Alternative Entrepreneurship Project Report: Mediocredito Italiano

Alternative
Entrepreneurship
Project report
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PROTEO
MEDIOCREDITO ITALIANO
Unione Europea Fondo Sociale Europeo
Ministero del Lavoro e della Previdenza Sociale
Iniziativa Comunitaria Equal
Regione Lazio
Alternative
Entrepreneurship
Project report
Summary
Foreword 1
Executive Summary 3
Part 1 - Introduction - Project Highlights 5
Rationale 5
Strategy 6
Objectives 7
Methodology 7
Activities 8
WorkingGroup 10
Part 2 - Analysis 11
Chapter 1 - European Framework 11
TheLisbonStrategy 11
TheEuropeanEmploymentStrategy 14
TheSocialAgenda 17
TheEuropeanSocialFund 19
EUPromotingWomensParticipationintheLabourMarket 21
Chapter 2 - Italian Framework 25
TrendsintheItalianLabourMarket 25
ItalyandtheLisbonStrategy 26
EmploymentandSocialInclusionPolicies 28
PromotionofWomensParticipationintheLabourMarket 30
FemaleSocialEnterprises 32
LazioRegionalContext 35
DataonFemaleEntrepreneurshipinLazioRegion 36
DataonFemaleSocialEnterprisesinLazioRegion 41
ResultsintheUtilizationofFundsunderRegionalLaw51/96 44
Chapter 3 - French Framework 49
FranceandtheLisbonStrategy 49
Self-employment 51
PromotionofWomensParticipationintheLabourMarket 54
Alternative Entrepreneurship - Project report
Part 3 - Actions 57
Chapter 4 - Individual level 57
ADifferentConceptofEnterprise 57
CharacteristicsofFemaleEntrepreneurship 60
BarriersinFemaleBusinessCreation 62
MethodologicalGuidelinesforBusinessSupport 62
Chapter 5 - Social Enterprise Level 67
AViableOpportunityforWomen 67
CharacteristicsofSocialEnterprises 68
SocialEnterprisesandSelf-sustainability 70
ADefinitionofCorporateSocialResponsibility 71
CorporateSocialResponsibilityInstruments 75
SMEsandSocialCorporateResponsibility 77
CorporateSocialResponsibilityConsultancy 81
Chapter 6 - Network Level 83
NetworksandKnowledgeManagement 83
ExplicitandImplicitKnowledge 85
BenefitsofNetworking 86
FromLocaltoInternational 87
EuropeanCooperativeSociety 88
Part 4 - Annexes 91
Annex 1 - Dissemination 93
TheEuropeanFramework 93
TheItalianFramework 99
Italianlaw215/92 103
Anti-traffickinginItaly 109
SocialEnterprises 113
FemaleEnterprisesinLazio 117
FemaleEnterprisesinIledeFrance 123
CorporateSocialResponsibility 127
Annex 2 - Mainstreaming 137
BetweenWelfareandMarket 138
SocialBalanceasaNewToolofCorporateInformation 146
CSRasanOpportunityforWomen-ledSocialEnterprises 153
TheSocialSectorinFrance 165
Foreword
BuildingEurope,anddevelopingcom-
monEuropeansolutionstocommon
European problems, means co-oper-
ating with people, organisations and
institutions in other Member States,
learningfromeachotherandtogether
developing new activities, practices
andsystems.Thisiswhytransnation-
ality is such a vital component of the
EQUALInitiative.
Really effective and productive tran-
snationalcooperationisfarfromeasy
to achieve. It takes time and effort,
commitment, resources, trust and
goodwill,awillingnesstobeopenand
tolearnfromothers,andaclearview
ofwhatyouaretryingtoachieve.But,
despite the obstacles, difficulties and
challenges,theeventualrewardsmake
itworthwhile.
Generating practical and useful out-
comes, and impacts on policy devel-
opment in particular, is a crucial ob-
jective of the EQUAL Initiative and
one in which transnational collabora-
tionisexpectedtoplayakeyrole.
From:
EQUALGuideonTransnationality
Thisreportistheresultoftwoyearsof
meetingsandexchangeofinformation
andbestpracticesbetweentheItalian
DPDistrictValleyandtheFrenchDP
LongueMarcheontheissueofbusi-
ness creation in favour of disadvan-
tagedpeoplewithinadequateorinsuf-
ficient entrepreneurial competences
and skills. This collaboration took
place within the framework of the
EqualCommunityInitiativeoftheEu-
ropeanUnionaccordingtoprovisions
set in the Transnational Cooperation
Agreement(TCAIDCode4682).
Thereportisdividedintothreeparts:
Introduction, Analysis and Actions.
The first part consists of a descrip-
tion of Project rationale, objectives
and methodologies and provides a
schematizationoftheactivitiescarried
outalongtheprojectandtheirrelated
outputs.
The second part illustrates the out-
comes of the researches realized to
acquire a thorough understanding
of the economic and social context
of the respective Countries, essential
prerequisite for the identification of
modelsandbestpracticesandforthe
further development of training and
servicestopromoteandsupportbusi-
ness creation. Chapter 1 considers
theEuropeanframeworkandnamely
EUemploymentandsocialstrategies
while Chapters 2 and 3 provide, for
each Country, an analysis of national
socialandlabourpoliciesandrelevant
Executive Summary
data on private and social entrepre-

neurshipatregionallevel.
The third part deals with the actions
undertaken by the working group in
order to define a common shared
model to develop a set of training
and technical assistance interventions
aimed at supporting disadvantaged
peopleincreatingandstarting-uptheir
ownbusiness.Chapter4analyzesand
compares the data previously gath-
ered focusing in particular on obsta-
clestobusinesscreationandprovides
a detailed description of the training
processsettoimprovedisadvantaged
people skill and competences to fa-
vourtheirjobinclusioninthelabour
market.Chapters5and6presentthe
proposal elaborated by the working
grouputilizingamulti-levelapproach
which implies vertical and horizontal
actions involving disadvantaged peo-
ple, social enterprises, local authori-
tiesandorganizationsandprivateen-
terprisesonthebasisofaconceptof
CorporateSocialResponsibility.
Part 1 - Introduction - Project Highlights

Rationale
The transnational partnership (TP),
accordingtoTCAprovisions,should
have focused its activities to promote
business creation practices for those
groups facing situations of economic
andsocialdisadvantagethatmarginal-
izethemfromthelabourmarketand
from achieving their full potential.
These groups include disabled peo-
ple, women, long-term unemployed,
youths, low-skilled workers and oth-
ers.
Although all these categories of the
population suffer from discrimina-
tion, the forms and the reasons for
suchdiscriminationarenotablydiffer-
ent.Thereforesolutionsforreducing
discriminatory practices can not be
equally worth: they have to consider
the specific characteristics of the tar-
get group and its socio-economic en-
vironment; identify viable business
opportunitiesandservices;providean
accessible,relevantandeffectivetrain-
ingaswellasaccesstofinancialserv-
ices in order to enable these people
to engage in economic and income
generatingactivities.
Acknowledging the importance of
setting specific measures and train-
ing to foster business creation in fa-
vour of disadvantaged categories, the
TPdeemedmoreusefultooperatea
selection and focus on a single target
groupinordertoensuretotheproject
thehighestdegreeofeffectivenessby
developinganeedanalysis,anidentifi-
cationofopportunitiesandarespond-
enttrainingprogrammetailoredonits
peculiarrequirements.
Women represent the largest group
ofthepopulationsufferingfromsuch
difficulties and inequalities in their
pursuitofproductiveactivitiesdueto
both direct and indirect constraints.
Direct constraints may occur in ac-
cessibility to support mechanisms as
trainingandcreditwhileindirectcon-
straintsareusuallyrelatedwithalack
of recognition of womens differing
role in society and its impact on em-
ployment.
Thenumberofwomenwhoareself-
employedacrosstheEuropeanUnion
isverymuchsmallerthanthatofmen
and the number of women entrepre-
neurs with employees is even lower.
In2005,self-employedwomeninin-
dustry and services in the EU-25 ac-
counted for around 8.6% of the total
number of women in work, half the
portion of self-employed men. How-
ever there is increasing evidence that
moreandmorewomenarebecoming
interestedinstartingabusiness.
For this reason the TP agreed to fo-
cusitsactivitiesondefininginnovative
schemestopromotefemaleentrepre-
neurshipbygeneratingandcollecting
experiences for new support models,
thus discussing and exchanging best
practicesandactionstoencouragethe
development of start-ups by women
and to create a positive environment
inwhichthesewomencanmoreeasily
growtheirfirms.
Itisworthtomentionthatbothstrat-
egy and solutions were designed to
beflexibleandadaptabletochanging
environmentsandcontextsandthere-
fore, with appropriate adjustments,
they can be used to promote similar
actions whether to promote women
entrepreneurship also in different re-
gional scenarios or to foster business
creation among other categories of
disadvantaged segments of the popu-
lation(likedisabledpeople,long-term
unemployed,youngpeople,etc).
StRategy
Thedefinitionoftailoredinstruments
and tools to encourage and promote
female entrepreneurship was con-
solidated by setting a comprehensive
scheme to support creation of new
entrepreneurshipanditsfurthereffec-
tivemanagementinacompetitiveen-
vironment,coherentlywithprinciples
and objectives identified by the TP
members. A balanced combination
between disadvantaged womens spe-
cificneedsandfreemarketrulessug-
gested the adoption of an innovative
approachengravingonatriplelevelin
orderto:
Provide a support model to evalu-
atecompetences,identifyandselect
business opportunities and define
specific training and coaching serv-
ices to realize and develop women
entrepreneurialpotential(Individu-
alLevel)
Boost quality and management ef-
ficiency of social enterprises to
increase in type and quantity the
number of services offered to
strengthen their consistency and
competitiveness and to generate
virtuous processes of economic
self-sustainability (Social Enterprise
Level)
Promote the development of net-
worksbothatinternalandexternal
levelinordertoimprovesocialen-
terprises interlocution capabilities
alsoenvisagingadirectparticipation
of all the other actors involved, as
local authorities, institutions, entre-
preneurial associations, etc. (Net-
workLevel)
Thismodelwasstructuredontheba-
sisoftwoessentialassumptions:
Theprocessofbusinesscreationfor
disadvantagedpeoplemightrequire
alongerextentoftimeandnecessi-
tateconstantandspecificprovision
oftrainingandassistance
Even in case of successful start-up,
the mortality rate in the first five
years of activity registers values
abovenorm
Therefore the TP deemed useful to
structureandadoptamodelthatcould
impactnotonlyonthesingleindividu-
albutalsoimplyastructuralchangein
businesssupportmechanismsatterri-
toriallevelthroughamoreincisiveen-
gagementofthedifferentinstitutional
and economic actors involved thus
fosteringapositiveclimateforfemale
entrepreneurs.
objectiveS
The Project Alternative Entrepre-
neurshipaimedto:
Encouragefemaleentrepreneurship
asafactorforinnovationandcom-
petitiveness through competences
balance, identification of business
opportunities, training and re-skill-
ing, creation of organisational net-
worksandsharingofgoodpractices
andexperiences
Promotesocialenterprisesdevelop-
mentthusimprovingtheirmanage-
mentskillsandself-sustainability
Induce local and institutional au-
thorities and economic actors to
conceive policies of development
andimprovementoftheirterritorial
economy
Trynewandinnovativeapproaches
and models to support female job
inclusionandbusinesscreationand
in a further extent mainstreamand
transferthematnationalandEuro-
peanlevel
Methodology
Pursuing innovative solutions and
developing joint systems to promote
female entrepreneurship made the
adoption of a common operative

methodology necessary to maximise

the distinctive competences of each
partner encompassing obvious differ-
ences in attitude and work culture to
assurethehighestvalorisationtomod-
els,toolsandactionsdefinedandim-
plemented along the entire duration
oftheinitiative.
Therefore the TP adopted participa-
torymethodsandtechniques,pooling
efforts and resources to foster part-
ners active participation in the plan-
ning,implementation,monitoringand
evaluation of the project and create
a climate of creative thinking and a
sharedapproachtoproblemsolving.
An effective and continuative com-
munication among the TP members
wasachievedthroughperiodicfaceto
facemeetingsandthedevelopmentof
a web-portal used to share informa-
tion,knowledge,skillsandexperienc-
es since it was intended that forums,
discussion groups and best practices
sharingwouldhavefacilitatedaproc-
essofmutualunderstanding.
Furthermore all information col-
lected, comparative researches and
relevant documentation were there
systemizedandmadeavailableonthe
public section of the web-site as fur-
ther complementary enhancement
oftheTPnetworkinganddissemina-
tion strategy based on mainstreaming
workshopandconferences.
activitieS
Toconcretelyachievetheabovemen-
tionedobjectivesanddevelopacom-
monviablemodeltopromotefemale
entrepreneurship,theTPdeemedes-
sential to set and organize all Project
activitiesaccordingtoasharedWork
Programme comprising 5 different
Phases (see Table below), thus plan-
ning the internal distribution of func-
tions and responsibilities to ensure
cleardefinitionoftasks,toallowaim-
plementation of the activities and to
enableprecisefollow-upofalltasks.

Phase 1 Organization and Network
Definition of Project strategy and methodology
Drafting of the Work Programme
Assignment of tasks and responsibility
Establishment of the network
Phase 2 Research
Definition of common methodologies of research
Analysis of communitarian policies on matter of labour and social
inclusion
Analysis of the socio-economic environment with a specific focus
on female entrepreneurship and social enterprises situation in the
two Countries
Analysis of measures and financial instruments to support entre-
preneurship and business creation existing both at national and
regional level
Data elaboration
Phase 3 Development of a Shared Model

Comparison and evaluation of data collected in Phase 2
Identification of common elements in particular as far as obstacles and
difficulties to business creation and social enterprises are concerned
Identification of specific and tailored training and assistance to pro-
mote business creation
Identification of additional services based on CSR to be provided
by social enterprises
Development of informal networks including all the actors involved
at different levels in women entrepreneurship promotion
Phase 4 Mainstreaming
Organisation and participation to transnational meetings
Organisation and participation to thematic workshops and conferences
Realization of web-site and newsletter
Phase 5 Evaluation and Monitoring

Economic and operative monitoring of the Project
Internal ongoing and final evaluation of the Project

0
Part 2 - Analysis
Chapter 1 - European Framework
WoRking gRoup
Thetransnationalworkinggroupwas
composedbyastableteamofresourc-
esidentifiedbyeachDPaswellasby
someexpertsthatjoinedthegroupto
sharetheirexperienceswithregardto
some specific topics handled during
thetransnationalmeetings.
Furthermore the actions carried out
by the working group envisaged an
alternation between on field activi-
ties realized during the transnational
meetings and remote preparatory ac-
tivities.
Inordertomaketransnationalactivi-
ties,experiencesandsubjectscompa-
rable,theworkinggroupdeemeduse-
ful to define common templates for
theanalysisandtheevaluationofthe
activitiesdonebothatremoteandon-
fieldlevel.
IntesaSanpaoloFormazione
www.intesaformazione.it
Proteo
www.proteo.regione.lazio.it
ASLC
www.aslc-paris.org
Retravailler
www.retravailler.org
Part 2 - Analysis
Chapter 1 - European Framework
the liSbon StRategy
At the Lisbon European Council in
March2000theEuropeanUnionset
itself a new strategic goal for the fol-
lowing decade: to make Europe the
mostcompetitiveanddynamicknowl-
edge-basedeconomyintheworld,ca-
pableofsustainableeconomicgrowth
withmoreandbetterjobsandgreater
socialcohesion.Thestrategywasde-
signedtoenabletheEUtoregainthe
conditionsforfullemploymentandto
strengthencohesionby2010.
Thepolicymeasuresproposedunder
theCommunityLisbonProgramme
fallunderthreemainareas:
supporting knowledge and innova-
tion;
making Europe a more attractive
placetoinvestandwork;
creatingmoreandbetterjobs.
According to the mid-term review
of the Lisbon Strategy carried out in
2005, the results are, at best, mixed.
The gap in terms of productivity
and growth between Europe and its
economic partners has continued to
widen,andtheageingpopulationrep-
resentsafurtherchallenge.
Economicgrowthhasrisenfrom1.8%
in2005andisexpectedtoreach2.9%
in2007and2.4%in2008.Whilemost
oftherecentupturniscyclical,struc-
tural reforms in the Member States
havealsocontributed.Almost6.5mil-
lionnewjobshavebeencreatedinthe

