Publishing, Paris
The report 'Boosting social enterprise development – Good Practice compendium' contains a rich collection of initiatives aimed at boosting social enterprise developments.
The report identifies key lessons, providing concrete pointers for policy makers – from how to raise awareness and visibility of what social enterprises are and the value they provide, to how to unlock and attract funding better suited to their specific needs.
Social enterprises can create new jobs, be a vehicle for efficient and effective service delivery, boost citizens' participation in their local communities and turn innovative ideas into action for the benefit of the common good.
However, social enterprises can only meet their full potential if the right enabling environment is in place to allow them to start-up, scale-up and flourish.
Social enterprises are long-standing agents of inclusive growth and democratisation of the economic and social spheres, and they have proved resilient to economic adversity all the while addressing socio-economic challenges in innovative ways, re-integrating people back to the labour market, and contributing to overall social cohesion. This compendium derives policy lessons for boosting social enterprises from the analysis of 20 initiatives in several EU member-countries, covering a range of policy areas from legal frameworks, finance, market access, and support structures, to education and skills.