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On this important day, we reflect on the intersection of education, empowerment, and gender equality, highlighting how initiatives like the OBCD project contribute to transformative change. Key achievements from the OBCD Project: Empowering Participation: The project brought together nearly 60 participants from five countries (Italy, Greece, Finland, Spain, and the Netherlands), with 41 women actively involved. Leadership Excellence: Guided by a female project coordinator, OBCD emphasizes building skills, fostering networks, and creating equitable opportunities in the social economy sector. Transforming through training The OBCD project’s training modules are designed to bridge gaps, break barriers, and drive innovation. Key features include: Diverse Curriculum: Modules on innovation, diversity, financial management, and ecosystems tailored to EQF-ECTS standards (levels 5 and 6). Interactive Methods: Combining online learning, practical sessions, and project-based activities for applicability in real-world scenarios. Female-Led Insights: Sessions featuring female entrepreneurs served as role models, offering strategies for success in the social economy. One participant shared: “The involvement of female entrepreneurs was very enlightening during the practical sessions.” Training outcomes: Over 400 learners from four countries enhanced their competencies in social enterprise management. Training evaluation data revealed high satisfaction levels, with 201 women among 315 respondents rating the program as highly impactful. 🎓 Academic contributions that inspire Emma Ricci, a student from Università di Roma Tor Vergata, exemplifies the project’s impact. Supervised by Natalia Marzia Gusmerotti, in her thesis, “Women Empowerment as a Driver of Sustainable Innovation: A Case Study Analysis in SMEs,” she explores how empowering women drives innovation in small and medium enterprises. Her findings align closely with the OBCD mission and demonstrate the transformative potential of gender equality in the workplace. Promoting gender equity The OBCD project is taking steps to ensure systemic change by developing tools to measure social impacts. One critical indicator is the percentage of women in leadership roles within Social Enterprises. Global studies, like the UN Women 2023 report, highlight the persistent underrepresentation of women in managerial roles despite educational and workforce parity. By addressing this gap, OBCD is paving the way for equitable leadership and social progress.   📚 Further Reading: UN Women 2050 Report: Forecasting Women in Leadership Positions GEM 2022/2023 Women’s Entrepreneurship Report: Challenging Bias and Stereotypes  

In October 2024, the OBCD project team joined Tampere Sarka’s podcast ”Työn Sarkaa” to discuss about the importance of social enterprises,  international collaboration, and learning. The idea for the podcast episode emerged during the OBCD project Bootcamp held in Rome last July. OBCD was represented in the discussion by Eeva Salmi from Silta-Valmennusyhdistys, Helena Miettinen from Helsinki Business College, and Tanja Kulmala, Community Manager at Tampereen Sarka, one of the members of the OBCD ecosystem, who also joined the conversation. The episode was hosted by Riho Laurisaar, The discussion highlighted the importance of cross-border collaboration among social enterprises and how working together can foster new learning and development. Eeva Salmi highlighted the need to expand current levels of international collaboration. She emphasized the need for more knowledge and expertise, particularly on how to apply for international funding and where to find international partners. Helena Miettinen and Tanja Kulmala shared their experiences from the OBCD Bootcamp, which gathered twenty participants from four EU countries to network, collaborate, and pilot OBCD training. “Everyone who joins international cooperation always learns something new,” Miettinen noted, while Kulmala emphasized the shared mission of social enterprises across Europe, stating that although their approaches may differ, the commitment to social impact unites them all. The discussion also explored the essential need for skills development within social entrepreneurship. Through its open MOOC courses, the OBCD project provides training for common challenges in the field, such as improving business expertise and financial skills. Eeva Salmi noted that young people are very interested in responsible business practices but lack accessible learning resources. There are not many possibilities to learn about social entrepreneurship in school.  Helena Miettinen, representing an education institution, explained that Helsinki Business College previously focused mainly on traditional entrepreneurship. However, through the OBCD project, there is now a growing interest in including social entrepreneurship topics within their offerings. This development is also taking place in universities of applied sciences, where efforts are being made to highlight these themes. Tanja Kulmala also added that interest in learning opportunities extends beyond students to current professionals in the field.  