2
lasttwoyears.Another5millionjobs
areexpectedtobecreatedupto2009.
Unemployment is expected to fall to
under 7%, the lowest level since the
mid-80s. The employment rate, cur-
rentlyat66%,hasmovedmuchcloser
to the overall Lisbon target of 70%.
For the first time in a decade, strong
increases in employment have gone
handinhandwithrobustproductivity
growth. Productivity growth reached
1.5%in2006,comparedtoanannual
growthrateof1.2%between2000and
2005.However,Europeisstilllagging
behindotherleadingeconomiesboth
ininvestmentininformationandcom-
municationtechnologies(ICT)andin
termsoftheirusetoenhanceproduc-
tivity.Openingupnetworkindustries
andservicestocompetitionhasbeen
slow and important obstacles to mar-
ket entry remain. Likewise, efforts to
improvetheintellectualandindustrial
propertyframeworkandto speedup
standardisationhavenotbornefruit.
Employment growth has been im-
pressive, although some regions and
groups have benefited less. Many
MemberStateshavebeguntoreform
theirpensionandearlyretirementsys-
tems. This has contributed to a large
andsustainedincreaseintheemploy-
ment rate of older workers, although
the 50% target is still some way off.
The employment rate for women
has increased significantly (at 57.2%,
it is approaching the 60% target),
even though Member States should
take further steps to promote gender
equalityonthelabourmarket.
AbouthalfoftheMemberStateshave
developed - or are developing - poli-
ciesonthebasisofaflexicurityap-
proach. Yet the policy response re-
mainsfragmented.A sustainedmove
from passive to active labour market
policies is underway. Member States
are reforming social security systems,
especiallythroughchangestotheirtax
and benefit systems, so as to balance
rights and obligations. More flexible
labour contracts for particular cat-
egories (e.g. new entrants) have been
introducedbuthavenotbeenbacked
upsufficientlybyopportunitiestoac-
quirenewskillswhichcanhelppeople
toadvanceinthelabourmarket.The
more difficult task of reforming the
rules governing other kinds of con-
tracts has received little attention. As
aresult,manylabourmarketsremain
segmented, with well-protected insid-
ersandmoreprecariousoutsiderson
contractswithuncertainprospects.
TheEuropeanCouncilhastherefore
decidedtore-launchtheLisbonStrat-
egy through a partnership for growth
and jobs. The objective of this part-
nership will remain firmly anchored
insustainabledevelopment.However,
inordertoachieveit,Europeneedsto
focusonamorerestrictednumberof
priorities.Indeed,theachievementof
stronger, lasting growth and the crea-
tion of more and better jobs would
unblocktheresourcesneededtoreal-
iseourmoregeneraleconomic,social
andenvironmentalambitions.
The European Council of March

2005 re-launched the Lisbon strategy
byrefocusingongrowthandemploy-
ment in Europe. By taking this deci-
sion, the Heads of State or Govern-
ment have delivered a clear message
concerningtheUnionsprioritiesover
thenextfewyears.
The goal of the Lisbon partnership
for growth and employment is to
modernize EU economy in order to
secure its unique social model in the
face of increasingly global markets,
technological change, environmental
pressures and an ageing population.
Thisstrategyisalsotobeseeninthe
wider context of the sustainable de-
velopment requirement that present
needshavetobemetwithoutcompro-
misingtheabilityoffuturegenerations
tomeettheirownneeds.
OneimportantelementoftheLisbon
re-launchistheoverhaulofitsgovern-
ance structure to define more clearly
the respective responsibilities at the
national and the Community level in
ordertobettermatchtasksandcom-
petences.TheCommissionmustcom-
plementtheeffortsofMemberStates.
As a consequence, policy actions at
CommunityandMember-Stateslevel
have been split into complementary
butseparateagendas.
WhilethesuccessoftheLisbonpart-
nership for growth and employment
dependspredominantlyontheMem-
ber States and their determination to
introduce the necessary structural re-
forms, the Community dimension of
thestrategycontributesessentialvalue
added. Indeed, maximum synergies
andefficiencycanonlybeachievedif
nationalreformmeasuresarecomple-
mentedwithactionattheCommunity
level.
The Community contributes to the
overall economic and employment
policy agenda by completing the in-
ternal market and by implementing
common policies and activities that
support and complement national
policies. It will in particular concen-
trateonanumberofkeyactionswith
highvalue-added:
Support of knowledge and innova-
tioninEurope,
Reformofthestateaidpolicy,
Improvement and simplification of
the regulatory framework in which
businessoperates
CompletionoftheInternalMarket
forservices,
Completion of an ambitious agree-
mentintheDoharound,
Removalofobstaclestophysical,la-
bourandacademicmobility,
Development of a common ap-
proachtoeconomicmigration,
Support of efforts to deal with the
social consequences of economic
restructuring.
ThetwocornerstonesoftheEUem-
ployment and social agenda are the
European Employment Strategy on
job creation and labour market re-
form strategies and a Social Agenda
designedtoensurethatthebenefitsof
the EU growth reach everyone in so-
European Framework
cietyandeveryregionoftheEU.The
Social Fund supports the objectives
financially.
the euRopean
eMployMent StRategy
Againstabackdropofhighunemploy-
ment,theEuropeanCouncillaunched
the European Employment Strategy
(EES) at the Luxembourg Jobs Sum-
mit in November 1997. This paved
the way for Member States and the
Commission, through cooperation
and sharing of experiences, to reach
common targets and objectives for
moreandbetterjobsinEurope.
The European Employment Strategy
is designed as the main tool to give
directiontoandensureco-ordination
of the employment policy priorities
to which Member States should sub-
scribeatEUlevel.HeadsofStateand
Government agreed on a framework
foractionaroundcommonobjectives
and employment policy priorities.
This co-ordination of national em-
ploymentpoliciesatEUlevelisbuilt
around an annual process laid down
in the EU Treaty revision of 1998,
which was integrated in a renewable
three-yearcyclesincethere-launchof
theLisbonStrategyin2005.
Anincreaseinemploymentratesisa
prerequisiteforbeingabletomaintain
andincreaseEuropesprosperityand
for preserving and enhancing our so-
cialmodelsinachangingworld.Main-
taining such values requires constant
adaptation to the new environment
generated by greater international
competition, the demographic situa-
tion and the shift to a new paradigm
basedonknowledge.Thereisnonec-
essarytrade-offbetweentheeconom-
ic and the social dimension, neither
between efficiency and equity issues,
norbetweenproductivityandemploy-
ment. The purpose of the EES is to
ensure that all these common con-
cernsareaddressedsimultaneouslyin
acoherentandcomprehensivepolicy
package.
Employment plays both an essential
economicandsocialroleintheStrat-
egybecauseitisonlybygettingmore
peopleintoworkthattheCommunity
can ensure that EU Countries cope
with demographic change. Social in-
equitiesintheformofsocialexclusion
andtheirrelatedcompensatorymeas-
ures have huge hidden costs which
arerarelyshowninpublicaccounting
systems.Moreover,whilegrowthisan
essentialcomponentoftheEuropean
Social Model, growth alone is not an
efficient instrument to fight against
poverty and social exclusion, unless
it comes with falling inequality. Eco-
nomic growth and even job creation
do not lead automatically to reduced
income disparities, in-work poverty,
or regional disparities. In-work pov-
erty is linked to low pay, low skills,
precarious and often undesired part-
timeemployment.
To create a sustainable way out of
European Framework
povertyandtocontributetoeconom-
ic growth and competitiveness, better
qualityjobsarerequiredaswellasen-
hancedinvestmentsinhumanandso-
cialcapital.WithintheEESactionhas
been pursued to reduce regional dis-
parities in terms of employment, un-
employmentandlabourproductivity,
especiallyinregionslaggingbehind.
Educationandtrainingarealsocritical
factors to develop the EU long-term
potential for competitiveness as well
as for social cohesion. Europe needs
tostepupitseffortstoimproveboth
theefficiencyandtheequityofitsedu-
cationandtrainingsystems.Education
and training policies should increase
efficiency by raising the average skill
levelinthepopulationtoensureabet-
ter match between skills and labour
marketneedsandthereforeraiseboth
employabilityandproductivity.
Theyshouldalsoreduceinequalityby
improving the employment perspec-
tivesofthosemostinneed,including
thedisadvantagedandtheimmigrants.
Thiswouldalloweducationandtrain-
ingsystemstocontributetoactivation
andcohesionmeasurestoensurethat
all citizens can play their full part in
society and the economy over the
whole life cycle, e.g. through lifelong
learningpolicies.
In order to achieve the Lisbon ob-
jectives of more and better jobs, new
forms of flexibility and security are
neededforindividualsofallagesand
companies as well as for Member
States and the EU. Individuals in-
creasingly need employment security
ratherthanjobsecurity,asfewerhave
the same job for life. Companies, in-
cluding the many SMEs in Europe,
need to be able to better adapt their
workforce to changes in economic
conditions. They should be able to
recruitstaffwithabetterskillsmatch,
who will be more productive and
adaptable leading to greater innova-
tionandcompetitivenessonthebasis
offlexicurityprinciples.
Commonprioritiesandindividualob-
jectives for Member States employ-
mentpolicies,aresetoutinmulti-an-
nual Employment Guidelines agreed
jointlybyallmemberstates.Thecur-
rentguidelinescovertheperiod2005-
2008.TheyarepartoftheIntegrated
Guidelines for Growth and Jobs for
2005-2008, which also include eco-
nomicmanagementandarethebasis
fornationalreformprogrammes.
TheEmploymentGuidelinesaddress
the need to implement employment
policieswhichaimtoachievefullem-
ployment, improve quality and pro-
ductivity at work, and strengthen so-
cialandterritorialcohesion.Theyalso
coverwaysofimprovingthematchof
labour market needs and available
skills.Theyrecognisethatlabourmar-
ket flexibility needs to be combined
with employment security and recog-
nise the role of social partners. They
advocateemployment-friendlylabour
cost developments and wage-setting
mechanisms,expansionandimprove-
ment of investment in human capital
andadaptationofeducationandtrain-
ingsystemstonewskillrequirements.
Thesepoliciesshouldhelptoachieve
an average employment rate for the
European Union (EU) of 70% over-
all, at least 60% for women and 50%
for older workers (55 to 64), and to
reduceunemploymentandinactivity.
The new Employment Guidelines
2005-2008 specifically fit within eight
priorities:
implementemploymentpoliciesin-
tendedtoachievefullemployment,
improvequalityandproductivityat
work,andstrengthensocialandter-
ritorialcohesion
promote a new lifecycle approach
towork
ensure inclusive labour markets,
enhance work attractiveness, and
make work pay for job-seekers, in-
cluding disadvantaged people and
theinactive
improvematchingoflabourmarket
needs
promote flexibility combined with
employment security and reduce
labourmarketsegmentation,having
dueregardtotheroleofthesocial
partners
ensureemployment-friendlylabour
costdevelopmentsandwage-setting
mechanisms
expand and improve investment in
humancapital
promote gender equality by con-
ducting systematic gender impact
assessment for new policy propos-
als, by increasing female participa-
tioninkeyareassuchashigheredu-
cation and research, by promoting
structures which enable women to
keep their jobs, such as childcare
facilities
foster entrepreneurship to create
more and better jobs notably by
improving awareness of entrepre-
neurship as a career option mainly
among the unemployed, women,
youngpeopleandinactivepersons,
aswellasbyreducingbarrierstothe
hiring of staff, especially in small
firms;
adapt education and training sys-
tems in response to new compe-
tencerequirements.
Each Member State is then required
to draw up a National Reform Pro-
grammewhichdescribeshowtheEm-
ployment Guidelines are transferred
intopracticeatthenationallevel.Eve-
ry year they have also to present the
progressachievedoverthelasttwelve
monthsandthemeasuresplannedfor
the forthcoming year, which implies
these Reports being both reporting
andplanningdocuments.
The Commission reviews progress
made at both national and Commu-
nity levels and presents the EU An-
nualProgressReportbasedonregular
monitoring and on evaluation of the
implementationoftheMemberstates
nationalprogrammes.
In this context a new governance of
theEEShasbeenproposed,intended
toremaininplaceforthreeyearsand
integrating employment policies with
macroeconomic and microeconomic

policies.Thisisexpectedtomaximise
the synergies between the measures
taken at the national level and Com-
munity actions, and to increase their
efficiency. Such new governance ini-
tiated a new working method at EU
level,whichwastobecomeknownas
the open method of co-ordination.
It is based on five key principles:
subsidiarity (balance between Euro-
pean Union level and the Member
States), convergence (concerted ac-
tion), mutual learning (exchanging of
good practice), integrated approach
(structural reforms also extend to so-
cial, educational, tax, enterprise and
regionalpolicies)andmanagementby
objectives.
the Social agenda
The social systems of the Member
States now face a series of significant
commonchallengessuchastheneed
to adapt to the changing world of
work, new family structures, persist-
ent gender inequalities, demographic
changes. Failure to adapt and mod-
ernisesocialprotectionsystemswould
increase the risk of more unemploy-
ment,povertyandsocialexclusion.
Somegroupsofpeoplearemorelike-
ly than others to have difficulties ac-
cessing resources, rights and services
necessaryfortheirfullparticipationin
society. The young have the highest
at-risk-of-povertyrate,at19%forchil-
drenaged0-17,and18%forthe18-24
agegroups.Theat-risk-of-povertyrate
thendecreaseswithageasindividuals
progressinthelabourmarket,before
it rises again after people retire and
cannotrelyanymoreonincomefrom
work. Older women, without excep-
tion,areatgreaterriskofpovertythan
oldermen,whoareonthewholeno
more exposed to the risk of poverty
thantheiryoungercounterparts.
Social protection can provide relief
from poverty but does not in itself
help individuals and families durably
eludepoverty.Iftheyaretobeeffec-
tive in combating poverty and social
exclusion,socialtransfersmustbeac-
companied by adequate health care,
education,housing,socialservicesand
measures facilitating integration into
the labour market for those capable
of working. This is why many Mem-
ber States are increasingly focusing
theirpoliciesonpromotingindividual
self-sufficiency through an employ-
ment-friendlysocialprotectionsystem
thatfostersparticipationinthelabour
market.
In2005,long-termunemploymentaf-
fected 3.8% of the active population
intheEU27(3.9%intheEU-25),on
averagemoremen(3.9%)thanwom-
en (3.7%) but there are considerable
differences between Member States.
Employmentpolicieshaveakeyrole
to play in promoting adequate living
standards and greater social cohe-
sion. In the EU as a whole, the risk
of poverty is nearly 2.5 times greater
forthosewhoarenotinworkthanfor
European Framework
those who are. However, the at-risk-

of-poverty rate is still relatively high
evenforthoseinwork.
In-work poverty is linked to low pay,
low skills, precarious and often part-
time employment. Quality employ-
mentisessentialtoliftindividualsout
of poverty and in order to promote
itisnecessarytodevelopemployabil-
ity, in particular through policies to
promote the acquisition of skills and
life-longlearning.Itisalsonecessary
toputinplacesoundmacroeconomic
policiestofacilitateemploymentcrea-
tion and a stable economic climate
conducivetohigherinvestmentinhu-
mancapitalonthepartofemployers.
To make a decisive impact on the
eradication of poverty and social ex-
clusion,MemberStatestogetherwith
the European Commission, in the
framework of the Lisbon Strategy,
adoptedacommonstrategicapproach
focused on the achievement of three
mainobjectives:
Toprovideaccessforall to there-
sources,rightsandservicesneeded
forparticipationinsociety,prevent-
ing and addressing exclusion, and
fighting all forms of discrimination
leadingtoexclusion;
Toassureactivesocialinclusionof
all,bothbypromotingparticipation
inthelabourmarketandbyfighting
povertyandexclusion;
To promote social inclusion poli-
ciesthatinvolvealllevelsofgovern-
mentandrelevantactors,including
people experiencing poverty, and
areefficientandeffectiveandmain-
streamed into all relevant public
policies,includingeconomic,budg-
etary,educationandtrainingpolicies
andstructuralfundprogrammes.
The2005-2010SocialAgendacovers
thereforepoliciesdesignedtoprovide
jobs,fightpovertyandpromoteequal
opportunities for all, including for
mobile workers, so that they can en-
joy the same social security and pen-
sionrightsthroughouttheEU.These
policies are designed in partnership
with public authorities at every level
from local to national, employer and
worker representatives, and non-gov-
ernmental organisations. It is also a
framework for supporting member
states in reforming pensions and
health care, tackling poverty and the
employmentandsocialissuesemerg-
ingaspopulationsage,aswellasfos-
teringequalopportunities,anderadi-
catinginequalityanddiscrimination.
TheaddedvalueoftheSocialAgenda
is beyond doubt because it facilitates
themodernisationofnationalsystems
against a background of far-reaching
economic and social changes. It sup-
portstheharmoniousoperationofthe
single market while ensuring respect
for fundamental rights and common
values.
The Agenda develops a two-pronged
strategy. Firstly, it emphasises its role
in strengthening citizens confidence.
This confidence is essential for man-
agingtheprocessofchangeandplays
a key role in encouraging economic
European Framework
growth. The Agenda describes the
combination of Community instru-
mentsforimprovingthequalityofits
implementation and presents, in this
context,threekeyconditionsforsuc-
cess:anintergenerationalapproach,a
partnership for change and the need
to seize the opportunities offered by
globalisation.
Secondly, it presents key measures
undertwomajorheadings,whichare
coveredbytheCommissionsstrategic
objectives 2005-2009: employment
(under the prosperity objective) and,
linked to that, equal opportunities
and inclusion (under the solidarity
objective).TheAgendacombinesthe
consolidationofacommonEuropean
framework with the implementation
ofdiversifiedmeasurestorespondto
specificneeds.Inthisway,itsupports
themottoUnitedindiversity,which
is proclaimed by the Constitutional
Treaty.
the euRopean Social
Fund
Provided for by the Treaty of Rome
and operating since 1962, the Euro-
peanSocialFund(ESF)isoneofthe
fourEU StructuralFundsspecifically
designed for promoting the overall
harmonious development of the
Community and a gradual closing of
thegapsbetweenthecitizensandthe
RegionsoftheEuropeanUnion.
More precisely, the ESF is the EU
financial instrument designed to sup-
port the European Employment
Strategy so as to prevent and combat
unemployment and to invest in hu-
man resources, thereby promoting a
high level of occupational and social
integration, parity between men and
women and economic and social co-
hesion.
TheESFislikewisetheonlyStructur-
al Fund acting horizontally in all the
EUCountriesandRegions.
The main objective of the ESF is to
combatunemployment:theESFaims
attrainingamorequalifiedworkforce
preparedtofacethenewchallengesof
the market and to prevent long-term
unemployment.Forthispurpose,the
ESFcontributestothecreationofnew
and better jobs together with the de-
velopmentofworkersskills,aboveall
fortheweakercategoriesandforindi-
viduals who encounter particular dif-
ficulty in finding or maintaining em-
ployment,orinre-enteringthelabour
market. The ESF likewise supports
theMemberStatesintheirattemptto
introduce and implement new active
employmentpoliciesandnewsystems
to combat unemployment, thereby
adapting their actions to the specific
conditionsofthevariousRegions.
TheactionsfinancedbytheEuropean
SocialFundarebasicallyaimedat:
combating and preventing unem-
ploymentaswellasencouragingthe
reinsertion of the long-term unem-
ployedinthelabourmarket
supportingtheprofessionalintegra-

