Emilia-Romagna: people and enterprises make it social

The new work published by ART-ER within the European Interreg Europe project RaiSE – enhancing social enterprises competitiveness through improved business support policies.

Emilia-Romagna has always been considered as a cohesive and dynamic territory in which social and economic well-being and good levels of employment go hand in hand with the inclusion of disadvantaged people. This has been possible thanks to the enhancement of workers' skills and the ability of the system of "networking" among different actors of the territory.

Who are the actors that contribute to produce value on the regional territory?

The 27,000 subjects of the Third Sector, among which the 915 social cooperatives that alone employ almost 44,000 employees and have shown resilience and solidity during the tough economic crisis that has also affected the Emilia-Romagna Region in the 2008-2017 period. 

Providing increasingly innovative services that are close to the needs of citizens is a challenge that directly involves public administrations. The complexity of the issues they face requires multifaceted responses that also question social cooperation, SMEs, the research system and the Universities. 

The publication Emilia-Romagna people and enterprises make it social, created by ART-ER thanks to the Interreg Europe project RaiSE as part of a process carried out together with the Emilia-Romagna Region and key stakeholders, promotes the presence and the value of the third sector, and in particular of social cooperation, in Emilia-Romagna. 

The work, part of a constantly updated mapping, contains the profiles of 31 of the most innovative social enterprises and 14 experiences of economy and social innovation of Emilia-Romagna. 

The case studies involve public and private actors in response to emerging social needs.