Technical Assistance for
Civil Society Organisations
Macedonian Office
This project is funded
by the European Union.
Technical Assistance to the Civil Society organizations 2 (TACSO 2) from the IPA Beneficiaries
EuropeAid/133642/C/SER/Multi
TACSO P2P Report
Strategic workshop: “Social entrepreneurship –
opportunities and challenges”,
Hotel “Arka”, Skopje, 10-th of March 2014
CONTENTS
1.
2.
3.
Introduction
Report from session on Policy frame and practices of social entrepreneurship
Report from session on Possibilities and challenges for the social entrepreneurship in the
country
4.
5.
6.
Evaluation results
Media coverage
Recommendations for the future
Annex A: Agenda
Annex B: Participants List
Annex C: Presentations
Annex D: Evaluation report
Annex E: Media clipping report
Introduction
The SB P2P strategic workshop “Social entrepreneurship – opportunities and challenges” aimed to
stimulate debate and activities on national level regarding the social entrepreneurship
development. The objective was to discuss the frame, policy measures, strategic options and
challenges for social entrepreneurship and to come up with recommendations for creating a
favourable climate for social enterprises.
The event generated great interest about the issue of social entrepreneurship among all relevant
stakeholders including high government representatives and put it high on their agenda. Thus, the
Minister of Labour and Social Policy confirmed the commitment of the Government to create
favourable environment for social enterprises and to adopt the Law on social entrepreneurship.
The event also raised significant interest among the media and triggered remarkable media
coverage, thus bringing the issue also closer to the general public.
The event was a great information sharing opportunity for all participants since many relevant
developments on EU, regional and national level were presented including: EU Social Business
Initiative; EU Programmes for support to social enterprises; Belgrade declaration on development
of social entrepreneurship in the region of the Western Balkans and Turkey, Government policies
for development of social entrepreneurship; the ongoing initiative for preparation and adoption of
Law on social entrepreneurship, its progress up-to date and planned future steps etc.
TACSO Macedonian Office • Jurij Gagarin 31B/3 • 1000 Skopje • t: +389 2 3225 340 • f: +389 2 3290 684 • e-mail: info.mk@tacso.org
SIPU International AB Sweden • Ecorys International Netherland • Intrac United Kingdom • Foundation Partners for Local Development Romania
Euclid Network United Kingdom • SMART Croatia
Final outcome of the workshop is a list of recommendations that were published on the TACSO web
page and discussed at the CSOs seminar on Social entrepreneurship held in the following two days.
Particular achievement of the event was the motivation and the commitment generated among the
co-organizers - group of 5 CSOs that had participated in two events on Social entrepreneurship held
in January 2014 in Strasbourg: Macedonian enterprise development foundation-MEDF, Center for
Institutional Development-CIRa, Association of Career Counsellors – ASK, Community Development
Institute – CDI – Tetovo and Focus Foundation – Veles. All CSOs involved as co-organisers were very
active in preparation of the event and undertook concrete tasks for its implementation. Thus, it
created sense of ownership, inspiration and motivation to commit to continue with further
activities in the field.
Participants of the event were 44 representatives of different stakeholders including Government
and Ministries (Cabinet of the Prime minister, Secretariat for European Affairs, Ministry of Labour
and Social Policy, Government Unit for Cooperation with NGOs), CSOs working on SE development,
Social enterprises, Microfinance institutions, Embassies and Intentional Development organizations
supporting SE development.
Report from session on Policy frame and practices of social entrepreneurship
The workshop was opened with welcoming addresses of the Minister of Labour and Social Policy,
Ambassador of EUD in the country and representative of TACSO Regional office - People to People
Manager. The Minister of Labour and Social Policy, emphasized the role of the state in Social
enterprises functioning and development and informed that the Government had already made
analysis and comparison of experiences of European countries about legislation regarding social
entrepreneurship. He stated that Ministry of Labour and Social Policy was committed to prepare
adequate legal frame for social enterprises and was intensively working on enacting the Law on
social entrepreneurship. The Ambassador of EUD in the country pointed out the importance of the
cross sectorial cooperation for the SE and the process of the new Law adoption. TACSO P2P
Manager explained the objectives of the P2P component and emphasized that social
entrepreneurship was an area that increasingly demanded attention and support and consequently
TACSO was responding to such demands by organizing several events in the region covering the
issue.