20
tion of young people and individu-
als who re-enter the labour market
afteraperiodofabsence
promoting equal opportunities for
all in access to the labour market,
withparticularfocusonindividuals
atriskofsocialexclusion
promotingandimprovingvocation-
al training, education and guidance
andlifelonglearningpolicies
encouraging and improving access
and integration in the labour mar-
ketthusimprovingandmaintaining
workeremployabilityaswellassup-
portingoccupationalmobility
promoting and supporting the de-
velopment of a skilled, qualified
andadaptableworkforce
promotingthedevelopmentofboth
the business spirit and the condi-
tionsfacilitatingjobcreation
promoting the strengthening of the
human potential in the field of re-
search,scienceandtechnology
improvingtheaccessandparticipa-
tion of women in the labour mar-
ket
In all these objectives, the ESF also
fosters the transversal promotion of
local development policies, the de-
velopmentoftheInformationSociety
andtherespectofequalopportunities
betweenmenandwomen.
With a view to pursue its objectives,
the European Social Fund (ESF) fi-
nancesbothactionsspecificallytarget-
edtoindividualsandactionsspecially
designedforstructuralinitiativessoas
to improve the vocational education
and training systems and the better

functioningofthelabourmarket.
The actions of the European Social
Fund are generally targeted to all the
citizensoftheEuropeanUnion;how-
ever,mostoftheactionsareneverthe-
lessdesignedforspecificcategoriesof
beneficiaries,inparticular:
long-termunemployedorindividu-
als at risk of long-term unemploy-
ment
youngfirst-jobseekers
disadvantagedpeople
women
TheCommunitySupportFramework
(CSF)isthedocumentwhichcontains
both the strategy and the priority ac-
tionsoftheStructuralFundsinacer-
tainMemberStateorRegion,thereby
definingthespecificobjectivesofsuch
actionstogetherwiththefinancialcon-
tribution of the Structural Funds and
otherfinancialresources.
The European Social Fund contrib-
utes to the implementation of CSF
and,inparticular,providestotalfinanc-
ingfortheObjective3Community
Support Framework. The Objective
3 Community Support Framework
istopursuebothaneconomicgrowth
and the expansion of employment,
supported by a process of reform
and renewal in the education, train-
ing and labour-market systems. The
policy fields affected by the strategy
concernthepathwaysforlearningand
job insertion, the response to labour
demand emerging from the labour
market,andtheinstrumentsandserv-

2
ices targeted to promoting the match
between labour supply and demand
as well as the improved qualification
oftheworkforce.
The resources are distributed among
six priorities, one of which (priority
E) is specifically devoted to support
SpecificMeasurestoImproveAccess
andActiveParticipationofWomenin
theLabourMarket,pursuedthrough
anintegratedapproachofpoliciestar-
getedtodrawwomenintothelabour
market,thuseliminatingthesocialand
structuralconditionshinderingfemale
participation.
The CSF serves as a basis for draw-
inguptheNationalOperationalPro-
grammes (NOP) namely the docu-
mentsthateachMemberStatedraws
up to definethe actions to be under-
takenandensuretheimplementation
of the planned action lines - and for
guaranteeing the co-ordination of all
the Community structural support
measuresintheRegionsinterestedby
thevariousOperationalProgrammes.
Intheprogrammingperiod2000-2006
the ESF (with a financial envelope 60
billion) has supported important pri-
orities of the European Employment
Strategy(EES)includingactivelabour
market policies, the development of
human resources, the integration of
vulnerablegroupsandgenderequality
onthelabourmarket.
For the programming period 2007-
2013 (with a financial envelope of 70
billionfortheESF),theESFpriorities
have been further synchronised with
thoseoftheEES.Themeasuresthat
fall within the Employment Guide-
lines (including a range of flexicurity
policies)areeligibleforESFsupport,
and in many cases the European Re-
gional Development Fund can also
providefinancialsupport.Amongthe
actions that can be funded are train-
ingatcompanylevelandactivelabour
market measures, including job-find-
ing assistance of the unemployed,
lifelonglearningandthepromotionof
self-employment and entrepreneur-
ship.
eu pRoMoting
WoMenS
paRticipation in the
labouR MaRket
Gender equality is a fundamental
right,acommonvalueoftheEU,and
anecessaryconditionfortheachieve-
mentoftheEUobjectivesofgrowth,
employment and social cohesion.
TheEUhasmadesignificantprogress
in achieving gender equality, thanks
to equal treatment legislation, gender
mainstreaming, specific measures for
the advancement of women, action
programmes,socialdialogueanddia-
loguewithcivilsociety.TheEuropean
Parliament has been an important
partner for progress. Many women
haveattainedthehighestlevelsofedu-
cation,enteredthelabourmarketand
become important players in public
European Framework
22
life.
Nevertheless,inequalitiesremainand
may widen, as increased global eco-
nomic competition requires a more
flexibleandmobilelabourforce.This
canimpactmoreonwomen,whoare
oftenobligedtochoosebetweenhav-
ingchildrenoracareer,duetothelack
offlexibleworkingarrangementsand
care services, the persistence of gen-
derstereotypes,andanunequalshare
of family responsibilities with men.
Progress made by women, including
in key areas for the Lisbon Strategy
such as education and research, are
not fully reflected in womens posi-
tion on the labour market. This is a
waste of human capital that the EU
cannot afford. At the same time, low
birthratesandashrinkingworkforce
threaten the EUs political and eco-
nomicrole.
The Lisbon employment targets call
fora60%employmentrateforwom-
enby2010.Atpresent,itisat55.7%
and is much lower (31.7%) for older
women (55-64 years old). Women
also have a higher unemployment
rate than men (9.7% against 7.8%).
ThegenderdimensionoftheLisbon
strategy for jobs and growth must be
strengthened.Compliance with equal
treatment legislation and an effective
use of the new Structural Funds (e.g.
training, entrepreneurship measures)
can help increase womens employ-
ment. The individualisation of rights
linkedto tax andbenefitsystemscan
alsoensurethatitpaysforbothwom-
enandmentowork.
Despite EU legislation on equal pay,
women earn 15% less than men and
thisgapisdecreasingatamuchslower
pace than the gender employment
gap.Itspersistenceresultsfromdirect
discrimination against women and
structuralinequalities,suchassegrega-
tioninsectors,occupationsandwork
patterns,accesstoeducationandtrain-
ing,biasedevaluationandpaysystems,
andstereotypes.Tacklingtheseissues
requiresamultifacetedapproachand
themobilisationofallparties.
Women constitute, on average, 30%
ofentrepreneursintheEU.Theyof-
ten face greater difficulties than men
instartingupbusinessesandinaccess-
ing finance and training. The recom-
mendationsoftheEUEntrepreneur-
ship Action Plan make on increasing
womens start-ups through better ac-
cess to finance and the development
of entrepreneurial networks need to
befurtherimplemented.
Social protection systems should re-
move disincentives for women and
men to enter and remain on the la-
bour market, allowing them to ac-
cumulate individual pension entitle-
ments. However, women are still
likely to have shorter or interrupted
careers and, therefore, fewer rights
than men. This increases the risk of
poverty, especially for single parents,
older women or for women working
infamily-basedbusinesses.Itisessen-
tial that social protection systems en-
surethatthesewomenhaveaccessto
2
European Framework
adequate benefits, in particular when
theyretire.
The EU is then committed to the
elimination of all discrimination and
thecreationofaninclusivesocietyfor
all. Women members of disadvan-
tagedgroupsareoftenworseoffthan
their male counterparts. The situa-
tionofethnicminorityandimmigrant
womenisemblematic.Theyoftensuf-
fer from double discrimination. This
requires the promotion of gender
equality in migration and integration
policies in order to ensure womens
rights and civic participation, to fully
usetheiremploymentpotentialandto
improvetheiraccesstoeducationand
lifelonglearning.
2
Part 2 - Analysis
Chapter 2 - Italian Framework
tRendS in the italian
labouR MaRket
In the last 15 years growth rates of
Italianeconomyshowedaprogressive
decrease in an international context
whereby Europe in a whole has de-
velopedinalesserextentthanUnited
StatesandBRICCountries.European
Countries reveal problems in growth
andcompetitivenesswhichingeneral
maybeascribedtoaninferiorinnova-
tioncapacityoftheproductivesystem
andtoaminordecreeofmarketcom-
petitiveness.
InItalytheperceptionofthiscommon
slowdownwasmorepronouncedthan
intherestofEuropeduetoasignifi-
cant increase in GDP differential in
thesecondhalfofthe90sfollowedby
a substantial stagnation of the econo-
mybetween2002and2005uptothe
recentpositivebounceof2006.More-
overtheslowdownintermsofgrowth
wasassociatedtosubstantiallossesin
Italianexportsharesinglobalmarkets
andanevenmoremarkeddeclineof
labourproductivity.
The greater incidence of such slow-
down is determined by a progressive
accumulation of internal unsolved
structuraldelayswhichhaverestricted
Italyspotentialforgrowthandability
to compete and exacerbated macro-
economic instability and social ten-
sions. The reasons for these delays
aretobefoundinamajorregulatory
2
burdenontheeconomy,alackofabil-
ityoftheenterprisestoincreasetheir
scale, low productivity rates among
employees and a widespread lack of
funding devoted to research and in-
novation.
Nevertheless,despitethestillexisting
problems,in2006theItalianeconom-
icactivityshowedencouragingsignals
sinceGDPgrewby1.9%andabreak-
downofdomesticdemandreflecteda
sharpaccelerationincapitalspending.
Thegrowthratein2006isnotexcep-
tional in a long-term perspective but
itwassufficienttoreversetheexistent
negative trend and stimulate an addi-
tionallabourdemandofrelevantpro-
portions.
According to the Italian Statistics
Agency(ISTAT)surveyoftheCoun-
try workforce, the number of people
in work in Italy at June 2006 was
above23,180,000withanincreasein
536,000people(2.4%)comparedwith
theequivalentperiodin2005.
Thesurveyalsorevealsignsofchang-
esinthelabourmarket.Growthinthe
numberofpeopleinworkisinsignifi-
cant extent imputable to regulariza-
tion of immigrants position, which
determined an increase in 162,000
units in the workforce. But the main
constituentitemderivedbythegrowth
ofworkingpopulationovertheage50
among whom an increase in 242,000
units was recorded. Other interesting
factorstobeconsideredarerelatedto
the number of people employed on
a contract basis (+120,000 units) and
theresumptioninthegrowthofwom-
en in the workplace with an increase
by2.9%.
Such dynamism in the occupational
trendhastobeattentivelyconsidered
in the definition of labour policies
whose aim is still to increase the oc-
cupational rate in Italy, which is cur-
rentlyfarfromreachingtheEuropean
averageandtheonesetbytheLisbon
Strategy.
italy and the liSbon
StRategy
Attractandretainmorepeopleinem-
ployment,increaselaboursupplyand
modernise social protection systems,
improve adaptability of workers and
enterprises,increaseinvestmentinhu-
man capital through better education
andskills:thesearetheultimategoals
of the economic and social policies
underpinning the Lisbon Strategy.
This means increasing both activity
ratesandproductivity,againstamore
solid backdrop of long-term finan-
cial stability. Improving Italys ability
to compete over the long term is the
challengetofaceinordertopromote
lasting, sustainable growth for the
Country and encourage a greater so-
cialcohesion.
Impacts of globalization on national
economies and sharp economic
growthofnewemergingCountriesare
critical issues for all EU Countries.
To enhance its competitiveness, Ita-
2
lys strategic priorities are converging
ineffortstoraisethepotentialgrowth
rate of the economy through meas-
uresinvolvingproductivityfactors,the
economic and regulatory framework
and the features of the productive
system itself. Thus these actions will
concretely lead to greater innovation
and research, easier access to capital
markets, businesses growing in size
andincreasedabilityinattractingfor-
eigninvestments.
InparticularaccordingtotheNation-
al Reform Programme 2006-2008
Italy is strongly committed in achiev-
ing five main objectives to speed up
andimprovethe quality ofits growth
andnamely:
to improve the market efficiency,
by increasingcompetitionandsim-
plifying legislation, through actions
to reduce entry barriers to protect-
ed markets, liberalize services and
shortenthetimerequiredtoobtain
administrativeauthorizations;
topromoteresearchandinnovation
by setting framework conditions,
instruments and incentives for
companiestoinvestinresearch,in-
cluding fiscal measures to leverage
privateresearch,aswellastargeted
incentives to strengthen public-pri-
vatepartnership.Italyconfirmsthe
goalofreachingadegreeofinvest-
ment in research equal to 2.5% of
GDPby2010,withtwo-thirdstobe
fundedbytheprivatesector;
to improve the attractiveness of
jobs,qualityatworkandlabourpro-
ductivity growth, prevent exclusion

