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ERASMUS+ - KA2 - RISE 2018-2020

RISE - Realising Integration through Social Enterprise

The transnational RISE-project focuses on the creation of positive social change for individuals and communities while at the same time enabling learners to harness their entrepreneurial potential in order to deliver a viable, commercial product or service within a spirit of co-operation and collectivism.


The RISE-project aims to investigate the integration of unemployed adults and young people into the labour market through the mechanism of Social Enterprise.

Each of the partners in the RISE-project has substantial experience in the provision of vocational/adult education and training for vulnerable and socio-economically disadvantaged learners, most of whom are e.g. migrants, early school leavers... .
The partners from Austria, Belgium, Germany, Portugal, Greece, Ireland and Romania also have previous experience of collaboration through the ERASMUS+ framework, delivering innovative activation solutions in order to increase the employment focus of provision (EU 2020). Between our countries, the rates of unemployment span from 4% (Germany) to 23% (Greece) and an analysis of the conditions which have given rise to such variance will provide very useful information for the advancement of the project.

The Action Plan for the Integration of Third Country Nationals (European Commission 2016) emphasises the need to promote early integration into the labour market of migrants as they continue to face barriers in accessing employment and who are at risk of poverty and social exclusion compared to host country nationals.
The Commission recommends:
1) encouraging entrepreneurship through tailored business training and mentoring;
2) the identification of best practices to promote and support migrant entrepreneurship and the funding of pilot projects for their dissemination and
3) the production of handbooks and toolboxes for practitioners (p.19).

According to SESBA (2016), the development of the social economy and social entrepreneurship is an important part of EU policy to tackle the social exclusion of vulnerable people (p.129). For the RISE Project, the particular appeal of the Social Enterprise model relates to its strong social purpose while also operating as a sustainable commercial entity. It is a model that is particularly relevant in the VET sphere as it facilitates learners to gain autonomy through creativity, co-operation, innovation and risk-taking all of which are necessary for the implementation of a successful Social Enterprise.

RESULTS

The collection of 27 best practices from the seven partner countries Greece, Romania, Austria, Germany, Belgium, Portugal Ireland is one result of our intensive project work.We wanted to give an overview of the different approaches, different models created under different conditions to inspire ourselves, interested NGOs and other stakeholders in Europe.

We put the focus on integrating vulnerable and disadvantaged groups, e.g. the (long time) unemployed, migrants and refugees, the older generation... . The demanding economic situation in Europe, due to Covid19, asks for many different answers to overcome this crisis.

We are convinced that social enterprises can deliver answers we need for Europe. The best practice examples we gathered during the 18+4 months of project work shall inspire to start up a social enterprise. If so the intention of our work has been fulfilled.


Please find the project guidelines with the best practice collection here: https://riseprojecterasmus.wixsite.com/rise/produ


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