The first session provided information on EU policies and programs on social entrepreneurship,
Government policies on the issue, on-going initiative for adoption of Law on social
entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship practices from EU countries and the region.
Participants had a chance to hear more about the EU Social Business Initiative, EU Programme for
Employment and Social Innovation (EaSI) 2014-2020, the Government policies and activities for
development of social entrepreneurship, Technical assistance for social entrepreneurship
development foreseen under IPA 4 (2012-2013), the project “Support to development of legal
frame for SE in Republic of Macedonia”, analysis made under that project, the progress of the
project activities and planned future steps related with the preparation of the Law on SE. During
the session also conceptual background for social entrepreneurship was explained, most common
fields of activities of social enterprises were given, operational models of social enterprises and
practical examples from Germany, UK, Hungary and other countries were presented.
In the Q&A sessions that followed the presentations some participants were interested about the
process for preparation and adoption of the Law, gave their support expecting that, although the
TACSO Macedonian Office • Jurij Gagarin 31B/3 • 1000 Skopje • t: +389 2 3225 340 • f: +389 2 3290 684 • e-mail: info.mk@tacso.org
SIPU International AB Sweden • Ecorys International Netherland • Intrac United Kingdom • Foundation Partners for Local Development Romania
Euclid Network United Kingdom • SMART Croatia
legal frame at the moment was not restrictive for SE, it would create more supportive environment
for social enterprises, especially if it also foresaw National Fund for Social Entrepreneurship. They
also emphasized that the process needed to ensure participation of all relevant stakeholders. Some
participants were interested to learn more on the issue from the practical experiences of the
international experts.
Report from session on Possibilities and challenges for the social entrepreneurship in the
country
World café session was organized on topic “Social Entrepreneurship opportunities and challenges”
during the afternoon. Participants discussed around three issues:
- What are the opportunities and the challenges facing social entrepreneurs at the moment?
- How do we wish to see the future of social entrepreneurship in the country?
- What are the resources and support mechanisms needed to get there?
Participants concluded that the social entrepreneurship was a good model for social inclusion and
combating unemployment. Cross-sector cooperation and financial support are crucial at this point
for the development of the social enterprises. From the perspective of CSOs social
entrepreneurship is also seen as tool for more efficient achievement of their mission and
alternative for ensuring sustainability. Part of the challenges outlined during the session represent
the lack of information about the concept of social entrepreneurship, lack of adequate skills, lack of
data and statistics about the social enterprises, possible conflict of interest of the real and social
economy. Social enterprises in a long term perspective could support the process of decreasing the
unemployment and social inclusion of the most vulnerable groups in the society. However, it is very
important to have access to information and knowledge, access to financial support, enabling legal
frame and support in general from the state institutions, local self-governments and donors.
Evaluation of the event
Participants were asked to evaluate the quality and content of the event via survey monkey. A total
of 18 questionnaires were completed. Please see summary results below:
Evaluation Form
How clear were the objectives of this
event?
How relevant was the information at this
event?
Was the format conducive to learning?
Overall how would you rate the event?
Have you met professionally interesting
counterparts?
Has this event facilitated new
collaboration/partnership for you?
Extremely
positive
%
44.44 (8)
Quite
positive
%
38.89 (7)
Moderately
positive
%
16.67 (3)
61.11 (11)
27.78 (5)
11.11 (2)
38.89 (7)
55.56 (10)
Yes
100 (18)
44.44 (8)
38.89 (7)
No
16.67 (3)
72.22 (13)
27,78 (5)
Fair
5,56 (1)
TACSO Macedonian Office • Jurij Gagarin 31B/3 • 1000 Skopje • t: +389 2 3225 340 • f: +389 2 3290 684 • e-mail: info.mk@tacso.org
SIPU International AB Sweden • Ecorys International Netherland • Intrac United Kingdom • Foundation Partners for Local Development Romania
Euclid Network United Kingdom • SMART Croatia
How would you rate quality of information
received prior to the conference?
How would you rate TACSO P2P materials?
Excellent
%
50 (9)
Very Good Good
%
%
33.33 (6)
16,67 (3)
Fair
77.78 (14)
16.67 (3)
5,56 (1)
%
In general, participants were very satisfied with information provided before and at the event, and
particularly valued that experts and presentations were very well prepared. They all appreciated
the event as great opportunity to meet interesting counterparts and as possibility for new
partnerships. They also perceived the event as supportive for learning and sharing of experiences
and opinions.