fromthelabourmarket,supportin-
tegration in employment of people
atadisadvantageandencouragein-
vestmentinhumancapital,bymod-
ernizingandstrengtheningoflabour
marketinstitutions,notablyemploy-
mentservicesandenhancingefforts
intermsoflifelongtrainingandef-
fectivenessoftheeducationsystem;
to upgrade infrastructures, concen-
trating funds on priority projects
(especiallycross-borderones)toim-
prove general productive efficiency
and reduce the disparities between
Central/Northern Italy and South-
ernItaly;
to reconcile protection of the en-
vironment with technological
progress, through developing tech-
nologies to increase energy effi-
ciencyandsupportItalianbusiness
competitiveness.
Italy, in adopting the policies an-
nounced in the DPEF and budget
2007 in addition to the measures al-
ready adopted, intends to bring State
and market together on a virtuous
path, in accordance with the Lisbon
Strategy, to unlock the Countrys po-
tentialforgrowth.
Italian Framework
2
eMployMent and
Social incluSion
policieS
Despitegoodperformancesrecorded
in the last years in terms of jobs cre-
ated, Italy is unfortunatelystill a long
wayoffreachingtheEuropeanobjec-
tivesofa70%employmentrateand
a 60% female employment rate by
2010.Pronouncedregionaldisparities
still persist. The Italian labour mar-
ket currently displays a high degree
of fragmentation in terms of types of
job offered and as a result also high
levels of temporary employment and
lowjobsecurity.
In order to tackle these delays, Italy
isgearedtowardsdevelopingthequal-
ityofwork,toattainahigherlevelof
socialequity,combatregionaldispari-
tiesandprotecttheweakerclassesof
society, in compliance with the re-
launchedLisbonStrategy.
To support employment growth and
reduce regional disparities the Italian
government introduced the so-called
taxwedgetoreducethecostofem-
ploying a person, in terms of taxes
andcontributionsasmeasuredagainst
their gross pay by a total of five per-
centage points as follows: 60% (three
percentagepoints)forthebusinesses,
and 40% (two percentage points) for
theemployees.Thismeasureapplies
solely to the cost of permanent em-
ployees, in order to reduce the per-
centage of people employed tempo-
rarily.Costsrelatedtoapprenticeship
andtrainingcontractsandforresearch
and development as well as employ-
ment of persons with disabilities are
alsodeductiblefortaxpurposes.
Tax-related and contributions-based
policiesareaimedatachievinganim-
mediate recovery of competitiveness
whichwillbereflectedinmorestable
employment positions and reduced
fragmentationintermsoftypesofem-
ployment.
To help in matching supply and de-
mandforworkandimproveemploy-
ment services, various information
systems are being integrated both at
national and local level (as the so-
calledBorsaLavoro)whileasystem
for monitoringkey labour market in-
dicatorshasalreadybeenestablished.
Furthermore, to strengthen social
cohesion, it is essential that even so-
cial policies start overcoming their
traditional boundaries to intersect
more and more with labour policies,
combiningcompetitivenessandsocial
inclusion according to a workfare
viewpoint.
InthissenseLaw30/03onOccupation
andLabourMarketclearlystatesthat
theprovisionofeconomicandfinan-
cialincentivestofostergrowthandre-
ducesocialexclusionisimportantbut
notsufficientsinceitisequallyessen-
tialtoimplementinnovativepractices
todefendhumanrightsandtoreduce
discriminations,sinceahigherdegree
of social inclusion has to be pursued
also by assuring a full exploitation of
2
thepotentialoftheknowledgesociety
andofthenewinformationandcom-
municationtechnologies.
Therefore, new instruments to pro-
motesocialinclusionshallbedefined
targeting the most vulnerable catego-
ries in particular i.e. young people,
women, and workers over the age of
50combiningincomesupportmeas-
uresandcontinuoustrainingsincethe
competitivenessofproductivesystems
cannotbedisjointbythequalityofthe
educationandtrainingsystems.
Ensuring a higher degree of social
cohesion along with the creation of
more and better jobs is founded on
investmentinhumancapital:itiscru-
cialtostructureprocessesoflife-long
learning according to individuals at-
titudesandneedsthusdevelopingan
accreditation system of the profes-
sional competences, valorising and
exchanging good practices, fostering
the quality of the training offer and
increasing the participation of adults
in training. This implies that training
should comprise either compulsory
education system and apprenticeship
coursesoradvancedtechnicaleduca-
tionandlife-longlearning.
The structure of the labour market
must also be compatible with the
needs of individuals private lives ac-
cording to flexicurity logics. Paid
maternity and paternity leave will be
extended in two directions: a) by in-
cluding workers employed on a con-
tract- or non-permanent basis among
those eligible for such entitlements;
b)byincreasingtheageofchildrenin
respectofwhichitispossibletotake
suchleave.
Afirststepinthisdirectionhasalready
beenachievedwiththeapprovalofthe
2007 draft budget law, which Detrac-
tions for dependent family members
aretranslatedintotaxdeductionsthat
are equal for all and are significantly
higher.
Cheques payable to nuclear families
have been increased and tax deduc-
tions were approved to reduce the
taxburdenonthosewithaverage-low
incomes and support the finances of
families, especially those with chil-
dren.
The policies described above will
contribute actively to a redistribution
ofwealthandasocialinclusionpolicy,
bothdirectly(i.e.viatheprovisionof
cheques for children) and indirectly
(byincreasingthefemaleemployment
rate,andhencehelpingtoraisehouse-
holdincomes).
Along with the issue of funding, a
new form of governance is being de-
finedwhichwillseebothinstitutional
and non-institutional parties involved
in social inclusion policies. In this
sensethegovernmentiscommittedto
strengthening co-operation between
the different levels of responsibility,
and re-launching dialogue with the
social parties, with the social private
sectorandwithrepresentativeassocia-
tions.
Action to combat social exclusion is
aimedatpeoplelivingbelowthepov-
Italian Framework
0
erty line, the elderly, people living in
areaswhichareatgeographicalrisk
(somepartsofSouthernItalyandes-
pecially suburban areas of the main
Italiancities),andimmigrants.
pRoMotion
oF WoMenS
labouR MaRket
In Italy womens participation in the
labourmarketisstilllowifcompared
withEuropeanrates:accordingtoEu-
rostatdata,ItalysdifferentialwithEU
ratesexceed10percentagepoints.Al-
thoughwomenrepresent51.4%ofthe
population, they are only 28% of the
workforce,46.3%ofthewage-earning
populationand53%ofpeoplesearch-
ing for a job. Female participation is
also hampered by an unemployment
rate which is rather double than the
male one in all geographical areas of
theCountryandbythepersistenceof
relevantquotasofconcealed,irregular
orprecariouslabour.
Consideringwomenspresenceinthe
labourmarket,ithastoberemarked
thatdespiteahighlevelofeducation,
theyfacedifficultiesduetobothhori-
zontalandverticalsegregationandto
still existing disparities in economical
treatment. Furthermore women still
bear the major burden of domestic
andcareworkinfamilies.
In addition while mens activity rate
grows with their progressive aging
reaching its climax between 35-54
years,forwomenithappensbetween
25-34 years. Women with children
have a probability of 46% to exit the
labour market, six times more than
women without children. And only
halfofthemmanagestobereinserted
after a certain period because of a
scarce possibility of reconciling work
andfamilylife.
Therefore policies to promote wom-
ensparticipationwereaimedat:
developing specific positive actions
to increase their employment level
(Law30/03onOccupationandLa-
bourMarket)
guaranteeingwomanaccesstowork
throughlocaldevelopmentprojects
(Law 125/91 on Equal Opportuni-
tiesintheLabourMarket)
ensuring an adequate female pres-
ence in orientation, education and
traininginitiatives
improving the living and working
conditions of women by enhanc-
ing social services (Law 53/00 on
SupporttoMaternityandPaternity;
Law1044/71onMunicipalKinder-
gartens)
promotingfemalebusinesscreation
and entrepreneurship (Law 215/92
on Female Entrepreneurship; Law
488/92 on Productive Activities;
Law 185/00 on Self-Employment;
Law608/96onUnsecuredLoans)
Inthelastyearsaspecificattentionwas
paidinpromotinganentrepreneurial
cultureandencouragingmorewomen
tobecomeinvolvedinenterpriseand
grow existing businesses since it has
significant potential to impact posi-
tively on female employment rates
and in general on Italys economic
performance.
Furthermore business ownership or
self-employment presents an attrac-
tive solution for a large number of
women to enable them to balance
workwithotherpriorities.Forwomen
with comfortable incomes and sup-
port networks it is fairly easily attain-
able. For others (i.e. women over 50
or immigrants) it may be more than
anecessity.
According to a recent survey of the
Italian Chambers of Commerce As-
sociation (Unioncamere) womens
enterprises (>50% of female share-
holders) are 23.5% (1,174,543) of
the total of active enterprises in Italy
(4,995,738).
Businesses owned by women take a
varietyoflegalforms.Howeversome
forms are more popular: they are
much likely to be registered as sole-
traders(74%)orlimitedandunlimited
partnerships(19.6%).Thesumofthe
twopercentagesshowsthatmorethan
93% of womens enterprises is com-
prised in these two categories. Joint-
stockcompaniesareonly5.3%against
12%ofthetotalofenterprises.
Women-owned businesses operate
across a wide range of industrial sec-
tors. Sectors in which women-owned
businesses are well represented in-
clude retail, wholesale, business serv-
icesandagriculture.Bycontrast,there
are few women-owned businesses in
sectors such as manufacturing, con-
structionandtransport.
Although health and social services
shareisonly8.9%ofthetotalofwom-
ensenterprises,theyaretheeconom-
icsectorwiththehighestfeminization
rate(morethan35%).Anexplanation
can be found in the fact that women
tendtobecomeself-employedineasy
entryserviceindustriesbecausethese
sectors reflect previous work experi-
ence and are cheaper to set up and
run.
Women-ledfirmsingeneralrecorded
alowerturnoverthanotherbusiness-
es: in total, 44.5% of women-owned
firms had an annual turnover lower
than 50,000.
Thetotalemploymentcreatedshowed
anaverageof5.4employeesperbusi-
ness.Thiscompareswithwhollymale-
ownedbusinesseswhereemployment
averaged 7.8. Women-owned busi-
nesses were also less likely to have
grown substantially in employment
aftertwelvemonthsinbusiness.
Most women entrepreneurs depend
ontheirbusinessastheironlyormain
sourceofincome.However,theyare
less likely than men to own more
than one business and are twice as
likely to have part-time employment
inadditiontoowningtheirenterprise.
Furthermore,eventhoughsourcesof
businessfinanceusedbywomenand
menaresimilar,fewerwomenusein-
stitutionalfinancesuchasbankloans
Italian Framework
2
and overdrafts to finance their busi-
ness. Women-owned businesses are
more likely to use informal sources
such as family savings, household in-
come, inheritance, grants and friends
assourcesofbusinessfinance.
Neverthelessstrongcommitmentand
business capabilities are not always
enoughtoovercomeconstraintswhich
interfere with entrepreneurs profes-
sional performance. Factors repre-
sentingbarriersaremostlyrelatedwith
accesstofinance,accesstonetworking
opportunitiesandlackofappropriate
business support and they are com-
mon both for men and women. But
women face additional problems as
theimpactofcaringanddomesticre-
sponsibilities and often low levels of
confidenceandself-esteem.
Although self-employment is a viable
career path for women, more needs
tobedonetocreatebetterconditions
and opportunities for women to start
and run a business. Long-term poli-
ciestopromotefemaleentrepreneur-
shiphavetofocusontheeducational
systemandthemid-terminformation
and define role models which draw
a realistic picture of female entrepre-
neurshiptoencouragewomentotake
thechanceofbeingself-employed.In
particular:
Measures supporting enterprise
start-upsshouldconcentrateonsec-
tors that can provide women with
an adequate income, thereby in-
creasing womens financial self-suf-
ficiency.Strategiestomovewomen
into higher value markets in tradi-

tional or new sectors are therefore
important.
Training measures should also in-
clude entrepreneurship develop-
ment training in order to foster
self-confidence attitudes important
tostartingandmanagingonesown
business.
Networking can prove a valuable
source of inspiration and exchange
ofexperienceatallstagesofbusiness
development. Network event can
alsobelinkedtoinformalbusiness
supportprovisionasadvisory,train-
ingand/ormentoringprogrammes.
Different methods of providing ac-
cess to finance, such as loan guar-
antees or partnerships with formal
financialinstitutionscanreducethe
costs of providing credits to micro
entrepreneurs and women entre-
preneursinparticular.
Measures to promote social enter-
prisesasaprofitablebusinessoption
forwomenconsideringthatwomen
inthismarketsegmentalreadyplay
avitalrole.
FeMale Social
enteRpRiSeS
Since the 80s the number of entities
andorganizationsprovidingsocialand
assistance services in the competitive
market has been steadily increasing.
The reasons of such growth have to
betracedinthestructuralchangesoc-
curredintheItaliansociety(declineof
theroleofthefamilyinprovidingso-
cialsupport,progressiveageingofthe
population)aswellasintheemerging
of new needs related to the so-called
post-materialistpoverties(i.e.home-
lessness,drugabuse,immigrationand
long-term unemployment) which the
Italian welfare system was not suffi-
cientlyabletotackle.
Tiedtospecificlocalcontexts,alarge
numberofinitiativesstarteddevelop-
ing, organized mainly as associations
which heavily relied on voluntary
workwhilepublicsupportwaslimited
atbesttotheprovisionofsomefinan-
cialaid.
Thesuccessofmanyoftheseorgani-
zations in satisfying the increasing
servicesdemandexplainstheirgrowth
in size and number and their trans-
formationintomorestructuredunits,
providingservicesinastablewayand
employing paid workers. A first rec-
ognition of the legitimacy of private
initiatives in the social service sector
occurred in 1998 when the Constitu-
tional Court deliberated on the right
ofanycitizentoestablishandmanage
private organizations to supply social
services.
Asaconsequencein1991twoimpor-
tantlawswereissuedtorecognizeand
regulate the two main private institu-
tionalformsthathaddevelopedinthe
previousyears:
Law266/91onVoluntaryOrganiza-
tions
Law381/91onSocialCooperatives
Astepfurtherwastakenin2005with
the enforcement of Law 118/05 and
theintroductionofsocialenterpriseas
juridicalformintheItalianCivilCode
intheattemptofharmonizingtheleg-
islation on Third Sector entities and
fostering their potential of growth in
thecompetitivemarket.Furthermore
the concept of entrepreneurship has
beendefinitivelyseparatedbytheone
oflucrativepurpose,thatisithasbeen
recognizedtheexistenceofenterpris-
eswhoseprimaryaimisnottoobtain
areturnoncapital.
Theconceptofsocialenterprisecom-
prisesallbusinesseswhicharedirectly
andcontinuouslyinvolvedinproduc-
ingandtradinggoodsandservicesfor
communitybenefitandgeneralinter-
est.Socialenterprisesaddedvalueas
to traditional businesses lays in their
efforts to supply services with a high
degree of relationality, foster net-
working logics among Third Sector
entitiesandhelpinproducingpositive
externalitiesforthecommunity.
Thestatusofsocialenterprisemaybe
acquiredby:
Associations, foundations, volun-
teeringorganizations,NGOs
Any form of partnership or joint-
stockcompany(definedasperTitle
V of the Civil Code), cooperatives,
consortia
Publicandlocalentitiesaswellaspri-
vate businesses whose surpluses are
redistributed only among the share-
holders can not obtain the status of
socialenterprise.
Italian Framework
The plurality of legal forms recog-

nized by the Law testifies that social
enterprisesaredefinedmorebytheir
naturethanbytheirlegalform:whatis
reallyrelevantistheirsocialaimsand
outcomes, the basis on which their
social mission is embedded in their
structureandgovernanceandtheway
theyusetheprofitsgeneratedthrough
theirtradingactivities.
Nevertheless a social enterprise must
fulfilsomerequirementsandnamely:
Tobeconstitutedbypublicdeed
Toreinvestitssurplusesinthebusi-
nessorallocatethemtotheindivis-
ible reserve (which can never be
dividedamongmembers)
To draw up and register with the
EnterpriseRegistraranactcontain-
ingitspatrimonialandfinancialsta-
tus
To keep journal and inventory
book
Todrawupsocialbalance
To promote participatory methods
ofgovernance
Tohavethemajorityofitsadminis-
tratorsasmembers
Asfarastheeconomicactivityiscon-
cerned,socialenterprisescanoperate
inthefollowingsectors:
Socialservices
Healthandcareservices
Education
Training
Environmentalprotection
Culturalpropertyprotection
Vocationaltraining
Servicesforsocialenterprises
Furthermore the status of social en-

terprise can be acquired by those or-
ganizations which independently by
their sector of activity carry out en-
trepreneurial activities aimed at the
insertionofdisabledordisadvantaged
people in the labour market if these
peoplerepresentatleast30%oftheir
workers.
Currentlytheformofsocialenterprise
whichbettercombineentrepreneurial
attitudeandsocialaimisrepresented
by social cooperatives. According to
provisionssetoutbyLaw381/91,so-
cialcooperativescanbeoftwotypes:
A-type social cooperatives which
deliversocial,healthandeducation-
alservices
B-type social cooperatives which
provide work integration for disad-
vantagedpeople
Although Law 381/92 provides that
all cooperatives must choose one of
thesetwotypes,itdoesnotclearlydif-
ferentiatebetweenthemandasacon-
sequenceothertwotypesofcoopera-
tiveswereformallyrecognized:
C-typeormixedsocialcooperatives
which carry out activities related to
delivery of socio-educational and
healthservicesandworkintegration
fordisadvantagedpeople
Consortia which associate different
socialcooperatives
The structure of the ownership re-
spects the democratic principle of
oneperson,onevote.Asfarasthe
decisionmakingpowerisconcerned,
there are no differences among the
various member of the social coop-

