Social Enterprise: Economic Growth, Sustainable Communities, Social Cohesion

Project coordinator: Emilia Slavova; Project team: Antonia Chilikova; Maria Ilcheva

The project is realised with the kind support of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The project aims to promote the idea of social entrepreneurship, to study and apply the experience of the UK in the field, to help organizations in Bulgaria start up social enterprises and to facilitate networking between different parties: NGOs, local and central authorities, the business.

The activities envisaged in the project are a conference, a series of training seminars and workshops, and the preparation of a CD with useful resources.

More about Social Enterprise

Social enterprise (SE) is a new type of business with primarily social objectives in which the mission and values of an organization take precedence over the maximization of profits. SE do make profits, but these profits are reinvested into the organization or the community, rather than being distributed between the owners and shareholders. They cover a wide range of industries and sectors from childcare, education and health, social care, to renewable energy, environment protection, recycling and fair trade. SE operate in that part of the economy where the public sector is unable to deliver services and the private sector is unable to make sufficient profits. Thus, they contribute to the creation of social capital through the best use of available resources and offer innovative approaches to complex social issues and needs. No wonder SE have gained increasing popularity in Europe and around the world in recent years.

The British model of SE can provide important insights and good practices. Today, Britain’s social enterprise sector is among the most successful and vibrant in the world and has the active support of the Government. Consistent efforts are made to provide an environment where social entrepreneurship is encouraged. Therefore it is important to be acquainted with the British model; to study good practices in Social Enterprise in the UK and to relate them to the Bulgarian conditions in the context of Bulgaria’s EU integration; to raise public awareness about the opportunities and challenges for SE in Bulgaria and to promote them as an effective tool for achieving economic growth, sustainable development and social cohesion; as well as to create networking opportunities between NGOs, state institutions and local authorities with view of encouraging future cooperation and joint action towards solving current social issues.

The conference aims to bring together organizations working in the areas of childcare, women’s entrepreneurship, fair trade, lifelong learning, inclusive education and environmental protection. A special focus is placed on the provision of services for children. The British expertise can be particularly useful, as the social enterprise model has been successfully applied to childcare and education in the UK in recent years: the results are better training and employment opportunities for parents; the provision of a broad range of sustainable childcare services and early learning opportunities at affordable prices; providing quality services for people of all income levels; community building; as well as general economic growth.

Invitation to the conference: www.bg-chevening.org/sites/bg-chevening.org/files/imce/Invitation.pdf