Leonardo PACTES project: a partnership for the strengthening and professionalisation of European actors in the social and solidarity economy

The project brings together four European entities that accompany entrepreneurs in their daily tasks or groups related to the social economy: SAW-B is the Federation of Social Economy in Belgium; Lok.eV is a structure to support the creation of activity in Berlin; Inter-Made is a business incubator specialising in the social and solidarity economy in the PACA region; and CIGPEJ-PROEMPLEO is an association of professionals in which we work from Madrid, as individuals or as cooperatives, to promote and support entrepreneurs in the framework of the social and solidarity economy.

The United Nations has declared 2012 the «International Year of Cooperatives», a tribute to the contribution of these enterprises to poverty reduction, job creation and social integration.

If, by definition, social economy actors provide answers to local problems, it seems important that these actors interact and organise themselves at European level in order to better defend and promote the contribution of the social economy in the European Community.

As is often the case in the social economy, innovations are made through practice: they emerge from local militant actions by actors who wish to promote the spirit of social entrepreneurship. The content and the possibilities for training or support are structured at a later stage.

The project aims to develop and transmit to the different participants, a common diagnosis for the accompaniment of the creation of the activity in the field of Social Economy: the transfer of specific methodologies of support specific to social economy; the transfer of specific skills repositories for the entrepreneurs and the accompaniers; always favouring the participation and the meeting of the entrepreneurs and promoter groups.

The PACTES project is organised around three axes:

The adaptation of innovative solutions (including the adaptation of protocols, manuals and accompaniment methodologies within the Social and Solidarity Economy for the technicians who accompany the promoter groups).
The transfer and experimentation of these innovations (through training of trainers, study visits and experiments with these tools) with the technical staff accompanying projects and entrepreneurs.
The integration and improvement of these innovations within our structures, networks and related structures in the field of vocational training in the different countries.

The expected impacts of the project concern the acquisition of new skills for the accompanying consultants related to social entrepreneurship or collective entrepreneurship; a better consideration of the evolution of the social and solidarity economy in the economic development policies of the different European countries; the formalisation of a European network of social entrepreneurs to promote the European values of the spirit of social and responsible entrepreneurship, and also the promotion of exchanges between these entrepreneurs to develop in their professional career an international opening of their outlook.

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