Catalonia to lead European project aimed at fostering social enterprises’ competitiveness

Catalonia has been chosen by the European Commission (EC) to lead an interregional project, named RaiSE, aimed at fostering competitiveness among social enterprises and nonprofit organizations. The initiative is funded by Interreg Europe, and its leading partner in Catalonia is the public business competitiveness and internationalization agency ACCIÓ.

The RaiSE project was launched in Barcelona this past January and it will run through June 2021. An estimated €1.25 million from European Regional Development Funds have been allocated to make the project possible.

The initiative brings together six regions to address the common challenge of enhancing competitiveness in social enterprises. Public policy is expected to benefit from an interregional learning process encompassing Emilia Romagna (Italy); Border, Midland and Western Ireland; Budapest (Hungary); Scotland (United Kingdom); Region Orbero County (Sweden); and Vienna’s Center for Social Innovation, in Austria.

According to the Social Business Initiative of the EC, social enterprises focus on social impact rather than generating profit, use their benefits to achieve social goals and are managed by social entrepreneurs in an accountable, transparent and innovative way. Even though social enterprises are said to have the potential to promote more and better jobs and generate inclusive growth, business support policies in the field are still rare and fragmented, according to the project.

Regions are expected to draft an action plan by 2019 presenting measures aimed at enhancing a company’s competitiveness through internationalization and innovation. The successful implementation of these measures will be monitored and assessed during the following two years.