Fostering enabling ecosystems for the birth and dissemination of social business

ARCO has been entrusted by UNDP with designing and implementing a set of activities aimed at building the needed capacities to properly support the spread and consolidation of the social enterprise model in Azerbaijan. In particular, ARCO:

• carried out a Training of Trainers on Social Entrepreneurship aimed at enhancing selected local master trainers’ skills;
• trained local organisations with a potential role in assisting social entrepreneurs to access finance, new markets, partners and networks;
• developed of a a Digital Knowledge Platform aimed at inspiring social entrepreneurs, making them more easily access useful resources and providing them with the chance of connecting with other ecosystem stakeholders;
• outline an evaluation framework to assess the social and environmental impact of the newly created social enterprises

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The SB AGROIN project aims at increasing food security and the income of small farmers by improving their production techniques and by developing the agro-industrial chain, mainly the sale and diffusion of innovative production factors and the transformation of fruit and vegetables and their marketing.
ARCO and YSBCUF are supporting the creation of 3 social enterprises:

• a social enterprise processing fruit, vegetables and cereals,
• a social enterprise installing the “Agritube” systems. The Agritubes, conceived by the innovative start-up Glocal Impact Network, are simplified soilless cultivation systems (systems which are also sponsored by FAO). The Agritube system is an economically sustainable hydroponic cultivation with low technological input.
• A social enterprise installing the integrated irrigation systems of wells, pumps served by solar panels /drip irrigation.

The creation of these three social enterprises will be financed through a revolving fund set up with a local microfinance institution. The YSBCUF will support the entire process of enterprise creation and the setting up of the revolving fund to ensure the ownership of the beneficiaries and the long-term sustainability of the project.

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The project “Start your Business! Start-up creation, technical skills development and socio-economic promotion of vulnerable youth and women in Palestine” – in which ARCO takes part through DISEI Department of Science for Economics and Enterprise of the University of Florence – aims at developing an environment conducive to the emergence of new start-ups and the growth of commercial and social enterprises through:

• the strengthening of business incubation and acceleration processes;
• training of competent and specialised personnel, including young people and vulnerable women;
• awareness-raising and advocacy actions towards the community and local authorities.

ARCO is involved in capacity building on Social Enterprise for Bethlehem University staff to increase their research capacity, and provides technical support for social business plan competitions

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Within the Pistoia Social Business City Programme, the YSBCUF carries out two main activities: “Grow your business!” supports the birth and diffusion of social enterprises in Pistoia and its surroundings by accompanying individuals or groups who intend to start a social enterprise.
While “Youth & Social Business” disseminates social business theories to high school students and increase their capacity to develop their own social business idea. This programme is dedicated to high school students in Pistoia and surroundings.

The Social Business City Programme, elaborated by the YSBCUF and ARCO, operates locally and involves the whole community with a participatory approach by networking internationally.
After implementing the SBC Programme in Pistoia, ARCO and YSBCUF promoted the birth and offered technical support for the implementation of two programmes in Spain and Taiwan: Barcelona Social Business City and Taoyuan Social Business City.

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The project “SPEED for life – Spices and sEEDs value chain improvement for rural development in Nepal, enhancing women and youth empowerment” aims to foster the agricultural productivity of small local farmers in the districts of Kavrepalanchock and Sindhupalchock through safe and equal access to land and productive resources. The project also aims at increasing farmers’ knowledge of financial services, markets and opportunities in order to make their businesses economically sustainable.
Concerning this second purpose, ARCO is carrying out a market analysis to allow small producers of spices, fruits, vegetables and seeds to access national, and potentially international, markets. Among the objectives of this research there is the creation of social enterprises set up by local producers in conjunction with farmers’ cooperatives. ARCO’s research group will participate in organizing training sessions on marketing and packaging, on drafting business plans and commercial plans but wll also promote B2B and B2C events, aimed at strengthening business contacts and creating a new local network.

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The project “LET’S START UP – when economy becomes social: inclusive business and self-employment for Women with Disabilities and Mothers of People with Disabilities in Palestine” aims to promote inclusive business through social enterprises that foster the labour inclusion of women with disabilities and mothers of people with disabilities in Palestine.
ARCO collaborated with the Universities of Birzeit and An-Najah in the creation of tools for the development of a baseline survey whose ultimate goal is to investigate the state of the social economy in the West Bank in order to promote the employment of women with disabilities. Activities included training for 60 women with disabilities and mothers of people with disabilities on social business and business design to provide skills and elements useful for developing a social enterprise idea.

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The project “DASU: Disability and Start Up. When civil society becomes a protagonist of inclusive development in Liberia” aims to contribute to the strengthening of the role of Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs) in socio-economic development processes, employment and in the processes of safeguarding and fulfilling the rights of persons with disabilities. Involved by DISEI – Department of Science for Economics and Enterprise – ARCO conducted a baseline research investigating the socio-economic, associative and entrepreneurial landscape for the inclusion of persons with disabilities in Liberia, and, subsequently, carried out two rounds of training on the theme of inclusive business addressed to members of DPOs, in order to improve their capacities and provide them with know-how, tools and skills useful for the development of business plans and the creation of sustainable start-ups

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ARCO carried out two market researches: one for the social enterprise of farmers named Pemba Verde in Mozambique and the other for two possible social enterprises of tanners and leather artisans in Northern Tanzania. The project aimed to encourage the birth of an alternative and self-sustainable economy; in the Tanzanian case the research was focused on the creation of social-enterprises run by Maasai women who deal with tanning and leather handicraft.
While in Mozambique the goal was to enhance the variety of local products thanks to the adoption of new cultivation techniques suitable for the environment and to promote the economic sustainability of the Pemba Verde social enterprise.
In all cases, ARCO conducted a products and market analysis for the targeted social enterprises in order to quantify the potential demand, customers favourite characteristics and the recommended selling price.
ARCO also drafted business plans and recommendations on how to achieve or improve their economic sustainability.

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The project “Building Alternative Development Assets and Entreprenurial Learning” (BADAEL) aims at promoting social stability and community resilience by enhancing the communities’ understanding of socio-economic opportunities and resilience assets, in order to strengthen the individuals’ skills to identify and engage in innovative sustainable solutions, while promoting social entrepreneurship as a mechanism for civic engagement.
Within this project, social enterprises have been created to stimulate young people’s engagement. The goal was to exploit the innovative assets typical of social entrepreneurship to increase the skills and opportunities for developing new ideas to solve local socio-economic problems.
To identify, analyze and interpret the project results, ARCO conducted an outcome harvesting of the project.

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MedUp! is a four-years project that aims at promoting and fostering the creation of an enabling ecosystem for social enterprises in Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Palestine, Jordan and Lebanon. More specifically, the project aims to improve the inclusiveness of the labour market towards young people and women.
To verify the actual ability of the project to achieve these objectives, ARCO carried out the mid-term evaluation
The mid-term evaluation began with a first phase of data collection through online questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and participatory methods such as structured focus group discussions aimed at beneficiaries and partners of the project. The results of the data collection have been analyzed and validated through moments of collective and participatory discussion. Finally, some of the social enterprises experiences were deepened through specific interviews and the drafting of case stories

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