eratives. All members have the same
rightsandthesameweightinthedeci-
sion-makingprocess.
Sincesocialcooperativesareemploy-
erorganizations,theymakeuseofthe
different kinds of market contracts
(part-time or fixed term contracts)
within the framework of the national
contractforsocialcooperativeswhich
regulates the working relations inside
them.
AccordingtothelatestISTATsurvey
on social cooperatives, in 2005 there
were 7,363 social cooperatives active
on the national territory with an in-
creaseby+19.5%incomparisonwith
2003 (6,159) and +33.5% compared
with2001figures(5,515).Andtocon-
firm the relative novelty of this phe-
nomenon, more than two third were
establishedafter1991(71.7%).
Consideringtheirregionaldistribution,
mostofsocialcooperativesarelocated
inLombardy(1,191)thenfollowedby
Lazio (719), Sicily (589), Emilia-Ro-
magna(584),Veneto(564)andPuglia
(545). Since 2003 the number of so-
cial cooperatives has been increasing
in many Italian regions, in particular
inSardinia(64.1%),Calabria(53.6%),
Liguria (53.2%), Campania (23,.%)
andLazio(21.7%).
Asfarastheirtypologyisconcerned,
the majority of social cooperatives
(4,345, equal to 59%) belongs to A-
type social cooperatives, followed
by B-type cooperatives (2,419, equal
to 32.8%), mixed cooperatives (315,
equal to 4.3%) and social consortia
(284,equalto3.9%).Ingeneralinthe
Northern and Central Italy the per-
centage of B-type social cooperatives
tends to be higher than the national
average, while in the South the per-
centage is more in favour of A-type
ones.
In 2005 the social enterprises annu-
al turnover was about 6.4 billions.
Values were not equally distributed
among the different types of social
cooperatives: 64.7% is produced by
A-typecooperatives,21.2%byB-type
ones,10.7%byconsortiaand3.4%by
C-typecooperatives.
Membersofsocialcooperativeswere
estimated in 262,389 units, whose
255,583asphysicalpersonsand6,806
as juridical persons. Among physical
persons,morethan65%ofmembers
werewomen.
The incidence of the female com-
ponent is even more remarkable
whenworkersareconsidered.Outof
278,849 people employed in social
cooperatives 71.2% are women: in
particulartheyare74%ofthesalaried
workers while their percentage de-
creasesasfarastheirnumberamong
religiousandvolunteersisconcerned.
lazio Regional
context
To define tailored instruments and
tools to encourage and promote fe-
male business creation and entrepre-
Italian Framework
neurship,itwasdeemedusefultode-
cline some of the assumptions stated
inthenationalframeworkintheLazio
regional context. In particular a thor-
ough analysis was carried out as far
as women-led enterprises and social
enterprises are concerned. The aim
wastocollectrelevantdataonfemale
presence in the Lazio labour market
bothintermsofsectorsofactivityand
Province
Female
Enterprises
Total
Enterprises
Percentage
(%)
Frosinone 0, ,2 2.%
Latina ,0 ,2 2.0%
Rieti ,00 ,0 2.%
Rome 2,00 22,2 ,
Viterbo , , 2.0%
Lazio 73,753 363,153 20.31%
ThehighestfeminizationratebelongstoFrosinoneProvince,wherealmost1/3
ofenterprisesareleadbywomen.ThelowestistheoneofRomeProvinceal-
thoughitisthecitywiththehighestnumberoffemaleenterprises.
data on FeMale entRepReneuRShip
in lazio Region
InLazioRegion,overatotalof363,153enterprises,women-ledenterprisesare
73,753,thatis20.3%ofthetotal.Intheperiod20032005thegrowthrateof
femaleenterpriseswas+6.7%.Inparticular,in2005RomewastheItalianProv-
incewhichregisteredthemostrelevantincreaseintermsofenterprisesleadby
women(+4%).
numerical incidence. Furthermore in
order to provide the highest degree
ofcompletenesstothepicture,itwas
decided to consider the impact of
publicfundingasmeasuretopromote
femaleentrepreneurship,thusanalys-
ing data related with funds disbursed
under Regional Law 51/96 in favour
tobothprivateandsocialwomen-led
enterprises.
Italian Framework
Alsothedynamismoffemaleenterpriseshasbeenmuchhigherthantheoneof
non-femaleenterprises(4%versus1.7%)Theproportionalvariationofwomen-
ledenterprisesinthetwo-yearperiod20032004wasasfollow:
Sector Italy Lazio Region
Agriculture -0. -0.2
Fishery +2.0 +2.
Mining +. -.
Manufacturing +0. +0.
Energy +. 0.0
Construction +.0 +.
Retail / Wholesale +. +.0
Tourism +2. +.
Transport & TLC +. +.
Financial Services +2. +.0
Business Services +. +2.
Education +0. -.
Health +. +.
Other public services +. +.
Not Classified -. -0.
Themajorityofwomen-ownedenterprisesoperatesinthetertiarysector(79.7%
withapeakof87%forthenewenterprisesestablishedbetween2003and2005.
In Rome Province which concentrates the highest number of enterprises the
sectorialdistributionisasfollows:
Theconsolidationofwomenspresenceinsectorswithatraditionalfemalevo-
cation (retail and trade as well as social services) has been accompanied by a
significantincreaseininitiativesindivisionswherethefeminizationrateusedto
belowasindustry,businessservicesandTLC.Asalreadymentionedtheaver-
agefeminizationrateinLaziois20.3%butasitisshowninthetablebelowin
somesectors(associalandeducationalservicesinparticular)itisnoblymuch
moresubstantial:
Theanalysisofdimensionalparameters(numberofemployeesandturnover)of
women-ledenterpriseswascarriedoutaccordingtoEUclassificationofSmall
andMediumEnterprises.Thetwoparametershavebeenseparatelyconsidered,
thusthedistributionoftheenterprisesinthedifferentcategoriesvariesaccord-
ingly(i.e.Micro-Enterprisesare50.84%aspertheirnumberofemployeesand
47.56%aspertheirturnover).
Type
Number of
Employees
Number of
Enterprises
% of Total
Micro-Enterprise , 0.%
Small-Enterprise 0- 2,0 .0%
Medium-Enterprise 0-2 ,2 .%
Big-Enterprise More than 20 2 0.%
Total 73,753 100,00%
AccordingtoISTATdatafor2005,thenumberofpeopleemployedinfemale
enterprises is of 663,000, equal to 27.4% of the total (2,420,800 people). On
averagewomen-ledenterpriseshave9employeesasto6ofmen-ledenterprises.
Thereforefemaleentrepreneurshipproves to be an essential actor in the em-
ploymentscenarioofLazioRegion.
Italian Framework
0
Consideringtheirturnover,womensenterprisesclassificationresultsasfollow:
Type
Turnover
(Millions )
Number of
Enterprises
% of Total
Micro-Enterprise Less than 2 ,0 .%
Small-Enterprise 2-0 2,2 .%
Medium-Enterprise 0-0 , .%
Big-Enterprise More than 0 ,2 .2%
Total 73,753 100,00%
Othertwodatadeservetobeconsidered.Thefirstoneattainsthenumberof
foreign women entrepreneurs who showed the highest degree of dynamism
ever:inthelastfiveyearstheincreaseinenterprisesrunbyforeignwomenwas
around+108%(againstanationalgrowthrateof+69.9%).
Thesecondonereferstowomenentrepreneursage:25%arebetween30and40,
31.1%rankbetween18and29yearsoldand8.1%arelessthan18yearsold.
data on FeMale Social enteRpRiSeS
in lazio Region
AccordingtoISTATdatafor2003,inLazioRegionthenumberofsocialcoop-
erativesintheperiod2001-2003increasedby30%growingfrom454to591.
Province Coop. A Coop. B Coop. C Consortia Total
Frosinone - 2
Latina 0 - 2
Rieti 2
Rome 0
Viterbo 2 2
Lazio 238 249 82 22 591
Asfarasmembersareconcerned,theregionaltrendfollowsthenationalone
showingaprevalenceofthefemalecomponent.
Province
Physical Persons
Juridical
Persons
Men Women Total
Frosinone
Latina 2
Rieti 0 , 2
Rome ,0 ,2 0,2
Viterbo ,0 2
Lazio 5,984 8,596 14,580 231
Italian Framework
2
Thesameratioisconfirmedalsowhenthedifferentcategoriesofemployeesare
considered.Womenareover66%ofthetotalemployees.
Province
Full-time Employees Part-time Employees Interim Employees Total
M W Tot. M W Tot. M W Tot. M W Tot.
Frosinone 2 2 02 0
Latina 2 20 2 0 2
Rieti 0 2 2 2 0 2 ,02
Rome ,2 2, ,0 ,0 2, ,22 ,02 2,2 , ,02 ,2 ,2
Viterbo 22 2 2 ,0
Lazio 2,182 3,141 5,323 1,493 3,541 5,034 1,156 2,813 3,969 4,831 9,495 14,326
In 2003 social cooperatives in Lazio Region registered production values of
347,031,000Euro,whichisaround587,192Europercooperative.Production
costsappearproportionaltorevenuesandamountto332,893,000Euro.
Asfarasthepercentagecomponentisconcerned,itisremarkablethattype-A
cooperativesaremorelikelytohavethehighestproductionvaluesandrevenues.
Furthermoreithastobenoticedthat71.18%ofcooperativesrevenuesdepend
onhealthandcareservicessuppliedundertheprovisionsofagreementssigned
betweencooperativesandpubliclocalauthorities.
Thedistributionofsocialcooperativesaccordingtotheirmainsectorofactivity
isaspertablebelow:
Province Recreation Education Health
Social
Assistance
Social
Cohesion*
Promo. of
Coop.**
Total
Frosinone 2 - - 2
Latina - - - - 2
Rieti 2
Rome 2 0 0
Viterbo -
Lazio 40 38 18 142 331 22 591
* it refers to type-B and type-C cooperatives
** it mainly refers to consortia
Insocialcooperatives,asitwasalreadymentioned,thefeminizationrateboth
amongmembersandemployeesisconsiderablyrelevant.Inparticular,outof
the total of social cooperatives active on the regional territory, 122 are likely
tobeconsideredwomen-ledonessincemorethanhalfoftheirmembersand
employeesarewomen.
Itisworthtonoticethatwomenssocialcooperativesindicatorsconcerningtheir
distributionbyprovince,typologyandsectorsofactivityreflectinduepropor-
tionsthesametrendsthathavebeenalreadyidentifiedforsocialcooperatives
ingeneral.Consideringtheirtypology,women-ledsocialcooperativesarealso
morelikelytobelongtotype-B(52),followedbytype-A(48),type-C(17)while
only5ofthemareconsortia.
Italian Framework
Province Coop. A Coop. B Coop. C Consortia Total
Frosinone 0 2 20
Latina -
Rieti 2 2 -
Rome 2
Viterbo 2 2 2 -
Lazio 48 52 17 5 122
Social
Assistance
Social
Cohesion*
Promo. of
Coop.**
Total
Frosinone 2 - - 2
Latina - - - - 2
Rieti 2
Rome 2 0 0
Viterbo -
Lazio 40 38 18 142 331 22 591
Theirdistributionaccordingtomainsectorofactivityisaspertablebelow:
Social
Assistance
Social
Cohesion*
Promo. of
Coop.**
Total
Frosinone - 2 20
Latina 2 - -
Rieti - - - 2 -
Rome 2
Viterbo - - -
Lazio 8 8 4 29 68 5 122
A remarkable difference emerges when the origin of revenues is considered:
while,aspreviouslymentioned,morethan70%ofsocialcooperativesdepends
onpublicfunding,inthecaseofwomen-ledonesthispercentagedecreasesto
59%.
ReSultS in the utilization oF FundS
undeR Regional laW 51/96
Under the provisions set in Regional Law 51/96 on Interventions to Support
FemaleEntrepreneurshipInLazioRegionincompliancewithart.45ofLazio
Region Statute, Law 215/92 on Female Entrepreneurshipand communitarian
directivesonequalopportunitiesbetweenmenandwomen,LazioRegionpro-
moted start-up and development of companies and enterprises operating on
theregionalterritorybygrantingcreditfacilities(grantsrelatedtoassets)and/or
assigningregionalfunds,intheformofco-financing,tofinancewomensentre-
preneurialinitiativesinproductivesectorsasagriculture,manufacturing,trade,
tourismandservices.
Furthermore,tofostertheopportunitiesofself-employmentavailableforwom-
en,regionalinstitutionsweredeputedtocreateinformationdesks,toorganize
coursesandseminarsonentrepreneurialculture,toprovidetechnicalassistance,
consultingandtraining.
Beneficiariesareenterpriseswhichrespondtothedimensionalcriteriaofsmall
and medium enterprise according to European standards and to the subjec-

tive criteria of prevailing female participation (that is sole companies whose
owner is a woman, cooperatives and partnerships whose at least 60% of their
members are women, joint-stock companies whose at least 2/3 of shares are
holdbywomen).
Applying enterprises can present investment projects to start-up or purchase
business activities or to realize business innovations. Financing could be used
tocoverexpensestosetupthecompany,purchaseequipmentandmachiner-
iesandrentpremisesintendedforproduction.Sincetheaimofthelawisnot
simplytoassurefinancialsupporttowomensenterprises(neworalreadyexist-
ing ones), funds might be also used to pay expenses for training courses both
forentrepreneursandemployeesandsupplyofservicesconcerningproductive
processesandproductsinnovation,patentsandlicences,marketingandadver-
tisingaswellasreductionofenvironmentalimpact.
Applicationshavetobesubmittedonlyduringtheopeningperiodofcalls;after
beingevaluatedaseligible,theyarelistedandthenfinancedaccordingtofunds
availability.Partofthefundsareprovidedintheformofunsecuredgrants(for
anamountthatcannotexceed75%ofthetotalInvestment)whiletheremaining
fundsaredisbursed(usuallyintwoinstalments)aseasy-termsloanstobereim-
bursedina10-yearperiod.
AvailabledataonutilizationofincentivesasperLaw51/96presentlyrefertoIV
andVcallsforassignmentoffunds.
Applications
IV Call V Call
% Value % Value
Short-listed . , .0 ,
Financed 2. 2 2.0 2
Excluded .0 0 2.
Submitted 00.0 2,2 00 ,
The relevant functional gap among the short-listed projects and the number
whichwasactuallyfinancedisimputabletoalackofpublicfunding.
Tounderstandtheapplicantsnature,asurveywascarriedoutonasampleof
207enterprisesoutof528whichsubmittedtheirrequestsforfinancing.
Theanalysisofdatashowsthataspiringentrepreneurseducationlevelisingen-
eralmedium-high(morethanhalfhasahighschooldegreeorauniversitydi-
Italian Framework
Social
Assistance
Social
Cohesion*
Promo. of
Coop.**
Total
Frosinone - 2 20
Latina 2 - -
Rieti - - - 2 -
Rome 2
Viterbo - - -
Lazio 8 8 4 29 68 5 122
ploma)and25%ofthem,evenbeforeapplyingforsuchincentives,usedtocarry
outentrepreneurialactivitiesorcomparableones.
Motivations that boosted applicants in starting their own business are mainly
relatedtothesphereofself-realizationexpressedbyadesireofbeingautono-
mousintheorganizationandmanagementoftheiractivitiesandofseeingtheir
competences duly valorised. Another relevant reason lies in the existence of
entrepreneurialtraditionsinsidetheirprovenancefamily.
Enterprise
Situation
Sectors of Activity
Service Trade Production Agriculture Total
Value % Value % Value % Value % Value %
Set up . 2. . .0 00.0
To be set up 0 0 2 00.0 0 0 0 0 2 00.0
Not yet set up 0.0 0.0 0 0 0 0 2 00.0
Total 59 39.9 79 52.7 11 7.5 1 7.0 150 100.0
Themajorityoftheseenterprisesarenewlyestablished(64%weresetupafter
2001)andaccordingtotheirturnoverandnumberofemployeescanbeascribed
tothecategoryofsmallenterprises.
Asfarastheirlegalformisconcerned,preferenceisgiventolegalformswhich
require low starting capitals, thus most of businesses are likely to be one-man
companies (57.5%), followed by partnerships (17%) and cooperatives (11.5%)
whilejoint-stockcompaniesareonly14%ofthetotal.
Consideringtheirdimensions,sectorsofactivityandcapitalsavailability,itap-
pears as an expected consequence that the operational perimeter of most of
these enterprises is extremely circumscribed: almost 80% of them operates at
mostatregionallevelasitisshowninthetablebelow:
Anotherinterestingaspectreferstotheoccupationalspin-offgeneratedbythese
investments:outofatotalof653newjobscreated,497wereoccupiedbywom-
en.Itisalsoremarkablethepersistenceoftraditionaltypologiesofjobcontracts
astonewtypologiesintroducedbyLaw30/03onOccupationandLabourMar-
ketwhichshouldhelpwomeninreconcilingprofessionalandfamilylife.
Survey results also showed that incentives provided under Law 215/92 repre-
sentedanessentialinstrumenttopromotefemaleentrepreneurship.In42%of
casesitwasconsideredextremelyusefultorealizeinvestmentprojectsinashort
periodandin20%ofcasesitwasdecisivefortheenterpriseestablishmentpro-
vidingtheaspiringentrepreneurwithfundsotherwiseunavailable.
Italian Framework
Part 2 - Analysis
Chapter 3 - French Framework
FRance and the
liSbon StRategy
Accomplishing European require-
ments, France, on December 2005,
transmitted its National Reform Pro-
gramme For Economic and Social
Growthcontainingthemajorreforms
tobeadoptedtoensureboththeeco-
nomicandemploymentgrowth.
The European Commission Annual
Report for 2005 concerning French
situationremarkedtheneedof:
More incisive return-to-work finan-
cialincentives
Newworkcontractsforfillingavail-
ablevacancies
Mobilisation of public service for
employment
Greater support for people search-
ingforajob
The same Report stated the neces-
sity of adopting a First Employment
Contract (CNE Contrat de Nouv-
elle Embauche) aiming at fostering
employment especially in small en-
terprises with less than 20 employ-
ees. Acknowledging the guidelines
contained in the Report, the French
Government (leaded by Chirac and
Villepin) introduced this new type of
contract.
In 2005 the Government also prom-
ulgatedanewProgrammaticLawon
Social Cohesion which comprised
a number of interventions aiming at
ensuringagreatertransparencyinthe

