Interregional Social Enterprise Empowerment

The Eastern Macedonia - Thrace region in Greece and Smolyan region in Bulgaria are among the NUTS II regions with the lowest GDP in European Union, below than the 75% of the average GDP of EU 28.  Strengthening social entrepreneurship can offer an alternative and viable solution for local development, employment of vulnerable groups as well as for tackling social problems that the two regions have (poverty, marginalization, social exclusion). 

 

“I see” project main objective is the Support of social entrepreneurship in Eastern Macedonia - Thrace and Smolyan CBC regions by encouragement of social entrepreneurship and social inclusion and increasing employment in social groups in risk. The project specific objectives are: 

- to establish support structures for social entrepreneurship
- to develop support mechanism and appropriate tools for social enterprises
- to build the capacity of social entrepreneurship consultants
- to raise awareness for social entrepreneurship
 

The project outputs include:

- Two support structures for social entrepreneurship, one in Xanthi and one in Smolyan. 

- Studies of the contribution and role of the social economy in the two regions incl. action plan and recommendations.
- Support tools for the operation of the two support structures: a blended tool for the identification of needs and evaluation of social entrepreneurship ideas, a business guide for social entrepreneurship in the region, incl. interactive web-version, a franchising model- Capacity building activities for the staff of the support structures.
- Awareness raising activities, including networking events, thematic workshops, transnational networking between social enterprises and the organisation of an info day at the end of the project, for the promotion of social entrepreneurship and the promotion of the social enterprises that will be formed by the end of the project