She herself had piloted OBCD’s MOOC materials and intended to continue her learning journey: “I plan to study every module,” Kulmala said. At the end of the podcast, the participants discussed what changes they would like to see in order to create better conditions for social enterprises in the future. What steps need to be taken to move things forward? Salmi emphasized that social enterprises need greater visibility and recognition, both within society and in political documents. She believes these businesses should be widely acknowledged for their ability to address social issues. Miettinen highlighted the importance of education and stressed the need for networking, meeting people, and collaborating. Kulmala added that local networking is crucial, noting that small players can gain more influence through cooperation.   When asked how to increase visibility for social enterprises, Salmi mentioned efforts to influence at all levels—locally, nationally, and internationally, especially within the EU. Kulmala pointed out that Finland also needs a central instance to advocate for social enterprises, a role currently filled by YYO, the Center of Expertise for Social Enterprises. Miettinen concluded by emphasizing that each of us can raise awareness by sharing information with our own networks, having conversations, and building connections.   The podcast provided listeners with valuable insights into how social entrepreneurship can be fostered both locally and internationally. The OBCD project remains committed to supporting these objectives and hopes that social entrepreneurship will continue to gain recognition and backing across Europe.   Text: Tiina Sassali Text is written based on Työn Sarkaa podcast episode published by Tampereen Sarka 30.10.2024. Link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2Nui1vxjPtEu4Z82vRkm2S?si=i0OlJdINRpqGM9HGm0xGPA&nd=1&dlsi=11baae7f7c034a27. The podcast is in Finnish.  

The OBCD – Open Business for Community Development project was successfully showcased at the 6th International Conference of Development and Economy (I.CO.D.ECON 2024), held at the University of the Peloponnese in Kalamata, Greece. Representatives from University of Patras (UPatras) delivered an engaging presentation, highlighting the project’s significant progress and outcomes.  The presentation emphasized the project’s role in advancing community development by promoting social entrepreneurship and the ecosystem approach. Attendees were shown how the OBCD project applies open business models to empower local communities, demonstrating the potential of innovative business approaches to drive  positive social change. Key aspects of the project, including the OBCD learning materials, MOOC, ecosystems, and service platform, were presented. In addition to the University of Patras, representatives from the University of Valladolid (Spain) and Olympic Training and Consulting (Greece) participated in the session. The discussions that followed were highly interactive, with participants exchanging insights and best practices related to social entrepreneurship, open innovation, and community development. The conference in general provided a valuable platform for sharing knowledge and fostering collaboration among stakeholders in the social entrepreneurship sector. The OBCD project remains at the forefront of developing innovative approaches to empower communities through social entrepreneurship. The participating OBCD partners explored the potential for new synergies, opportunities to connect the project with other initiatives and discuss future collaborations to further exploit the project’s results.    Successful presentation of the OBCD research results at the Mini Symposium on Social Economy and Entrepreneurship – I.CO.D.ECON, October 11, 2024 On October 11, the I.CO.D.ECON conference hosted a Mini Symposium on Social Economy and Entrepreneurship focused on opportunities and challenges. During this event, OBCD project partners from the University of Patras and the University of Valladolid (Spain) had the chance to present the research results of the OBCD training needs analysis.  The University of Valladolid (Spain) team introduced the new SEntreComp framework developed by OBCD. Their presentation titled “SEntreComp: Entrepreneurial Competences for Social Entrepreneurs Based on EntreComp” explored the essential entrepreneurial competencies required in the social economy sector. The team emphasized the importance of the newly proposed SEntreComp framework, presenting the research methodology that was followed and the additional competences identified for social entrepreneurship.  They also discussed how the adaptation of the existing EntreComp framework can meet the specific needs of social enterprises. The discussion followed explored the potential of the SEntreComp to become a structured framework for the development and evaluation of competencies in the entire third sector.  The UPatras team presented the finding of the emerging skills and occupations mapping in the social enterprises sector. Under the presentation “Training Needs for the European Social Enterprise Sector: Comparative Analysis in Four EU Countries”, they provided valuable insights into the training needs within the social enterprise sector across four EU countries. They also presented the mixed-methods research approach used, that combined qualitative and quantitative analysis. The findings from the comparative analysis presented revealed critical skill gaps and identified new occupations emerging in the social economy sector, highlighting areas that need to be addressed to enhance the capacity of social enterprises and foster community development.