0
labour market to favour social inclu-
sion of young people, women and
disadvantaged persons. New employ-
mentcontractswerecreatedaswellas
new institutions, involving all the dif-
ferent social parties. The initial plan
aimedto:
Provide stable employment for
800,000youngpeople
Create a new figure, the tudiant
des mtiers, to develop the con-
ceptofapprenticeship
Promote social cohesion through
the development of the concept of
alternation
Support employment assistance by
meansofactivitycontracts
Developsocialeconomy
Favour the return-to-work of long-
termunemployed
Defineanewemploymentpact
Promotethedevelopmentofhealth
andcareservices
Fosterbusinesscreationandself-em-
ployment initiatives towards unem-

ployedanddisadvantagedpeople
Promote equal opportunities for
womenandmen
After three years from the Lisbon
Strategy re-launch, results showed a
remarkable improvement: thanks to
thereformspromotedbytheGovern-
ment, GDP registered an increase of
0.2 percentage points, reaching 2.5%
in 2007. Employment rate, in the
sameperiod,wasevenmoredynamic:
almost 6.5 million jobs were created
in the two-year period 2005-2007.
Employmentcontractsweremadeless
rigid in order to favour the insertion
ofyoungpeopleinthelabourmarket.
But,iftheintroductionofsuchreforms
allowedareductionoftheunemploy-
mentrates,converselytheyincreased
thegapbetweenregularemployees
andtemporaryones,wherethelast
arepenalisedbothfromtheeconomic
andsocialpointofview.
SelF-eMployMent
Self-employment, that is the creation
or the takeover of an enterprise by
youngunemployed,womenordisad-
vantagedpeople,isaviablealternative
tounemployment.
According to an INSEE survey the
mostrelevantmotivationsforstarting-
upabusinessareasfollow:
Motivations for Starting-up a Business Men Women Average
Be indipendent . . 0.
Desire of facing new challenges . . .0
Increase his/her own income 2.2 22.2 2
Opportunity offered to create a new enterprise . . .
New ideas on products, markets and services . 2. 2.0
Successful examples of other entreprenurs . .2 .2
Being unemployed I decided to start my own business 2. 22. 22.
Being unemployed I had to start my own business . . .
Only opportunity to practise . .0 .
The trend of business creation reg-
istered in the last years a continuous
growth.AccordingtoINSEEdatafor
2007,321,000enterpriseswereset-up
(+13% confronted with 2006 data):
42%ofwhichstartedbyunemployed
thankstospecificincentives.
These incentives, offered to unem-
ployedwillingtocreatetheirownen-
terprise, are managed by the agency
ACCRE (Aide aux Chmeurs Cra-
teurs ou Repreneurs dune Entre-
prise).Amongthebeneficiariesthere
could be also redundant employees,
unemployed registered in the ANPE
(Agence Nationale Pour lEmploi),
people receiving ASS, API and RMI
subsides and all those who have the
requirementstoapplyforemploije-
unescontracts(foryoungpeoplebe-
tween18and26yearsoldorwhoare
olderthan26yearsoldbutlong-term
unemployed).
SupportprovidedbyACCREconsists
in the exemption of social security
contributionspaymentforayear.To
applyfortheseincentives,thebenefi-
ciaries have to start-up or takeover a
business in the legal form of individ-
ualenterpriseoranyotherformwith
France Framework
2
theexclusionofjoint-stockcompanies
and to own more than 50% of the
capital.
Considering the trend in enterprise
creation,itcanbenoticedthatthein-
creaseisregularuntil2002andthatit
rushesin2004aftertheso-calledLaw
Dutreil on Economic Initiative en-
teredintoforce.Thesamerhythmis
keptin2007,afteraphaseofrelative
stability occurred in 2005 and 2006,
probably related with a greater diffi-
culty in accessing to French Govern-
mentssubsides.
Asfartheenterprisestructureiscon-
cerned,itisinterestingtoobservethat
87%ofthebusinessescreatedortak-
enoverbyformerunemployeddonot
haveanyemployee.
Privilegedsectorsofactivityareasfollows:
Sectors of activity % Evolution 2006-2007
Agro-alimentary industry .0
Other industries .
Construction .
Trade .
Transports 2.0
Financial activities .
Real estate 2.
Business services .0
Private services .
Education, health, social activities .
Total 12.5
Asitisshowninthegraphicbelow,enterprisesareuniformlydistributedonthe
Frenchterritory,excludingAuvergneandLimousinregionswheretheconcen-
trationdecreases.
France Framework
pRoMotion
oF WoMenS
labouR MaRket
Duringthe60swomensactivityrate
was around 35%, while today it has
reached 48%. This increase is due
to an evolution in the social context
jointly with a change in the mentality
and recognition of womens rights.
Anotherpositivefactorisrelatedwith
the development of the tertiary sec-
tor which offered new employment
opportunities and where women had
lesser insertion difficulties. In some
economists opinion, such job inser-
tionhadpositiveeffectsontheecon-
omyduetothefactthatwomenhave
a more marked attitude to consume.
Furthermore, according to a NOW
survey,womenofferanaddedvalue
tothesysteminconsiderationoftheir
better education and of their differ-
ent knowledge and approach (savoir
faire). Despite these considerations,
women are still more vulnerable to
unemployment, under-employment
andprecariousness.
Womens participation in the labour
market and in the creation of entre-
preneurial activities shows positive
trends also thanks to a number of
initiativespromotedbytheEuropean
Union (as NOW Project - New Op-
portunitiesforWomen).
Nowadays, in France, women repre-
sent48%ofemployedpeople,30%of
entrepreneursand37%ofpeopletak-
ing over already existing enterprises.
But,duetopersistingsocio-economic
reasons, they still face difficulties in
affirmingtheirentrepreneurialeman-
cipation.
Women often have to face many
obstacles related with the poor
broadmindedness of the traditional
economic actors: maternity is still
consideredariskbythebusinessand
alsothefinancialsystemisreluctantto
promote female initiatives, if they do
notpossessubstantialguarantees.An-
other obstacle is represented by the
poorpresenceofwomenasmembers
ofentrepreneurialassociationsdueto
theirmen-orientedstructure.
Most of female enterprises operate
in the so-called tertiary sector: trade,
restoration and public catering, busi-
ness and private services. Women-
led enterprises are more likely to be
smaller than mens enterprises and
the number of their employees is
smaller.
The new governmental programme
Promoting Womens Entrepreneur-
shipaimingatfosteringequaloppor-
tunitiesforwomenandmenisbased
ontenmaininitiatives:
Improvingquantitativeknowledgeon
female entrepreneurship through
the rpertoire Sirene now is only
possibletoknowifthemanagersof
individual enterprises are men or
women. A revision of the statistical
systemisthereforerequired
CreatinganObservatoryonFemale
Entrepreneurship
Promoting a media campaign on
female entrepreneurship aiming at
awakening and informing entrepre-
neurial actors, and financial ones in
particular, to female entrepreneur-
ship
Awakening young women to job
diversification with the objective of
developing their entrepreneurial
spirit and helping them in facing
stereotypes
Reinforcing women entrepreneurs
supportthroughentrepreneurialnet-
works
Developingdevicesforremotetrain-
ing(e-learningetc.)
Promoting support to female enter-
prise creation through dedicated in-
cubatorsandspecificgrants
Developing dedicated guarantee
funds to consolidate financial sup-
portmeasures
Assuring monitoring during the dif-
ferentphasesofdevelopmentofthe
entrepreneurialactivity
Allowing women on cong parental
tostart-uptheirownbusiness.
Employees > 15 years old

per sector of activity
% MEN % WOMEN
Agriculture & fishery 2. 2.
Agricultural industry 2.2 .
Production industry . .
Automotive 2. .
Heavy industry 0. .
Light industry . 2.
Energy 0. .
Costruction 0. .
Trade . .
Transports . 2.
Financial activities . 58.4
Real estate .2 53.8
Business services .2 0.
Private services . 61.2
Education, health, social 2. 75.3
Administration . 51.2
Total . .
France Framework
Part 3 - Actions
Chapter 4 - Individual level
a diFFeRent concept
oF enteRpRiSe
In the last years, as stated in the
Analysis,theEuropeanUnionandthe
MemberStates,inordertoguaranteea
strongerandlastingeconomicgrowth
and the creation of more and better
jobs, adopted a model of sustainable
development which integrates
economic development policies and
social inclusion ones and which is
steadily centred on boosting business
creation and small business start-ups,
especiallythoserunbyneworwould
beentrepreneurs.
Furthermore, the great changes
occurred in the economic system
during the last decade (as the rise of
new phenomena like globalisation,
new economy and knowledge
society)causedatransformationofthe
traditionalrulesbothintheproduction
and supply of goods and services as
well as an incontrovertible mutation
of the labour market, fostering the
developmentofnewatypicaljobforms
whichappeartobemoreflexibleand
innovative but characterised by an
excessive precariousness and lack of
adequatelabourprotection.
The combination of all these
factors determined an increase in
the demand, especially for micro-
and small enterprises, and a high
qualitative differentiation of the
aspiring entrepreneurs, with a
substantialgrowthofpeoplebelonging
to the weaker categories of society
(immigrants, young, unemployed,
women, etc.) for whom, in many
cases, the decision of creating a
business depends on logics and
motivationsunlikefromthoseapplied
by a traditional entrepreneur. An
enterprise could be established not
only to grant a better allocation to
availableeconomicresourcesbutalso
because there is a clear difficulty in
enteringthelabourmarketortosolve
a needy situation by undertaking a
self-affirmationprocess.
But sometimes the potentialities
of entrepreneurship and business
creationastoolsofsocialandeconomic
integrationaretoomuchemphasised:
they represent a great occupational
opportunity prospected to young
unemployed; they are proposed
to women as an achievable way to
manage their time and so to favour
a conciliation between family and
business;toimmigrantstofacilitatethe
process of social integration. People
tend to forget that entrepreneurship
andbusinesscreationareprobablythe
mostdifficultwaytoenterthelabour
marketandtounderestimatetherisk
of starting-up pseudo-entrepreneurial
activitiesoflowprofileorintheworst
extenddestinedtofail.
Considering the mortality rate of
enterprises has in fact its relevance,
in particular when weak categories
of the population get involved in the
process of business creation in order
to avoid the risk that it turns into an
economical failure but also into a
social one (with repercussions that
often involve families and employees
too). Also because it has to be
considered that besides the typical
obstaclesthatmayaffectthebusiness
creation process, this new class of
aspiring entrepreneurs belonging to
weaker categories of the population
havetofacespecificproblemslinked
with their particular condition of
disadvantage: lack of awareness and
professionalknowledge,lack of basic
entrepreneurial culture referred both
to start-up and further management
phases, lack of information or
difficulties in acceding to tools and
organisations providing support to
entrepreneurs.
It is therefore extremely important
to recognise the complexity of the
dynamics related with the process
of business creation which can be
many and of different nature: from
the decision of starting-up a business
to its legal form, to the kind of
investments to be realised, how to
organisetheproduction,howtoselect
its personnel and so on. The factors
to be considered are numerous
and not only of economic nature:
decisions can be influenced by the
entrepreneursorigins,bythepresence
ofopportunitiesontheterritory,byhis
professionalambitionsandaspirations,
by his former experiences, by the
expectationsofotherpeopleinvolved
in the enterprise and by his ability in
mobilizingeconomicresources.
Anenterpriseistheresultofacomplex
and even unpredictable ingredients,
which could lead to complete
different entrepreneurial activities if
assembledinadifferentway.Someof
theseaspectsaretangible,thatisthey
refertomaterialresourceswhichcan
be measured, other are intangible as
cognitivedynamicsorsocialrelations
whosedevelopmentandevolutionare
difficulttobepredictedandaboveall
tobemeasured.
Although it is common opinion
that starting a business is complex,
accordingtocurrentrepresentationson
matterofbusinesssupport,enterprise
creationisstillpresentedasaprocess
of consequential steps which present
a growing linear trend. Following
this logic, once the business plan is
drafted,theaspiringentrepreneurhas
to access to economic and financial
resourcesto starttheproductionand
later the supply of his products, then
the enterprise will consolidate and
growindimension.Startingabusiness
appearstobelikeclimbingastair:each
phaseofthebusinesscreationprocess
is a step which almost automatically
bringstothenextone.
This vision is extremely far from the
reality of business creation process:
the modalities according which the
different phases are related one
to the other, their duration and
their development are variable and
changeable.Eachphaseoftheprocess
represent in fact a micro-process on
its own which may vary in duration,
show a certain discontinuity and
presentastronginterdependencewith
otherphases,since,althoughtheyare
strictly correlated one to the other,
theyoftenproceedinparallelandnot
consequentially. This means to strive
to offer a picture more striking to
realitywithoutspreadingillusionsand
false myths, but telling the untold
aboutbusinesscreation.
In other words, the business support
services to be provided have to go
beyond the logic of a pure generalist
technical assistance and start clearly
representing the complexity of the
business creation process stressing
the relevance of social and cognitive
dynamics and tackling themes
inherent to entrepreneurs personal
expectations, motivations and
intentions,tothe relationalsphereof
theenterprisestructureandtotherole
that the different stakeholders of the
enterpriseshouldplay.
This implies, as a consequence, the
adoption of a different interpretative
paradigmoftheconceptofenterprise
which has to be considered either as
aneconomicsubject(asperitsclassic
economicdefinition)andasaprocess
of social activation characterized by
psychological, social and relational
dynamics, as much evident as the
enterprise, in the case of micro- and
small-enterprises, tends to coincide
withtheentrepreneurwhocreatedit.
Theacceptanceofthisnewparadigm
leads, in terms of business support,
Individual Level
0
to a reconsideration also of the
assistancethathastobeofferedwhich
as to be as much as tailored and
personalised as possible on the basis
of a client-centred approach should
move from the identification of the
specific characteristics and needs of
thetargetgroupinordertodefinethe
most respondent and viable business
opportunities designed with enough
flexibility to meet changing market
demands, to provide accessible,
relevant and effective training as
well as access to sustainable financial
instruments. Furthermore, especially
for aspiring entrepreneurs belonging
to disadvantaged categories, such a
business support has to overcome
the limits of the start-up phase and
continuing even afterwards for the
entiredurationoftheentrepreneurial
experience, assuming that in the
realitystart-upswillnotfinishneither
aftertheenterpriseconsolidationdue
to the unpredictability and constant
mutabilitywhichimplicitlycharacterize
anybusinessexperience.
chaRacteRiSticS
oF FeMale
entRepReneuRShip
Womens contribution to economic
activity and employment has
increased over time and there is
growingevidencethatmoreandmore
women are becoming interested in
small business ownership and/or in
starting up business. Women are a
relativelynewgroupofentrepreneurs
comparedwithmen,whichmeansthat
they are more likely to run younger
businesses. In general, despite the
broad similarities between men and
women in their characteristics when
stating a business, it is possible to
identifysomespecificpeculiaritiesin
femaleentrepreneurship.
Men and women appear on average
to have some different motivations
for self-employment. Whilst both
are looking for autonomy, women
are more likely to see this as the
ability to combine work with other
commitments.Furthermore,although
they each want autonomy through
self-employment,thismeansdifferent
things: men appear to be seeking
greaterpersonalfreedomtobetheir
own boss and make decisions over
business and product development
whereaswomenwantmoreflexibility
aver where and when they work in
ordertobalanceconflictingdemands
ofhome,childcareandemployment.
Womens businesses tend to
concentrate in retailing and service
industrial sectors while they are
under-representedinmoretraditional
industrial sectors. This may be the
case because proportionately more
women than men are employed in
sectors such as education, health,
finance and business services and
people tend to start businesses in
sectorstheyhaveworkedin.Thiscan
also be the reason why women are
morelikelytobecomeself-employed
in easy entry service industries since
these sectors reflect previous work
experience and are cheaper to set
up and run. However, these areas
are often highly competitive and
associated with lower than average
survival rates and high level of
churning.
The available evidence indicates
that women-owned firms in general
under-perform in the marketplace
relative to similar male-owned ones.
This is presumed to be due to their
lower ability to build up appropriate
resources such as finance, human
capital form education, training and
employment experience as well as
social capital (relevant professional
andsocialnetworks)andthecultural
capital of credibility. Much of this
capital is created for both sexes
through waged work but women
are generally found in employment
positionsthatmaymakeitlesslikely
that they can build these personal
and external resources to the same
extent. Women, in fact, tend to be
in jobs that involve little control or
power.Ifawomandoesnotestablish
networks,shewillnothaveaccessto
customersandsuppliersorifshedoes
not build up financial or marketing
skills, this will be a disadvantage to
future business creation. For some
women in this situation, they will
be more likely to set up businesses
or become self-employed in those
sectorsthatrequirefewoftheseskills
and contacts and which tend to be
thosewhichexperiencepoorgrowth,
arehighriskandover-crowded.
Additionally,limitedaccesstohighly
paid employment reduce womens
opportunity to possess substantial
levels of personal savings to invest
in new enterprises and, together
with periods in and out of full
and part-time work, may result in
unfavourable credit histories which
mayinfluencetheleadingdecisionsof
banks and other financial providers.
Women also appear to use a third
of the financial capital to start their
business than men, irrespective of
sector, are more likely to rely on
limited personal savings and rarely
access to venture capital funding.
They are likely, as a consequence,
to be slower growth and run the
risk of being undercapitalized. This
determinesthatthelong-termgrowth
performanceofenterprisesisstrongly
affected by resources mobilized at
start-up.Difficultiesinacquiringstart-
upresourcesinfactleadmanywomen
to start businesses that are under-
resourcedandevidencesuggeststhat
thishasalong-termeffectonbusiness
performance. The smaller size of
womens businesses and the lack of
high growth performance are often
seen as a direct result of constraints
experiencedatstart-up.
Individual Level
2
baRRieRS in FeMale
buSineSS cReation
Asforthecharacteristics,itispossible
to identify some specific barriers
and constraints affecting womens
enterprisecreation.Mostoftheseare
commontoanypersonwhoaspiresto
become entrepreneur but the degree
of relevance differs in the case of
femaleentrepreneurship.
In particular key factors that affect
the start-up process and prospects of
women-ledbusinessesinclude:
Levelandqualityofadvice/training/
supportrequiredespeciallywhere
womenhavebeenoutofthelabour
marketorlackexperience;
Length of time required form pre-
to post-start-up (in many cases this
canexceed12-18months);
Lack of basic entrepreneurial and
planning skills (management, strat-
egy, marketing, production and
sales);
Difficulties in acquiring relevant
information concerning normative
frameworks, market trends and la-
bourmarket;
Difficultiesinaccessingtoentrepre-
neurialnetworks;
Impact of caring and domestic re-
sponsibilities which still are more
demanding for women than for
men;
Difficultiesinacquiringappropriate
finance and fewer opportunities to
gain access to credit due to lack of
collaterals, small amounts of credit

