Maximising the re-employment of vulnerable people by implementing new horizontal cooperation paths. This is the goal of "Insieme per il lavoro" (Together for work), a project that was developed by RELOS3 partner Metropolitan City of Bologna, Municipality of Bologna and the Archdiocese of Bologna. It integrates different worlds: governmental, religious and third sector organisations, such as non-profit associations and companies to accompany people towards entrepreneurship and new job opportunities.
The main mission of the project is to increase attractiveness of the metropolitan Bologna area as a Start-up Valley and thereby reduce unemployment, by creating new jobs of tomorrow. This project is also consistent with the eighth objective indicated by the UN 2030 Agenda for sustainable development: decent work and economic growth.
An important contribution to the community
Being close to people looking to enter the world of work means giving an important contribution to the community in which we live. It means contributing to and building community networks in the neighbourhoods of the greater Bologna area. It avoids duplicating structures that do the same things and and therefore is cost-effective.
Target group
The project is aimed at people from all backgrounds in fragile conditions who live in the metropolitan area of Bologna. Particularly young people and adults who are unemployed in difficult economic and social conditions are targeted. The project enhances competence, supports both basic and specific training, and guarantees ad-hoc tutoring within companies.
The desired outcome can be founding a company, or to seek employment at company, both underpinned by ‘upskilling’ candidates.
Procedure
For a period of 45 days the aspiring entrepreneur will be trained and accompanied in the construction of his own business plan by an expert figure in business start-up. The aspiring entrepreneur participates in the definition of his own company idea in order to verify its economic sustainability.
The company idea of the proposer may be unsustainable or (at that moment) too difficult to apply. In this case alternative support channels are proposed such as: redefinition of the business idea, job placement or enrolment in a training course. The aim is then to develop entrepreneurship at a later time.
Social credit
If the entrepreneurial idea proves to be sustainable, the candidate presents itself to a credit institution with the start-up idea. If approved, a social credit at a fixed subsidized rate of 3.25% is received. The loan must have a maximum value of € 25,000 with a minimum duration of 6 months and a maximum of 60 months. The loan is guaranteed for 70% by “Insieme per il lavoro” and a personal collateral is not required. The entire process from application to money into the account takes only about 15 days. In case the company is not considered to be viable, smaller loans for personal development are also available.
A link with innovation
“Insieme per il lavoro” is linked also with innovation and aims to educate candidates on practical innovation around them. As an example, the innovative start-up Difly organised a seminar on the use of drones for aerial photography, such as traffic monitoring and dynamic monitoring of air quality. Their flagship product X-Lite is built on this.
The project is delivering tangible results “Insieme per il lavoro” provides a better perspective to hundreds of people and consequently has also helped in establishing many small companies. The entire practice is also included in the good practices database of RELOS3 project.
More information (in Italian) can be found at the project's website.