We, the OBCD team in Finland, have been conducting a small research study this October about the experiences of using OBCD education and training materials. We interviewed a few teachers from Diak and Helsinki Business College who have been using the materials in their work. The interviews provided us with valuable and insightful feedback for further development. The interview questions focused on which themes of the OBCD training program teachers have used, and why do they find teaching social entrepreneurship important. We were also interested to know what new knowledge they have gained about the theme, and their ideas for improving the materials. Social entrepreneurship resolving social and environmental problems  When teaching social entrepreneurship, the interviewees used materials from the OBCD training modules covering topics such as governance and leadership practices, diversity, marketing and branding, innovations and open business models, as well as networks and ecosystems. They believe it is important to teach social entrepreneurship because it provides a way for the social and healthcare sectors to respond to people’s service needs and help to produce services and innovations that can solve social and environmental problems. Also, it can benefit the public and third sectors, as active entrepreneurship can improve organizations’ ability to work effectively and innovatively.   Ideas for improvement   The interviewees themselves learned a lot about social enterprises and social entrepreneurship. Social enterprises’ ecosystem module provided insights about the crucial role of cooperation in the functioning and development of social enterprises. The diversity theme broadened the understanding and gave perspective about working more inclusively. The special characteristics of the internationalization of social enterprises were found to be useful as well. Also, fundraising and impact appeared as interesting and significant topics. They believed that practicality and understandability could be improved in the materials by condensing the content, reducing repetition and providing more concrete examples and interviews instead of relying mainly on text-based materials. Since the materials were translated from English to Finnish, they still need some editing to be more accessible in Finnish. Also, most of the resources were in English, so having Finnish resources would provide more benefits and improve accessibility for using the materials. Material utilization will continue in the future  All in all, the teachers found the theme and the materials useful, providing them with a valuable source of content. They also hope that as many people as possible would use the materials in their studies, everyday lives, and in the future, and that the materials will bring joy and benefit to as many social entrepreneurs as possible, as well as to those who will become one in the future. It is great news that at least one of the teachers is planning to use the OBCD education and training materials, along with the learning assignments, in her upcoming courses. Additionally, the materials will be disseminated in other universities of applied sciences and through various channels, such as social media and events in the field. Text: Sanni Isosaari The writer is a student at Diaconia University of Applied Sciences and has her training in the OBCD project. She herself has discovered that social enterprises play an important role in promoting social inclusion and sustainable development. Also, she has gained an understanding of the importance of cooperative networks and their role in an international context as well.          

