• The spontaneous and conscious subject of social entrepreneurship
• the role of associations and collectives in social entrepreneurship
• solidarity institutions and local and regional networks
• Volunteering as a factor in building social capital
• Voluntary consumer, environmental and cultural organizations of all types
• Mobilization of material and human resources
Social entrepreneurship has developed to a significant extent in Europe, without any general political economic planning, but with social-based initiatives reaching approximately 10% of all economic activity. It developed without being in the programmatic positions of any party, without systematic organization for the unity of a movement. But from individual and scattered initiatives of collectives and unions.
In other words, it was born spontaneously as a business entity, through two main currents: solidarity institutions and civil society organizations, as well as foundations. It did not arise as a conscious choice of some political movement or program.
This fact, which has not caused any class political rivalry, could make social entrepreneurship acceptable to be promoted in parallel, from the entire spectrum of the democratic arc of parties.
In reality, however, the political world is dominated by the perception of either statism or the private sector of entrepreneurship and sees social entrepreneurship rather as an outlier of philanthropy.
However, the awareness of the need to socialize entrepreneurship, from one point on, is related to livelihood and the fight against unemployment and poverty. As perhaps the only way out of the energy, food crisis and the crisis in the health systems.
For example, the “spontaneous” act in this case is expressed when an individual group decides to establish a collective enterprise. Conscious practice is expressed when individual social enterprises have set up institutions, have set up associations, Chambers, that support social entrepreneurship in governance.
Realization means that social entrepreneurship creates the necessary institutional space for representation, structured institutional discourse and processes and social training programs. A study of all existing associations on a European scale is necessary so that there is coordination and policy in the third sector of the economy
In this sense, the present manual “Labor supply and demand in the social economy” is included in the educational material Socialization of entrepreneurship.
The role of associations and collectives in social entrepreneurship
• The subject of social entrepreneurship differs in its composition from conventional entrepreneurship precisely because it has a collective character.
• Civil Society, ecological, cultural, consumer and humanitarian organizations are the main base from which social enterprises start.
• Citizens are mobilized through them and they constitute the SOCIAL CAPITAL of trust, which is the basic component and prerequisite to create urban Cooperatives and social enterprises.
• In this way, the initiative for investments does not belong exclusively to private individuals or the state, but also to the allied consumers themselves.
• Can the ‘entrepreneur be a social Co-operative, an ecological Organization or an ecosystem management body of mixed ownership of the Local Government and a co-operative.
• Social organizational innovation can be the creation of businesses by communities and organized consumers, by the collectives that need social services, such as health, education, communication and environmental protection services and pumping for free with energy source the Sun inside and with the entrepreneurship of energy communities.
• The local community provides an economic and political framework where people, community collectives and businesses can redefine and control their local economy.
LOCAL AND REGIONAL NETWORKS
• Social networks and volunteering are a key factor in building social capital.
• Volunteering is social activation for public good purposes.
• Social capital is the definition that includes all collective values and networks that facilitate organization and group action.
• It starts from the patriotic philanthropy, expressed through local volunteering, with the non-monetary exchanges that dominated the older generations, passing to a multidimensional-ecumenical, humanitarian and ecological volunteering with autonomy of collective action.
• Social Networks and horizontal collaboration are considered the fourth factor of capital alongside human-physical and financial capital.
The formation of participatory social entrepreneurship is based on these networks.
What networks with a social mission offer
• Act as a precursor of social and solidarity entrepreneurship.
• They act as reservoirs of social capital.
• They work in favor of the socialization of knowledge and know-how by highlighting inactive material and human resources.
• direct investments to the region and to the socially necessary Build Social Capital at local and national level.
• Reduce transaction costs.
• Horizontal networks work in favor of the socialization of knowledge and know-how.
• Contribute to the democratization of information and energy.
Mobilization of material and human resources
The coordination of the subject of social entrepreneurship on a regional and European scale is a necessary condition for the mobilization of inactive material and human resources for the complementary production of goods and services.
Coordination goes beyond the spontaneous tendency of a small community and requires a Makro communication, organization and awareness of the role of social entrepreneurship in the economy. It requires an awareness of existing commons, public goods, and public services that cannot be provided by the private sector. It requires an awareness of the unity of the fragmented civil society and social enterprises in order to create institutions to support the third sector of the economy.
It requires an awareness of the transformation of civil society organizations, transforming environmental protest movements, consumer and humanitarian organizations into Social Economy development institutions.
For this transformation, special planning is required at the level of local self-government and governance, with a specific budget so that there is organized intervention and investments in a series of jointly owned resources that remain inactive. Such as barren areas and lands that can, through cooperation with local government, be utilized for renewable energy sources with the organizational form of energy communities.
With the preservation and utilization of forest products by forestry cooperatives. With community utilization of water resources, on a local to local scale, with water reservoirs, for energy and the agri-food sector.
With the utilization of vacant public and municipal lands, for the promotion of socially supported Agriculture, but also for the creation of residential cooperatives. For the operation of theme environmental and cultural parks.
Offer of inactive buildings and public infrastructure, for the operation of complementary services in the health and social care system. (social clinics, Foundations and boarding schools for people with special needs and the elderly).
Creation of permanent support and advisory structures for social enterprises by their regional associations.
Creation on a National and Regional scale of electronic communication and consulting platforms for the social economy, self-managed by the regional associations of social enterprises. At this historical juncture, in which the centralized business model of private entrepreneurship presents gaps in the full employment of the workforce, it is necessary to highlight local social entrepreneurship as an alternative, since labor is the only stable value that ensures livelihood goods in everyone.