requested and negative perception
of female enterprises by loan offic-
ers;
Low levels of confidence (in most
caseswomenaremorelikelytofear
failure)andself-esteem.
Methodological
guidelineS FoR
buSineSS SuppoRt
Due to the importance hold by
enterprise promotion both at
European and national levels, there
is a growing number of organisations
and institutions whose aim is to
provide business support services for
aspiring entrepreneurs (Chambers of
Commerce, employers associations,
consultancy agencies etc.), in most
cases even specialised in offering
training and technical assistance to
potential entrepreneurs belonging to
disadvantaged categories. Through a
set of well-developed tools, they are
abletoprovideefficientandeffective
supportservicestohelpthesepeople
inidentifyingtheirneeds,inanalysing
theircompetences,inpreparingtheir
businessplansandininformingthem
on legislative procedures required
tosetupabusinessaswellasonthe
eventual existence of incentives or
grantschemessupportingstart-ups.
Hereupon the intention is not to
substitute the existing technical

assistanceandtrainingpathstosupport
business creation but to provide, on
the basis of the different concept of
enterprise previously defined, some
hints and suggestions that could be
used as operative guidelines to set
a model of business support more
suitable and tailored on womens
motivations and needs in starting-up
theirownenterprise.
Averyfirstelementtobeconsidered
is a question of language. Women
do not like the traditional language
of business. The words enterprise,
business and entrepreneur are
seenasunattainableandnotsomething
women are interested in aspiring to.
Womenwhoareaskedwhytheywant
tostartabusinessveryrarelytalkabout
making a lot of money. More often
they are motivated by providing an
excellent service, quality and adding
value to their community or society:
essentialfoundationsforanysuccessful
business.Womenarealsomorelikely
toseestartingabusinessasarouteto
workwhichcomplementstheirvalues
orenablesthemtobalancetheirlives,
ratherthananendinitself.Therefore
the language has to be simple, clear
and effective and avoid the use of
jargon or intimidating terms. At the
same time it is important to adopt
in business training and counselling
a holistic approach to business
developmentratherthanjustfocusing
onmaximisingprofit,inordertohelp
women in recognising the broader
value of entrepreneurial skills such
as taking initiative and responsibility,
innovation, flexibility and speed of
response.
A second relevant factor is related
with the necessity of confronting
stereotypes. Like everyone else,
womentendtostartbusinessesinareas
where they have some experience or
particularinterestandlargenumberof
newbusinessesstartedbywomenare
intheservicesector,food,cateringand
retail.Whilstmanyofthesesectorsare
currently booming, business advisers
and bankers very often have quite
fixed perceptions of what a business
shouldbe.Narrowdefinitionsofwhat
constitutes proper business can
leave women feeling they will not be
taken seriously. Conversely, women
trying to work in sectors traditionally
dominated by men can be held back
by unhelpful stereotyping. None of
those pre-conceptions about women
and the roles they should take are
helpfulorprofessional.
Patronising attitudes about the types
of businesses they choose to start
can make women feel undermined.
Confidence can be sapped at every
stage of starting a business. This
attitude is also related to womens
cautious approach to business start-
up:comparedwithmentheyaremore
likely to let fear of failure stop them
fromcreatingtheirownbusinessand
lesslikelytothinktheyhavetheskills
tostartabusinessorseegoodbusiness
opportunities.Thisisthereasonwhy
Individual Level
itisvitaltohavepre-enterprisecourses
that focus on personal development
aswellasbusinessfeasibilityandaim
to empower ethos: they should give
people the tools to make their own
decisions and include modules on
assertivenessandconfidencebuilding
as well as personal development
modulestohelpwomeninreframing
failure as an important learning
experience and to overcome
unrealisticfears.Trainingshouldalso
integraterecognitionofexistingskills,
helping women to understand that
theyarenotstartingfromscratch.
A third element attains to realism.
The final efficacy of a business
support strategy strongly depends on
themodalitiesadoptedtopresentthe
process of business creation in the
most realistic way as possible, with
specific reference to the problematic
situations and obstacles that the
aspiring entrepreneur will have to
face as well as to the opportunities
she will be able to recognise and
catch. Focusing from the very
beginning on risks and obstacles is
extremely important to help women
indevelopingtheabilityofidentifying
them to reinforce their capacity of
reactioninfacingdifficultiesaswellas
topromotetheirattitudeinpreventing
them.
The adoption of a realistic approach
is crucial especially in dealing with
people who do not have previous
entrepreneurial experiences in order
to avoid the risk of creating false
illusions or expectations on business
creation which in most cases lead to
inevitable failures. It is important to
let these people clearly understand,
asalreadystatedinthefirstparagraph
of this chapter, that the process of
businesscreationisruledbycomplex
dynamics;thatitmayrequireyears,that
agoodideaisnotenoughtoset-upa
successfulbusiness;thatevenmistakes
arerelevantintheprocessoflearning
howtoproperlyrunanenterprise.In
otherterms,itismatterofovercoming
the traditional prescriptive approach
of business support which cannot be
limited to a provision of information
on procedures to be followed to
start-up an enterprise but also has to
describe what concretely happens
during this process focusing on the
representation of real situations to
provide a clear understanding of the
entrepreneurialcontextinwhichthey
willhavetooperate.
A fourth relevant aspect to be
considered concerns the planning.
Managing a small enterprise is
sometimes more difficult than
managingabigone,sinceusuallythere
are less financial resources available,
the entrepreneur has to manage
alone a number of responsibilities
andtasks,theenterpriseitselfismore
exposedtolocalrisksrelatedwiththe
peculiarcharacteristicsoftheterritory
where it operates and last but not
least the fact that the professional
dimension is not separated from the
familiar one. Considering all these
differentdynamicsthatimpactonthe
enterprisemanagement,itisworthto
promote, along with the traditional
financial and economic planning
(business plan etc.), the adoption of
a wider and more flexible planning
to achieve a perception as global
as possible of the enterprise. This
leads to the adoption of a strategic
approach in the management of the
activities and therefore it helps in
developingapreventivefocusonwhat
could be relevant for the enterprise
in the different specific phases of its
development. The planning has to
be organised in order to stimulate
the entrepreneur in taking into
consideration in good time what is
really important, in order to avoid
the risk of developing improvisation-
orientedapproachesorthecontinuous
adoptionofemergencysolutions.
Fifth and last element specifically
attainstobusinesssupportandtraining
which,asaconsequence,havetobeas
muchastailoredandindividualisedas
possible.Fromtheverybeginningitis
important to draft a sort of identikit
of the aspiring entrepreneur and
her business, clearly identifying the
characteristicsofthefutureenterprise
as well as its general and specific
needs to develop suitable long-term
plans of business support that last
even after the start-up phase for the
entiredurationoftheentrepreneurial
experience.
Individual Level
a viable oppoRtunity
FoR WoMen
Acknowledging fact that women, as
reportedinthepreviouschapter,have
to face specific constraints and barri-
ers in their process of business crea-
tionandthatmostofwomen-ledbusi-
nessestendtoconcentrateinthethird
sector,socialenterprisesofferaviable
opportunity to overcome womens
difficulties according to two different
rangesofreasons.
The first reason attains to the intrin-
sic nature of social enterprises. A so-
cial enterprise can be defined as any
business venture created for a social
purpose (mitigating/reducing a social
problem or a market failure) and to
generate social value while operating
with the financial discipline, innova-
tion and determination of a private
sectorbusiness.Althoughsocialenter-
prisestranscendtraditionalnon-profit
sectorsandapplyasequallytohealth,
environment, education and social
welfareasit doestoeconomicdevel-
opmentorjobcreationprograms,they
displaysomecommoncharacteristics:
1. Enterprise Orientation - They
are directly involved in producing
goods or providing services to a
market.
2. Social Aims - They have explicit
social and/or environmental aims
suchasjobcreation,trainingorthe
provision of local services. Their
Part 3 - Actions
Chapter 5 - Social Enterprise Level
ethical values may include a com-

mitment to building skills in local
communities. Their profits are
principally reinvested to achieve
theirsocialobjectives.
3. Social Ownership - Many social
enterprises are also characterised
bytheirsocialownership.Theyare
autonomous organisations whose
governance and ownership struc-
tures are normally based on par-
ticipation by stakeholder groups
(e.g. employees, users, clients, lo-
cal community groups and social
investors) or by trustees or direc-
torswhocontroltheenterpriseon
behalf of a wider group of stake-
holders. They are accountable to
their stakeholders and the wider
community for their social, envi-
ronmental and economic impact.
Profits can be distributed as profit
sharingtostakeholdersorusedfor
thebenefitofthecommunity.
Women, it was evidenced, among
the motivations to start-up their busi-
nesses are less interested in optimis-
ingprofitsratherthaninprovidingan
excellent service, quality and adding
value to their community or society.
Furthermore, for its associative na-
ture,socialenterprisesmaychallenge
womensempowermentprocess,thus
offeringaneffectivesupportinencom-
passing difficulties due to ascertained
womenslowlevelsofconfidenceand
self-esteem.
Thesecondreasonreliesonthemar-
ketopportunitiesofferednowadaysby
thethirdsector.Whetherbornoutof
financialnecessityorprograminnova-
tion,thephenomenonofsocialenter-
prise is exploding. After a period of
slow growth, the social economy has
risensignificantlyinthelastfewyears
and currently represents one of the
most promising emerging economic
fields both in terms of occupational
opportunities and innovation, as it is
also acknowledged in the EC Green
PaperonEntrepreneurshippublished
in2003.
SuchagrowthoftheThirdSectorde-
pendsalsobytheincreasingcommit-
mentofgovernmentalinstitutionsand
private business on matters tackling
environmentalorsocialissues,which
isgeneratingcompletelynewperspec-
tives in the relations between public
and private as well as between profit
and non-profit, which represent new
marketopportunitiesforsocialenter-
prises.
chaRacteRiSticS oF
Social enteRpRiSeS
Although there is no universally ac-
cepted definition of social enterprise,
it can be described as a revenue-gen-
erating business with primary social
objectives whose surpluses are rein-
vested for that purpose in the busi-
nessorinthecommunity,ratherthan
drivenbytheneedtodeliverprofitto
shareholdersorowners.Thereforeits
key distinguishing characteristics are

socialandsocietalpurposecombined
with an entrepreneurial spirit of the
private sector. That means that social
enterprisecombinesinadifferentex-
tententrepreneurialnatureandsocial
dimension.
Asthetraditionalnon-profitorganisa-
tions(associations,voluntaryorganisa-
tions, charities and cooperatives), so-
cial enterprises aim to achieve social,
cultural, community economic and
environmental outcomes and operate
mainlyinthefollowingthreefields:
Workintegration(trainingandinte-
grationofunemployedpersons);
Personal services (e.g. childcare
services,servicesforelderlypeople,
proximity services, aid for disad-
vantagedpeople)and
Local development of disadvan-
taged areas (e.g. social enterprises
in remote rural areas, neighbour-
hood development/rehabilitations
schemesinurbanareas).
But, unlike non-profit entities, they
areoperatedasabusiness:theiractiv-
ityisestablishedstrategicallytocreate
social and/or economic value for the
organization; it has a long-term vision
anditismanagedasagoingconcern;
growthandrevenuetargetsaresetfor
theactivityinabusinessoroperational
plan.
Nevertheless, it is important to strive
thatasocialentrepreneurdiffersfrom
a traditional entrepreneur in two im-
portantways:
Traditionalentrepreneursfrequently
actinasociallyresponsiblemanner
but their efforts are only indirectly
attached to social problems. Social
entrepreneursaredifferentbecause
their earned income strategies are
tieddirectlytotheirmission.
Secondly, traditional entrepreneurs
areultimatelymeasuredbyfinancial
results:thesuccessorfailureoftheir
companies is determined by their
ability to generate profits for their
owners. On the other hand, social
entrepreneurs are driven by a dou-
ble bottom line, a virtual blend of
financial and social returns. Profit-
abilityisstillagoal,butitisnotthe
onlygoal,andprofitsarere-invested
inthemissionratherthanbeingdis-
tributedtoshareholders.
Therefore,distinguishedbytheirdual
value creation propertieseconomic
valueandsocialvaluesocialenterpris-
eshavethefollowingcharacteristics:
Use business tools and approaches
toachievesocialobjectives
Blendsocialandcommercialcapital
andmethods
Createsocialandeconomicvalue
Generateincomefromcommercial
activitiestofundsocialprograms
Market-drivenandmission-led
Measurefinancialperformanceand
socialimpact
Meetfinancialgoalsinwaythatcon-
tributestothepublicgood
Enjoyfinancialfreedomfromunre-
strictedincome
Incorporate enterprise strategically
toaccomplishmission.
Social Enterprise Level

0
Social enteRpRiSeS and
SelF-SuStainability
According to one of the most com-
monlyquoted(Prof.J.GregoryDees
ofStanfordUniversityin1998),aso-
cial enterprise is defined by five fac-
tors:adoptingamissiontocreateand
sustain social value (not just private
value); recognizing and relentlessly
pursuing new opportunities to serve
thatmission;engaginginaprocessof
continuous innovation, adaptation,
and learning; acting boldly without
being limited by resources currently
in hand; and exhibiting a heightened
senseofaccountabilitytotheconstitu-
encies served and for the outcomes
created.
Earned income is never mentioned.
Successfullyrunningabusinessmeans
to have the ability to take a business
tothepointatwhichitcansustainit-
selfoninternallygeneratedcashflow,
notgrantsorsubsidies.Itallowsnon-
profit organisations to congratulate
themselves for being entrepreneur-
ial without ever seriously pursuing
sustainabilityorself-sufficiency.
The Social Sector has traditionally
beendrivenbyadependencymod-
el, relying primarily on philanthropy,
voluntarismandgovernmentsubsidy,
with earned income a distant fourth.
But in the last years the rules of the
game have changed dramatically: op-
erating costs have soared, resources
availablefromtraditionalsourceshave
flattened, the number of non-profits
competing for grants and subsidies
has exponentially increased, and the
number of people in need has esca-
lated.
Duetothisreason,non-profitorganiza-
tionsstartedincorporatingsomeform
of revenue generation through com-
mercial means into their operations.
Income-generating activities are not
conductedasaseparatebusiness,but
ratherareintegratedintotheorganiza-
tions other activities. These activities
usuallyrealizelittlerevenuerelativeto
the organizations overall budget and
traditional fundraising contributions
andgovernmentsubsidy.
Thelittleattentionpaidtotheproduc-
tive sphere to exclusive advantage of
socialaimstendtoorienttheirentre-
preneurialactivitiestowardslowvalue-
added services (as assemblage, green
maintenance, recyclable-waste collec-
tion, parking, basic data processing,
catering, laundry, typography, joinery
etc.)whichusuallypresentlowerthan
average productivity rates and high
levelofchurning.
Itisrequiredtowidenandbetterqual-
ify the productive activities and the
organisational-managerialstructureof
socialenterprisesinordertoincrease
theirpossibilitiesintermsofentrepre-
neurial development by identifying
new and more competitive market
opportunities without distorting their
model and final aim. That implies a
greaterfocusontheinternaldevelop-
ment of the enterprise dynamics: an
investment in research and innova-

