RaiSE interregional meeting in Bologna

Emilia-Romagna Economic Development Agency (ERVET), the Italian partner of RaiSE, hosted the third project meeting on 20, 21 & 22 November 2017.

Monday 20 Nov 2017 – Official welcome & Steering Committee Meeting

RaiSE Project Partners from ERVET (Roberta Dall’Ollio, Claudia Ferrigno and Alessandra Medici) welcomed RaiSE partnership and regional stakeholders in the HQ of Emilia-Romagna Economic Development Agency Ltd (Via G. Morgagni nº6, Bologna, Italy).

The first part of the steering committee meeting was devoted to present the six studies on the social enterprises ecosystem and the interregional analysis, one of the main activities that the partnership will carry out during the exchange of experiences process and that will be used, together with the good practices, to develop the six action plans.

The second part of the steering committee meeting, about internal management of the project, was led by Alicia Blasco and Paula Santarén (ACCIÓ). They talked about the following:

Project management: main activities for 2018, next project meetings in Örebro (4-5 April 2018) and Scotland.
Communication: facts and figures, RaiSE selected "Featured project" of Interreg Europe during Nov. and Dec. 2017, next steps.
Other project events (Brokerage event on social entrepreneurship in Brussels: https://www.interregeurope.eu/raise/news/news-article/2139/coming-soon-brokerage-event-social-entrepreneurship)
Financial management and reporting: lessons learnt from progress report 1, deadlines for submitting progress report 2.

Exchange of experiences: Good Practices Guide

Stefan Philipp (ZSI) and Paula Santarén (ACCIÓ) explained in detail the methodology and structure of RaiSE Good Practices Guide to the partnership . The first Good Practice has to be submitted to ZSI and ACCIÓ before 15 February 2017. Each project partner will present the first Good Practice in Örebro meeting.

Tuesday 21 Nov 2017 – Study visits

Project Partners and regional stakeholders visited together the following social enterprises of Emilia-Romagna region, and exchanged knowledge and expertise with them:

Società Dolce (www.societadolce.it): a social cooperative that delivers health, social and educational services.
Splendor Social Laundry - Open Group Soc. Coop. (www.opengroup.eu): a productive activity of Open Group Soc. Coop. with the added value of creating positive social effects on the community in terms of social and working inclusion of disadvantaged people.
Filonido (www.societadolce.it/nidi/): a municipal and inter-companies nursery with seats reserved for the employees’ children.
Arca di Noè (www.arcacoop.com): a social cooperative that works with social and labour inclusion of immigrants and refugees.
Dimora d’Abramo (www.consorzioromero.org/dimora_abramo.html): a social cooperative mainly focused on first reception and integration of asylum seekers and migrants.
Il Girasole (www.coopgirasole.it): a social cooperative mainly focused on first reception and integration of asylum seekers and migrants.

Wednesday 22 Nov 2017 – Interregional Workshop and Networking

In the first part of the day, project partners and stakeholders were divided into three networking tables, to discuss about three different topics: 1. Health, social and educational services, 2. Social and working inclusion/hosting and integration of asylum seekers and immigrants and 3. Productive activities and new opportunities.

After a coffee break, all the group came back together for the workshop “Public procurement and social enterprises: regional experiences in Europe”, in which there was first a presentation about the framework of Public Procurement in Emilia-Romagna region and the role and experience of the Municipal administrations. Finally, the round table "How is the relationship with the Public Administration changing in Europe?” showed the point of view of social enterprises and associations.

Feelings after the meeting

We want to thank ERVET for the excellent organisation of the event. All project partners and stakeholders engaged in fruitful discussions, and the exchange of expertise and ideas was present every time. The more we know each other, the more we enjoy working together, because...