Finland’s National Entrepreneurship Education Conference took place on 23-24 September in Jyväskylä. The theme of this year’s conference was sustainable and responsible entrepreneurship. Open Business for Community Development project partner Diak took part in the event.  In the seminar’s presentations and discussions, the importance of conducting business with social and environmental well-being in mind was highlighted. However, putting them on a par with economic well-being still awaits a greater change in the people’s mindset. “The sole purpose of a business is to make a profit for its owners” is unanimously an old-fashioned idea. There was a shared belief that entrepreneurs – current and future – are a key to the change towards a sustainable future.  But how to teach sustainable and responsible entrepreneurship for future entrepreneurs?        The image of entrepreneurship needs a shake-up  Entrepreneurial skills and competences are important in the future working life. The Ministry of Education and Culture of Finland has created guidelines for the strategic implementation of the theme at all school levels. In the higher education context, entrepreneurship is not about starting your own business, but more specifically about skills and a can-do attitude: creativity, innovation, the ability to have a broad perspective and respond to changes in society.   Entrepreneurship education and competences have many objectives. However, start-up boom of the last decades has also taken over the field of entrepreneurship education, especially at higher education level. However, emphasizing efficient and fast growth might feel alien to many.  Too narrow image of entrepreneurship buries its diverse possibilities. Entrepreneurship is not just about maximizing profit, but it can also be based on values and the creation of wellbeing. The reason for starting a business might be to address societal issues.    Social entrepreneurship should be part of entrepreneurship education  More and more young people want to make a difference in the world, and many students’ business ideas are linked to the sustainable development goals. Social entrepreneurship can act as a channel for young people’s desire to be involved in solving today’s common challenges.  Social entrepreneurship can give young people an insight and offer them an opportunity to take active role in building a better future. It should be included in the entrepreneurship education as a viable alternative to entrepreneurship and employment.  The next generation and students are ready for value-based business. How about the teachers of entrepreneurship? The OBCD curricula and the course materials enhance the capacity and skills of educational institutions to support new social entrepreneurs and interested students at the beginning of their entrepreneurial path.

We are pleased to invite you to our next OBCD Project event, where we will explore the future of local ecosystems and test our innovative digital platform!   Date: November 12, 2024 Place: Avenida Doctor García Tapia, 129 Local 5, Madrid  Time: 9:30 – 14:00 Featured Agenda: Presentation of the project and its progress. Interactive test of the OBCD platform Focus group on challenges and opportunities for the sustainability of local ecosystems Networking lunch Learn more about the next steps and how the OBCD Project is positively impacting our communities. This event will be a unique opportunity to collaborate, share ideas and strengthen the sustainability of our local environments – don’t miss it!   Registration is open with limited seating: https://forms.gle/UhGfkGqRnSSkV4EG6   Find here the detailed agenda.  

OBCD has been playing an important role with students at the Roman University, starting from the Global Governance course where students participated in the OBCD pilot as part of the Management and Innovation course. This involved completing the modules on Innovation Management, Leadership and Diversity in SEs and Ecosystems and Networks, additionally, they worked with an Italian social enterprise and collaborated in project group works. The pilot was viewed as an innovative topic, and the feedback from all students was positive.   “What I particularly enjoyed about the OBCD pilot is the strict focus on a topic that pretty much is not covered by any university program. Furthermore, I liked the interactivity that characterized the pilot, as it made the project easier to understand, due to its complexity.” -Gianmarco Masucci, student at University of Rome Tor Vergata “Through the OBCD project, I had the opportunity to deepen my knowledge of innovation management, leadership, and the ecosystem and network of social enterprises—key elements for navigating the modern world confidently. I particularly enjoyed the learning platform’s structure, which provided concise yet comprehensive knowledge “pills” that allowed for further exploration of each topic if desired. Additionally, the platform offered constant feedback on the theory covered in each unit, enhancing my learning experience.” -Marianna Seck, student at University of Rome Tor Vergata Furthermore, students at the university used OBCD for their research by involving expert partners from the project in their thesis, leveraging their knowledge of social impact to conduct their research. This was the case for Aurora Pirozzi, a student who recently graduated from the Global Governance program, who wrote a thesis that focused on assessing the social impact of an educational activity. In detail, the thesis explores the social impact of educational activities, a topic that has often been linked primarily to social and hybrid enterprises in the past. However, she highlights that recent research has shown that understanding social impact is crucial not just in those areas, but also in education and other fields. This work specifically looks at how social impact can be evaluated in educational courses, what indicators might be the most effective for measuring this impact, and the process behind choosing those indicators. Aurora collaborated with OBCD to gather data and inputs from experts regarding the selection of indicators. “In my thesis entitled “From Classroom to Community: Evaluating the Social Impact of Educational and Training Activities”, the collaboration with the Open Business for Community Development (OBCD) Project was invaluable. OBCD provided critical insights and resources that helped shape the evaluation tool I developed to assess the social impact of educational programs. The expertise and feedback from the OBCD network were key to refining the indicators and ensuring the tool was both comprehensive and practical. This partnership not only enhanced my research but also highlighted the importance of community-driven development in creating meaningful, sustainable impact.”, Aurora Pirozzi Additionally, Nicolò Angelini a master’s student of European Economy and Business, also collaborated with OBCD in the development of his thesis, regarding the social impact of social enterprises. He focused especially on Social Impact Assesment (SIA), conducting a survey with the participation of OBCD partners, and gathering their expertise for data collection. “I am a second-year MSc student at Tor Vergata University, currently working on my thesis, which focuses on measuring social impact in social enterprises. My involvement with the OBCD project provided me with the valuable opportunity to interview some key members, deepening my understanding of the subject. This experience not only pointed out how social enterprises are currently perceived but also revealed the real challenges these organizations face in addressing social impact. I am grateful to OBCD for this opportunity, as I am confident it will greatly benefit my academic and professional development.”, Nicolò Angelini.

