Social
\nenterprises are a segment of the economy that mainly focuses on how to provide
\nhelp for a community, with a view to making it stronger. Such enterprises seek to
\npromote a relevant activity rather than make a profit. For a few years now, the
\nEU has encouraged social enterprises in Romania. In order to adapt their
\nactivity to the European legislation, but also in order to cater for a series
\nof real social needs, social enterprises have gradually begun to develop in
\nRomania, all the more so as, since mid-2015, Romania has a Law on Social
\nEconomy. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In their early stages, many of these projects are financed through
\nEuropean funds. And since their ideas are worth looking at, the Representation
\nof the European Commission in Bucharest has this year dedicated the ‘Yes, we
\ncare’ campaign to social enterprises. As part of this campaign, running for
\nthree years now, in 2016 ambassadors of EU member states have paid visits to such
\nEU-financed social projects. Monica Loloiu is a member of the Representation of
\nthe European Commission in Bucharest. She will now be speaking about why such a
\ntheme has been chosen for the ‘Yes, we care’ campaign. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Romania is no longer lagging behind. The fact that there is a Law on
\nSocial Economy, which has been recently passed by the two Chambers of
\nParliament, is an important step forward. There are organizations and companies
\nthat have already implemented projects
\ntargeting social economy, meaning that in Romania, people who are in the know
\nare also aware they can change things through such projects. But what exactly
\ndoes social economy mean? It means you think out a project in order to sort out
\nsocial inequalities or in order to integrate the underprivileged into the labor
\nmarket, thus giving them access to better jobs.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
And
\nthat is exactly what happened, thanks to a project themed MamaPan, a
\nbakery where bread is prepared following all traditional rules: no additives,
\nno preservatives and no industrial yeast. This social enterprise, a beneficiary
\nof European funding, was mainly set up with a view to helping single mothers.
\nWith details on that, here is the manager of this small business Irina Sorescu:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
The project was initiated in November 2014, when we got
\nthe EU money, and the idea occurred within the Partnership for Equality
\nFoundation, the foundation that set up the MamaPan bakery, which is a
\nsocial enterprise, more precisely an association for women in vulnerable groups.
\nAfter we’d had contact with some of these women, we realized that what they
\nneeded the most was a steady job. Of those vulnerable groups, single mothers
\nwere faced with the biggest risks. For several categories of employers, they
\nare not desirable employees, for reasons pertaining to their family
\nresponsibilities and the fact they cannot be made redundant any time.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Although
\nthe bakery products market is big, especially in Bucharest, and competition
\ntough, the MamaPan social enterprise stood the test of time. Clients were drawn
\ninto it not only by the artisan bread, but also by the idea of helping the six
\nsingle mothers working in the bakery. So the business has survived with flying
\ncolors. It’s been a year since the deadline for European financing expired and
\nwhich the Partnership for Equality Center had no problem obtaining, as Irina
\nSorescu told us:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
As we were a rather experienced organization as regards
\nthe management of EU-funded projects, we had no problem writing the project,
\nall the more so as the idea we had for that was clear. The problems we had
\nwhile running the project were mainly related to the delays in the disbursement
\nof funds and all sorts of other bureaucratic requirements. However, we may have
\nnot had the chance to start up the business without the initial financial aid
\nthat we got. It was much more difficult for us when the project saw its closing
\nstage, the moment we had to be on our own, just like any other business, with
\nno support from the outside, given that what we offered our women employees
\nmeant a great deal more than what an ordinary business could offer. It’s pretty
\ndifficult to create a distribution market, particularly in Bucharest, due to
\nthe competition in this field. By and large it’s very difficult to keep a business
\non the market and make a social business sustainable.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
ClayPlay is another social enterprise, based on craftsmanship and
\nthe revival of some lasting traditions. The business stemmed from the passion
\nfor ceramics of the initiator of this project, Gabriela Hobeanu:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
This is an EU-funded project. I got 25,000 Euros, which helped me purchase all the equipment I
\nneeded, which was pretty expensive. As regard the social economy part, from the
\nvery beginning I had two full-time
\nemployees. One of the project’s requirements was that at least one of them
\nshould be under 30. For the rest of it, we very much rely on students, with no
\nofficial qualifications, but who are very passionate and skilled. ClayPlay
\nis a combination of decorative and functional ceramics, which also involves
\nstaging workshops for adults and children alike. We have chosen this because
\nit’s a very beautiful craft, which runs the risk of being forgotten.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
Appetite
\ncomes with eating, they say, so it was enough for people to learn about the
\nexistence of these workshops to have their interest rekindled. Here is Gabriela
\nHobeanu again:<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
I have sensed an increased amount of joy in the people
\nwho come to our workshop, and they are happy that they can find something like
\nthis in Bucharest. It’s beautiful, refreshing…it’s therapy. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\n
<\/p>\n
As
\npart of the ‘Yes, we care’ campaign, EU-funded social enterprises in Romania
\nhave been introduced to EU ambassadors in Bucharest as success stories. <\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Social enterprises are a segment of the economy that mainly focuses on how to provide help for a community, with a view to making it stronger. Such enterprises seek to promote a relevant activity rather than make a profit. For a few years now, the EU has encouraged social enterprises in Romania. In order to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":142016,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42997],"tags":[43564,35719,43563,43441],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-142015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-society-today","tag-clayplay","tag-eu-funding","tag-mamapan","tag-social-economy"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n