable framework and of structures for specialized business support and consulting, aiming at achieving multiplying effects of the resources
available.
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 Knowhow transfer from the older viable S.E. organizations (e.g. women’s cooperatives and
KOISPEs) to the new SCEs (parties involved: social enterprises, support structures).
 “Re-launching” for traditional cooperatives: Those traditional agricultural, workers’, consumers’
or other cooperatives remain active and socially and economically healthy, have now the opportunity to make a new start within the new framework of the SCEs either by collaborations with
SCEs, or by transforming themselves to an SCE.
 Introduction of permanent and independent structures for scientific monitoring and assessment
of S.E. organizations at national and regional scale, aiming at the development of applied policy
proposals and improvement of relevant design processes (parties involved: Universities, research institutes).
 Development of the union movement within social enterprises, following the models of the Italian social cooperatives federations, aiming at: insuring a “vital space” from a legal view of point
a regional, national and European scale, applying political pressure on the basis of their actual
social impact, and shaping a unified “voice” in both the decision making centers and in local societies.
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REFERENCES
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Social Economy Europe (www.socialeconomy.eu.org).
Ι. Nasioulas, Social Cooperatives in Greece – Introducing New Forms of Social Economy and Entrepreneurship, International Review of Social Research, June 2012.
Ι. Nasioulas, Social Economy: A sustainable alternative; Policy Paper No 26, Crisis Observatory,
Hellenic Foundation for European & Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP), Jan. 2015.
Social Economy in European Union, European Economic & Social Committee, 2012.
CICOPA, Report entitled «Cooperatives & Social Economy for Greece», ILO, Sept. 2013.
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European Commission, A map of social enterprises and their eco-systems in Europe, Country
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Network of Social Cooperative Enterprises, http://koinsep.org.
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Greece, Systemic Failures and Positive Action Potentials based on strengths, Hellenic Ministry of
Development and Competitiveness, published as a contribution to GECES.
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Social Economy (EYKEKO), Strategic plan for the development of social entrepreneurship in
Greece, 2013
(www.keko.gr/Lists/Custom_Announcements/Attachments/78/Strategy_and_Action_Plan.pdf)
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Social Entrepreneurship Forum 2015, www.seforum.gr.
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Social Economy Institute, http://socialeconomy.institute.
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