Yesterday, the Finnish OBCD project members visited Tampereen Sarka, an interesting and diverse social enterprise in Tampere Finland. Tampereen Sarka is a social enterprise owned by the City of Tampere, and their operations are visible all across the city. For example, Sarka is responsible for operating Tampere City Bikes and also provides customer service for the bike users. Sarka also takes care of maintenance, and construction work all around the city and also offers career coaching and staffing services. Their motto is: Everyone has the right to work: work is an essential part of a person’s identity, well-being, and inclusion in society. Tampereen Sarka promotes work inclusion and meaningful employment by connecting job opportunities with the right people. Sarka is also one of the members of Finnish OBCD ecosystem. Thank you for the warm reception and insightful discussions on a sunny summer day. Representatives from Helsinki Business College Oy, Silta-Valmennusyhdistys ry, Valo-Valmennusyhdistys ry, the YYO Competence Center for Social Enterprises, and Tampereen Sarka took part in the discussions. If you’re ever in Tampere, we highly recommend visiting Tampereen Sarka to see their operations in action. Let’s continue to work together and support social enterprises that promote positive change in society!

Elsa Pardonen, a coordinator at Silta-Valmennusyhdistys, participated in an international training pilot organized by the OBCD (Open Business for Community Development) project during the spring and summer. According to research conducted by the OBCD project, social enterprises require a broad range of both business and social skills. The goal of the training is to enhance the expertise needed in social enterprises. Some participants from the training pilot also had the opportunity to attend the four-day international OBCD Bootcamp held in Rome, Italy, where participants from various countries worked and studied together in stunning historical Rome. Elsa was also participating at the OBCD Bootcamp. Here’s how Elsa describes her experience from the trip to Italy: “I work at Silta-Valmennusyhdistys as the network coordinator for the YYO, The Center of Expertise for Social Enterprises in Finland. I expected the Bootcamp to offer opportunities for expand my networks and deepen ecosystem thinking. I joined the OBCD project and the training organized by Helsinki Business College because I saw it as an opportunity to deepen my understanding of business models related to social entrepreneurship. The Bootcamp brought together students from various European countries and different sectors of society, ranging from university students to CEOs. What united us all was our interest in developing social entrepreneurship business practices and international networking. The training took place in the sweltering July heat in Rome at Tor Vergata University. It included small adventures during metro closures, significant insights among the Finnish team, and genuine enthusiasm from both local and international lecturers. The Bootcamp involved substantial collaboration and brainstorming focused on refining business models for social enterprises. We also undertook a couple of study visits in Rome, which greatly enriched our learning—one focused on the “social farming” concept and the other on helping the homeless in Rome through social enterprise methods. I hoped for valuable discussions and network expansion in July, and I received both. If the saying is true, my lifespan has been significantly extended, given the amount of hearty laughter, new contacts, and fresh ideas that emerged from the collaboration between actors from different countries”. After the piloting phase, the training content developed through the OBCD project will be published later this fall as MOOC online courses. The course materials will be freely available to everyone, and the training modules will offer comprehensive and diverse information for anyone interested in social entrepreneurship as well as those working in social enterprises. The materials will be available in English, Finnish, Italian, Spanish, and Greek.