Media coverage
In order to gain visibility by including the media, prior to the workshop, media advisory was sent to
above 50 journalist’s e-mails with special focus on those that cover economy and social policy. In
addition, it was coordinated with the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy to ensure proper TACSO
visibility in their announcements.
The event was announced on the most important news portal – MIA which placed the information
in both Macedonian and Albanian language. The workshop brought lots of journalist – from 12
media houses. The coverage was extensive, with above 24 articles. The announcements included 8
web portals and 3 TV channels prior to the workshop. On the day of the workshop, 8 web portals
have announced the workshop, 2 TV stations and 2 radio stations. From them 6 web portals have
taken the press release from TACSO, two were in a form of story (MIA and Radio Slobodna Evropa),
the TV stations made their own short review of the event for the news and one was interview with
the TACSO P2P manager for the Turkish radio station, which is part of the state radio. In addition,
12 tweets were published on the internet.
Recommendations for the future
Social entrepreneurship as concept needs to be further promoted in the country. Measures for
creating enabling environment for social entrepreneurs are necessary. Particular support could be
the Law on social entrepreneurships, thus its preparation and adoption should be organized with
special attention and in participatory manner in order to involve all stakeholders and parties
concerned.
When presence of high officials and good media coverage are of importance for the event it is
highly recommended to organize the event in the capital. However, it also brings the risk that not
all participants stay for the whole duration of the event (some people left after the lunch break).
Thus, when organizing full day event with expected active participation during all sessions, venue
should be carefully considered and location outside of the capital should be preferred.
Targeted invitations instead of open call could be good option for events where we do not expect
massive participation, but rather want productive discussion of already well informed and involved
stakeholders. Selection of the participants proved to be excellent, having in mind the quality of
discussions as well the evaluation from the participants where they all confirmed that they have
met interesting counterparts.
TACSO Macedonian Office • Jurij Gagarin 31B/3 • 1000 Skopje • t: +389 2 3225 340 • f: +389 2 3290 684 • e-mail: info.mk@tacso.org
SIPU International AB Sweden • Ecorys International Netherland • Intrac United Kingdom • Foundation Partners for Local Development Romania
Euclid Network United Kingdom • SMART Croatia
Annexes
Annex A: Agenda
10:00 – 10:30
Arrival and registration of participants
10:30 – 11:00
Welcoming addresses
Mr. Dime Spasov, Minister of Labour and Social Policy,
H.E. Aivo Orav, Ambassador of EU,
Mrs. Neslihan Ozgunes P2P Manager, TACSO
11:00 – 12:30
Policy frame and practices of social entrepreneurship
Mrs. Laura Catana, Expert in European policies on Social
Entrepreneurship
Mr. Dusko Tomsic, Ministry of Labour and social policy
Mr. Zoran Stojkovski, Center for Institutional Development
Mr. Thomas Scheuerle, Centre for social investment, University of
Heidelberg
Mr. Cliff Southcombe - Social Enterprise Europe
Mrs. Tetjana Lazarovska - Macedonian Enterprise Development
Foundation
Moderator: Gligor Mihailovski – Macedonian Enterprise Development
Foundation
12:30 – 14:00
Lunch
14:00 – 15:30
Possibilities and challenges for the social entrepreneurship in the
country
- What are the opportunities and the challenges facing social
entrepreneurs at the moment in the country?
- How do we wish to see the future of social entrepreneurship in the
country?
Group work
15:30 – 15:45
Coffee break
15:45 – 17:00
Possibilities and challenges for the social entrepreneurship in the
country
- What are the resources and support mechanisms needed?
