RaiSE interregional meeting in Örebro

Region Örebro län, the Swedish partner of RaiSE, hosted the fourth project meeting on 4 & 5 April 2018.

4 April 2018 (morning) - Steering Committee Meeting

RaiSE Project Partners from Region Örebro County (Anders Bro, Mikael Norberg and Anneli Baier) welcomed RaiSE partnership and regional stakeholders in the HQ of Region Örebro County (Eklundavägen 1, 702 17 Örebro, Sweden).

Internal management of RaiSE project

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

Financial management and reporting: lessons learnt from progress report 2, deadlines for submitting progress report 3.

Project management: the main activity for 2018 is the Good Practices Guide, other activities are bilateral Skype meetings and stakeholders meetings.
Next events & Project meetings: specially, fifth consortium meeting - RaiSE project meeting in Scotland - 12, 13 & 14 September 2018, within the Social Enterprise World Forum (SEWF).
Communication: facts & figures, RaiSE appeared in MOOC organised by the Committee of the Regions, next steps.

Exchange of experiences: Workshop on Good Practices

Stefan Philipp and Wolfgang Haider (ZSI) moderated the group dynamics and presentation of the first Good Practice of each region. Each Good Practice was presented and after each presentation there was a debate:

ACCIÓ: Service “Aracoop Internacional”.
IFKA: MarketMate (PiacTárs).
WESTBIC: Clann Credo.
SCOTTISH ENTERPRISE: Just Enterprise Network.
ERVET: Emilia-Romagna Regional Law n. 17/2005 for the employment of disabled people.
ÖREBRO: The Caravan of Ideas.

Seminar: the strong public sector and civil society/social economy, the Swedish case

Anders Bro started with an overview of how the public sector is organised at the national, regional and municipal levels in Sweden: which services the municipalities are legally responsible for and which services are voluntary. Anders gave an introduction to the historical aspects and role of the civil society and social economy in Sweden from the early 1900s up until today and the need for finding new forms of relations between the public sector, the market and civil society.

4 April (afternoon) and 5 April 2018 – Study visits

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

Miljövårscentrum: this work integrative social enterprise is the second largest social enterprise in Örebro county. The enterprise runs an organic farm, a restaurant and conference service, sales of eco crops, celebration and events, bed and breakfast, IT services and Café Orangerie.

Re:form: it is a work integrative social enterprise working in the fields of automotive reconditioning and service, second hand and carpentry. The enterprise cooperates with the penitentiary and probation system.

Föreningen Funkis: it is an association providing work and activities for the members. It is the largest social enterprise in Örebro County. Funkis works in a wide range of areas: restaurant, hired work for production of screws, services in the areas of moving, recycling, transports, lawn moving...

Föreningen Integrera Karlskoga: a newly started social enterprise that works in the areas of construction, carpentry, reconditioning and recycling.

Mohass: a newly started social enterprise that specialises in the manufacturing of sponge products.

Mötesplatsen Prisma : a work integrative social enterprise that runs a well established lunch restaurant overlooking the beautiful lake Möckeln. It also runs a catering service and a sewing service.

Children’s Discovery House : it is a discovery house for children primarily in the ages 3-12 years. It's a place where children can play and learn basic life and society skills. It is an economic association consisting of the Activa Foundation, the local Red Cross branch and Hallsbergs municipality.

Aniara Maskin och Fastighet: it is a work integrative social enterprise working in the fields of service and maintenance of all terrain vehicles, motorcycles, lawn movers and an enterprise specialized in sales and service of All Terrain Vehicles.

Dinner at Örebro Castle

The project meeting in Örebro came to its conclusion with a dinner at Örebro castle where county governor Maria Larsson greeted us welcome. She presented the history of the castle and how it is used today. RaiSE participants along with local social enterprises were invited to enjoy a “smörgåsbord” of traditional Swedish dishes in the castle dining hall with the county governor. We felt honoured and this experience is an unforgettable one!