The AGCI Umbria, within the actions promoted by the European project OBCD – Open Business for Community Development, in particular in the one concerning the construction and development of the Local Ecosystem, considered it important to involve the members belonging to the Local Ecosystem Italy OBCD in the meeting that was held on Monday, 24 June 2024, at the Vibia Sabina and Adriano’s Hall (Chamber of Commerce of Rome) in Piazza di Pietra – Rome, with the theme “Cooperation in the social economy for an Italian Action Plan”. The event was organised by the Alliance of Italian Cooperatives (ACI), made up of AGCI, LEGACOOP and CONFCOOPERATIVE, in collaboration with Social Economy Europe and CECOP and is aimed at analyzing the prospects of the social economy and illustrating the proposals of the Italian cooperative movement, in the presence of, among others, Maria Teresa Bellucci, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Policies, and Lucia Albano, Undersecretary at the Ministry of Economy and Finance. As far as OBCD’s Ecosistema Italia is concerned, in addition to AGCI Umbria, numerous partners participated in the event: the BASE 3 cooperative, Tor Vergata University (with prof.ssa Natalia Marzia Guzmerotti), the Association of Social Promotion Roma Open Lab, the Consortium Meuccio Ruini Impresa Sociale, AGCI Nazionale, BE VALNERINA and LOCALCARBON ITALIA cooperative di comunità, IT Impresa e Territorio Srl, EFTILIA società benefit and the social cooperatives LA SPERANZA of Terni and LUDUS of Rome.     The programme of the event, which had a high political and institutional profile, allowed the participating members of Ecosistema Locale Italia to take an in-depth look at the policy lines that are being defined, at a European level, regarding the Social Economy and the increasingly urgent need to provide all European countries with appropriate legislation on the subject. In addition to the scheduled speeches, the participation of the Minister of Labour of the Spanish Government, Yolanda Dìaz, was very important and welcome. She expressed the importance of the Social Economy within her country and for the whole of Europe: “The economy of the future of Spain, as of Europe, can only be social. Indeed, the social economy has proven in recent years to be a highly resilient, inclusive, participatory model that puts people at the centre of its actions. Spain is currently the only European country that has a National Strategic Plan on the Social Economy. I know the value, not only economic, of Italian cooperation, it is a model we look at with great interest. I hope to be able to meet my counterpart in the Italian government as soon as possible to learn about the proposals and develop a common strategy. We will promote (in the EU) the inclusion of the social economy as a cross-cutting element in the Union’s industrial, economic and social policies, putting into practice in all its dimensions the recommendation of our parliamentary group, ensuring an increased budget and timetable for the European Social Economy Action Plan.” Díaz finally said that the European ministers of labour and social affairs will continue to join forces to ensure that ‘the social economy becomes a strategic axis in the coordination of budgetary, economic and social policies in the framework of the European semester. The speech by Juan Antonio Pedreño – President SEE (SOCIAL ECONOMY EUROPE) was greatly appreciated. He argued, numbers in hand, that the Social Economy is a business model ‘that quantitatively has the same importance as the automotive sector in Europe’. For Pedreño, ‘a phase full of challenges has finally begun at a time when the Social Economy enjoys great recognition at national and international level’. According to Pedreño, this business model addresses three major challenges of European society: “It strengthens democracies, facilitates the green transition and the fight against climate change, and reduces social inequalities”. All in all, the conference represented an important opportunity for Ecosistema Locale Italia to take a closer look at what is happening at an international and European level and to become more aware of the fact that the work undertaken thanks to the European OBCD project is consistent with the most recent and innovative European political instances and that, therefore, Ecosistema Italia is a valuable and useful laboratory for experimenting good practices for the pooling of innovative ideas and cutting-edge models that combine business development with the appropriate social and environmental repercussions.