Group work – continues
Conclusions
17:00 –
End of the workshop
TACSO Macedonian Office • Jurij Gagarin 31B/3 • 1000 Skopje • t: +389 2 3225 340 • f: +389 2 3290 684 • e-mail: info.mk@tacso.org
SIPU International AB Sweden • Ecorys International Netherland • Intrac United Kingdom • Foundation Partners for Local Development Romania
Euclid Network United Kingdom • SMART Croatia
Annex B: Participants List
Strategic workshop: “Social entrepreneurship –
opportunities and challenges”,
Hotel “Arka”, Skopje, 10-th of March 2014
Nr
Name
Organisation/Institution
City
1 Zekir Abdulov
NGO KHAM
Delcevo
2 Marija Alcheva
Foundation Focus - Veles
Veles
3 Snezana Andova
Skopje
4 Valentina Atanasovska
Savings' house Moznosti
Technical assistance for civil society
organisations
5 Filippo Candela
Italian Embassy
Skopje
6 Laura Catana
Short term expert
Bruxelles
7 Vase Davaliev
Micro-credit foundation Horizonti
Skopje
8 Zoran Dimov
Roma Business Information Centre
Skopje
9 Saso Dodovski
Youth cultural center Bitola
Skopje
10 Branko Dokuzovski
Skopje
11
Skopje
12
13
14
Center for Institutional Development CIRa
Ministry for Information Society and
Gordana Gapik Dimitrovska
Administration
Association of Career Development Facilitators
Zaklina Gestakovska Aleksovska - ASK
Rural Development Network of Republic of
Irena Gjorgievska
Macedonia
Rural Development Network of Republic of
Petar Gjorgievski
Macedonia
Skopje
Skopje
Skopje
Skopje
15 Zoran Ilieski
Coalition of Youth Organisations SEGA
Prilep
16 Vesna Ilievska-Arsova
Ministry of Labor and Social Policy
Skopje
17 Katerina Kaleshkovska
Youth cultural center Bitola
Bitola
18 Orhideja Kaljosevska
Secretariat for European Affairs
Skopje
19 Svetlana Kirevska
Regional business center Skopje
Skopje
20 Sreten Koceski
Community Development Institute - IRZ
Tetovo
21 Julijana Kocova
Austrian Embassy
Skopje
22 Nikica Kusinikova
Konekt
Skopje
TACSO Macedonian Office • Jurij Gagarin 31B/3 • 1000 Skopje • t: +389 2 3225 340 • f: +389 2 3290 684 • e-mail: info.mk@tacso.org
SIPU International AB Sweden • Ecorys International Netherland • Intrac United Kingdom • Foundation Partners for Local Development Romania
Euclid Network United Kingdom • SMART Croatia
23 Slobodan Levkovski
Skopje
24 Krste Maljanovski
Institute of economics - Skopje
Cabinet of the Prime Minister of the
Government of Republic of Macedonia
25 Sokrat Mancev
Izbor Strumica
Strumica
26 Zihra Mehmeti
Ministry of Labor and Social Policy
Macedonian Enterprise Development
Foundation
Skopje
Skopje
31 Mirjana Pehcevska Pop-Iliev
YES Foundation
Coordination body on corporate social
responsibility
Technical assistance for civil society
organisations
Technical assistance for civil society
organisations
32 Jovan Pejkovski
Institute for social work and policy Skopje
Skopje
33 Natasha Petkova
YES Foundation
Skopje
34 Nafi Saracini
Skopje
35 Suncica Sazdovska
Delegation of the European Union
Technical assistance for civil society
organisations
36 Fabien Schaeffer
Delegation of the European Union
Skopje
37 Thomas Scheuerle
Short term expert
Freiburg
38 Cliff Southcombe
Short term expert
Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale
Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH
Falconhurst
Skopje
41 Marjan Stojanov
British Embassy in Skopje
Unit for cooperation with NGOs within the
Government of the Republic of Macedonia
42 Zoran Stojkovski
Center for Institutional Development CIRa
Skopje
43 Dusan Tomsik
Ministry of Labor and Social Policy
Skopje
44 Aneta Vlahova
Ministry of Labor and Social Policy
Skopje
27 Gligor Mihailovski
28 Elena Naumovska
29 Aleksandar Nikolov
30 Neslihan Ozgunes
39 Natalija Spasovska
40 Irena Stevcevska
Skopje
Skopje
Skopje
Istanbul
Skopje
Skopje
Skopje
Skopje
TACSO Macedonian Office • Jurij Gagarin 31B/3 • 1000 Skopje • t: +389 2 3225 340 • f: +389 2 3290 684 • e-mail: info.mk@tacso.org
SIPU International AB Sweden • Ecorys International Netherland • Intrac United Kingdom • Foundation Partners for Local Development Romania
Euclid Network United Kingdom • SMART Croatia