tion,aredefinitionofsocialenterpris-
esbusinessandorganisationtoavoid
risks related to managerial deficits as
wellasanidentificationofnewmodal-
itiesofcoordinationandcooperation
withtraditionalprofitenterprises.
Aconcretepossibilitytoachievethese
goals is to start operating as services
providersonthecompetitivemarket.
But what kind of services? Answers,
asforanyotherbusiness,arethemost
disparateandvaried.
A marketable opportunity could be
definedmovingfromapositiveanaly-
sis of the social enterprise concept,
thusidentifyingitssuccessfactorsand
its points of strength, that is to say
those distinctive elements that make
socialenterprisespeculiar.
Social enterprises are multi-stake-
holdersenterprises.Theorganisation
is based on participative modalities
and its corporate governance is the
expression of a plurality of different
stakeholders (employees, volunteers,
disadvantaged people, members,
sponsors, public and private juridical
persons, territorial representatives,
etc.)whichallowtheenterprisetoin-
ternallymediateeventualconflictsand
to actcoherentlywith the interestsof
thedifferentpartners.
Socialenterprisesaredemocraticand
participativeorganisationswherebythe
differentstakeholdersareinvolvedin
the corporate decision process while
democratic management allows a
management based on mutuality and
notonmereprofitprinciples.
Social enterprises main strength and
resource are given by human capital.
They operate constantly investing
in their employees growth through
education,on-the-jobtraining,profes-
sionalandspecialisedtraining.
Social enterprises are rooted on the
territoryandactforthewiderbenefit
of the community. Social enterprises
know how to use their social dimen-
sion to establish relationships based
ontrustandfidelizationofpublicand
private interlocutors with whom they
getincontact.
All these characteristics also attain,
asitwillbedetailedinthenextpara-
graph, to the concept of Corporate
Social Responsibility and therefore
used to provide consultancy services
tosmallandmediumenterpriseswill-
ingtoimplementCSRprinciples.
a deFinition oF
coRpoRate Social
ReSponSibility
Thelasttwentyyearshaveseenaradi-
calchangeintheprivatesectorsrela-
tionship both with the state and civil
society. Globalisation, deregulation,
privatisation and a redrawing of the
lines between state and market have
changed the basis on which private
enterpriseisexpectedtocontributeto
thepublicgood.Meanwhile,therela-
2
tionshipbetweencompaniesandcivil
society has moved on from paternal-
isticphilanthropytoare-examination
oftheroles,rightsandresponsibilities
ofbusinessinsociety.
The combination of these dynamics
have led to the emergence of Cor-
porate Social Responsibility (CSR)
which, according to the EC Green
Book on CSR, a concept whereby
companies integrate social and envi-
ronmental concerns in their business
operations and in their interaction
withtheirstakeholdersonavoluntary
basis.
Being socially responsible means not
only fulfilling legal expectations, but
also going beyond compliance and
investing more into human capital,
the environment and the relations
with stakeholders. The experience
with investment in environmentally
responsibletechnologiesandbusiness
practice suggests that going beyond
legal compliance can contribute to
a companys competitiveness. Go-
ing beyond basic legal obligations in
the socialarea, forexample, training,
workingconditions,management-em-
ployeerelations,canalsohaveadirect
impactonproductivity.Itopensaway
of managing change and of reconcil-
ingsocialdevelopmentwithimproved
competitiveness. CSR is therefore
above all a sensitizing concept: a
termthatdrawsattentiontoacomplex
range of issues and elements that are
allrelatedtothepositionandfunction
ofthe businessenterpriseincontem-
porarysociety.
Ontheonehanditfocusesonhowis-
suesareorganisedinternally(CSRin-
ternaldimension),ontheotherhand
itstressesthegrowingimportanceand
influenceofthebusinessandsocietal
context(CSRexternaldimension).
Withinthecompany,sociallyrespon-
sible practices primarily involve em-
ployees and relate to issues such as
investinginhumancapital,healthand
safety, and managing change, while
environmentallyresponsiblepractices
relate mainly to the management of
naturalresourcesusedintheproduc-
tion. They open a way of managing
change and reconciling social devel-
opment with improved competitive-
ness.Suchinternaldimensiondirectly
impactson:
Human resources management -
CSR in human resources manage-
ment could include lifelong learn-
ing, empowerment of employees,
better information throughout the
company, better balance between
work, family, and leisure, greater
work force diversity, equal pay
and career prospects for women,
profit-sharing and share ownership
schemes, and concern for employ-
abilityaswellasjobsecurity.
Responsible recruitment practices,
involvinginparticularnon-discrimi-
natorypractices,couldfacilitatethe
recruitment of people from ethnic
minorities, older workers, women
andthelong-termunemployedand
peopleatdisadvantage.
Health and safety at work - Com-

panies, governments and sector
organisations are increasingly look-
ingatadditionalwaysofpromoting
healthandsafety,byusingthemas
acriteriainprocuringproductsand
servicesfromothercompaniesand
asamarketingelementforpromot-
ingtheirproductsorservices.
Occupational safety and health cri-
teriahavebeenincludedtovarying
degrees into existing certification
schemes and labelling schemes for
products and equipment. Certifica-
tion schemes of management sys-
tems and subcontractors focusing
primarilyonoccupationalsafetyand
healthhavealsobeenlaunched.
Adaptation to change - Restructur-
ing in a socially responsible man-
nermeanstobalanceandtakeinto
considerationtheinterestsandcon-
cerns of all those who are affected
by the changes and decisions. In
particular, this involves seeking the
participation and involvement of
those affected through open infor-
mation and consultation. Further-
more, restructuring needs to be
well prepared by identifying major
risks, calculating all the costs, both
direct and indirect, associated with
alternative strategies and policies,
andevaluatingallofthealternatives
which would reduce the need for
redundancies.
By engaging in local development
and active labour market strategies
through involvement in local em-
ployment and/or social inclusion

partnerships,companiescanlessen
thesocialandlocalimpactoflarge
scalerestructuring.
Environmental impact - In gen-
eral, reducing the consumption
of resources or reducing polluting
emissionsandwastecanreduceen-
vironmentalimpact.Environmental
investments are normally referred
toaswin-winopportunities-good
forbusinessandgoodfortheenvi-
ronment.
Corporatesocialresponsibilityextends
beyondthedoorsofthecompanyinto
the local community and involves a
widerangeofstakeholdersinaddition
toemployeesandshareholders:busi-
ness partners and suppliers, custom-
ers,publicauthoritiesandNGOsrep-
resentinglocalcommunities,aswellas
the environment. Rapid globalisation
hasencourageddiscussionoftherole
and development of global govern-
ance: the development of voluntary
CSRpracticescanbeseenascontrib-
utingtothis.Theexternaldimension
hasareturnon:
Local communities - Companies
contribute to their communities,
especially to local communities, by
providing jobs, wages and benefits,
and tax revenues. On the other
hand, companies depend on the
health, stability, and prosperity of
the communities in which they op-
erate.
Many companies become involved
in community causes, notably by

means of provision of additional

vocational training places, assisting
environmental charities, recruit-
ment of socially excluded people,
provision of childcare facilities for
employees, partnerships with com-
munities,sponsoringoflocalsports
and cultural eventsordonationsto
charitable activities. companies in-
creasinglyusetheserelationstosup-
porttheintegrationoftheiraffiliates
into various markets in which they
arepresent.
The familiarity of companies with
the local actors, the local environ-
ment traditions and strengths is an
asset from which they can capital-
ise.
Business partners and consumers
- Large companies are at the same
timebusinesspartnersofthesmall-
er ones, be it as their customers,
suppliers, subcontractors or com-
petitors.
Companies should be aware that
their social performance can be
affected as a result of the practices
of their partners and suppliers
throughoutthewholesupplychain.
The effect of corporate social re-
sponsibilityactivitieswillnotremain
limited to the company itself, but
willalsotouchupontheireconomic
partners.
Somelargecompaniesdemonstrate
corporate social responsibility by
promoting entrepreneurial initia-
tivesintheregionoftheirlocation.
Examplesforsuchpracticesinclude
mentoringschemesofferedbylarge
companies to start-ups and local
SMEs,orassistancetosmallerfirms
on social reporting and communi-
cation of their corporate social re-
sponsibilityactivities.
Corporate venturing constitutes a
further way for large companies to
facilitate the development of new
innovative enterprises. Corporate
venturing means that the large en-
terprise takes a minority stake in a
promisingstart-upandpromotesits
development.
Human rights - Under increasing
pressure from non-profit entities
and consumer groups, companies
and sectors are increasingly adopt-
ingcodesofconductcoveringwork-
ing conditions, human rights and
environmentalaspects,inparticular
those of their subcontractors and
suppliers.
Codesofconductshouldbeapplied
ateveryleveloftheorganizationand
production line. Full disclosure of
informationbycompaniesisimpor-
tant, including to local communi-
ties,aspartofanongoingdialogue
withthem.
Training for local management,
workersandcommunitiesonimple-
mentationisequallyimportant.Fur-
thermore,theemphasismustbeon
a developmental approach - one
which stresses continuing gradual
improvements to standards, and to
the code itself. In the case of child
labour, companies should not just
respect the letter of the ILO con-

ventions by dismissing contractors
who use child labour, but should
also, for example, help to tackle
child poverty by assisting children
intoeducation.
Globalenvironment-Throughthe
transboundary effect of many busi-
ness-related environmental prob-
lems, and their consumption of
resources from across the world,
companiesarealsoactorsintheglo-
bal environment. They can there-
forepursuesocialresponsibilityin-
ternationallyaswellasinEurope.
It is impossible to draw up a defini-
tive list of issues and policies, which
constitute CSR. These will be differ-
ent for different companies and can
shiftovertimeaschangesinriskand
regulation, challenges to reputation
and developments in best practice
redefinetheboundariesofwhatisac-
ceptable, possible and profitable for
a company to do. Nevertheless it is
possibletomapoutCSR intermsof
a number of key interlocking dimen-
sions,whichcaneachrangefromthe
mostnarrow,compliance-based,reac-
tivemodestothebroadest,moststra-
tegic and potentially most significant
in terms of addressing major social
andenvironmentalproblems.
coRpoRate Social
ReSponSibility
inStRuMentS
AsdefinitionsCSRbecomemorere-
fined and organisational practice of
CSRappliestoanincreasingnumber
ofactivitiesaspectssubjecttostandard-
izationaregrowing.Manyinstruments
focusuponasingleissue,stakeholder
or industry. Narrow instruments are
unabletocapturethenetimpactofa
companysoverallactivitiesorhelpto
understand high-level trade-offs and
crosscutting issues. Therefore there
are also a number of broader CSR
instrumentswhichcombineanumber
ofissues,suchasGRI.
As societal expectations for CSR be-
come more defined, CSR-related
instruments fulfil a vital need in pro-
viding robust process guidance and
indicators of both historic and future
environmental, social and financial
performance. CSR-related instru-
ments have the potential to enhance
performance of whole companies,
significantly advancing the realisation
ofCSR acrosssectors,industriesand
wholeeconomicregions.
Recently, there has been much activ-
ityinCSRinstrumentgeneration,asa
widerarrayof mechanismsformeas-
uring,evaluating,improvingandcom-
municatingcorporateperformancein
relation to social environmental and
ethicalcriteriaarecurrentlybeingde-
veloped.Notalloftheseinstruments
are comparable in scope, intent, im-

plementationorapplicabilitytopartic-
ularcompanies,sectorsorindustries.
They include both auditable instru-
ments as well as broad guidelines,
codes of conduct, charters, invest-
ment screening mechanisms and
benchmarks. Instruments by which
organisations can be measured are
vitallyimportantinordertocompare
and contrast levels of performance.
Initially, the function of instruments
istoestablishminimumlevelsofper-
formance. They also help organisa-
tions to manage the quality of their
processesorsystemsdesignedtoman-
age impacts and processes. Over the
courseoftime,theuseofinstruments
encourages, facilitates and mandates
bestpractice.
A range of initiatives and styles exist
with huge diversity in both the scope
andcontentofinstruments,aswellas
intheirattendantdocumentationand
associatedmonitoringsystems.These
differencesdependinlargepartupon
theparticularsubjectareathatthein-
strumentisseekingtoaddresstogeth-
er with the orientation of the bodies
fromwhichtheinstrumentsemanate.
Codes of conduct are commitments
made by organisations or imposed
by them on their economic partners.
Labelsaresignsthataimtoidentifya
productoraserviceaccordingtocer-
tain criteria, whether it is ecological,
biological or social. They are based
on the products intrinsic qualities or
themanufacturingprocessandcanin
this way be associated with codes of
conduct.Certificationisconferredon
aproductorabodywhenitcomplies
withacertainstandard,andwhenthis
compliance has been verified. Many
codes of conduct and labels are the
object of certification, but many of
thesearesimpledeclarationsthatare
not subject to a verification process.
Moreover,theverificationprocesscan
varyfromonecertificationtoanother
and while some permit self-declara-
tion(ISO14001),othersrequireveri-
ficationinpartnershipwithNGOs.
The various instruments are broadly
grouped into four key ways of work-
ing:
Aspirational principles and codes
ofpracticeGuidelineswhichpro-
vide broadly agreed methods of
substantive performance for com-
paniesbutwhichlackexternalaudit
mechanisms. Some may include a
self-reportingelement(forexample
companieswhichsignuptotheUN
GlobalCompact,theEthicalTrad-
ing Initiative and the Global Sul-
livan Principles), while others are
subject to external oversight either
informallyorformally.
Guidelinesformanagementsystems
and certification schemes Audit-
able guidelines for implementing,
reviewing and external certification
compliance to the standard. Some
instruments of this type are organi-
sationbased(suchasEMAS),some
are site based (such as SA8000)
and some are product based (such
as the FSC criteria). These instru-

ments enable business to enhance
its internal processes for CSR-re-
latedactivitiesaswellasestablishing
credibilitywithconsumersorother
usergroupsthroughcertificationor
verification.
Rating indices typically used by so-
cially responsible investment agen-
ciesSetsofcriteriausedbyratings
indicesandsocialinvestmentfunds
to identify companies considered
acceptable for socially responsible
investment. Individual funds have
their own screens, and individual
investors are able to choose the
fundwhosescreenscovertheirown
concerns.However,arecentdevel-
opment has been the independent
socialinvestmentindicesdeveloped
by the FTSE and Dow Jonescom-
panies.
Accountabilityandreportingframe-
works Process guidelines which
cover reporting and accountability
mechanisms(suchasAA1000Sand
GRI). These instruments do not
specify substantive levels of per-
formance which must be met, but
provide a framework for commu-
nicating and responding to stake-
holder concerns in relation to so-
cial, environmental and economic
performance.
In addition, CSR instruments exist
withinaframeworkofnationalregula-
tion and a backdrop of international
agreements, in particular the ILO
conventionsandtheUniversalDecla-
rationofHumanRights.
MostCSR-relatedinstrumentstendto
addressonlyoneofthethreepillarsof
sustainabledevelopment(social,envi-
ronmentaloreconomic).Many,such
as SA8000 which concentrates on la-
bourissues,aretopicspecificwithina
particulararea.Withtheexceptionof
theGRI,thosethatdoaddressallas-
pectsofthetriplebottomlinetendto
privilegeoneareadependingontheir
overarching aim to address either so-
cialorenvironmentalissues,withoth-
erareasreceivinglesscoverage.
The table in the next page highlights
themostutilisedCSRinstruments.
SMeS and Social
coRpoRate
ReSponSibility
Fromanenterprisesizeperspective,most
of the existing key concepts and tools ad-
dressingCSRissueshavebeendeveloped
byandinthecontextoflargeenterprises.
But,especiallyatEuropeanlevel,mostof
the enterprises range in the category of
smallandmediumenterprises.Inadiffer-
entextentoflargecorporationsalsoSMEs
contributetothedevelopmentoftheirlocal
communitiesinavarietyofways.Itoccurs
when businesses perform their traditional
economicfunctionsofearningprofits,ex-
panding employment opportunities, and
reinvestingforfuturegrowthbutalsowhen
enterprises develop their communities by
Instrument
Eligible Companies Scope of Operational Coverage
Companies
Covered
Sectors
Covered
Stakeholder Focus Business
Process
Operations
Coverage
Aspirational Principles and Codes of Practice
UN Global Compact Global All Broad All Global
Amnesty Global All
Local communities,
staff
Personnel,
security
Global
Sullivan Principles
Global (includes
non-profit &
public bodies)
All
Local communities,
staff
Employment,
community
investment
Global
OECD Guidelines
OECD-based
multinational
companies
All Broad All Global
ECCR/ICCR Global All Broad All Global
Management System and Certification Schemes
SA 000 Global
Manufac-
turing
Staff Employment Site based
ISO 00 / ISO 00
Global (includes
non-profit &
public bodies)
All
Customers, staff,
suppliers (ISO 000)
Quality /
environmental
management
Global
EMAS
European
(includes non-
profit & public
bodies)
Industrial
focus
n/a Manufacturing Global
EU Eco-label
Companies
selling to EU
markets
Limited
range of
consumer
products
n/a
Products,
design,
manufacture &
disposal
Product
based
Rating Indices
DJGSI
Down Jones
quoted com-
panies
All
Staff, staff in supply
chains, local
communities
All Global
FTSEGood
FTSE quoted
companies
All
Staff, staff in supply
chains, local
communities
All Global
ASPI
EU quoted
companies
All
Community,
customers, suppliers
& shareholders
All Global
Accountability and Reporting Framework
GRI Global All Broad Reporting Global
AA000S Global All Broad
Stakeholder
engagement
Global
enhancing the environment (in a general

sense)inwhichtheyoperate.
From a theoretical perspective, SMEs in-
volved in CSR activities as well as multi-
nationalenterprisesmayobtainanumber
of business benefits from these activities.
Examplesinclude:
Anenhancedenterpriseimageandrep-
utation.Theenterprisesabilitytoattract
capital, trading partners and customers
isenhanced,aswellasitsabilitytoaccess
and build contacts with policy-makers
andotherrelevanteconomicplayers.
Anincreasedsalesandcustomerloyalty
fortheproductsandservicesofcompa-
nies perceived to be responsible with
theircommunityandtheenvironment.
Enterprise efforts intended to enhance
suppliernetworksorimproveemployee
morale often lead to increased produc-

tivityandqualityandreducedcomplex-
ityandcosts.
Bettercontrolandmanagementofrisks
indifferentdomainssuchasfinanceor
customersattitudes.
Anincreasedabilitytoattractandretain
employees, resulting in a reduction in
turnoverandassociatedrecruitmentand
training costs and a higher motivation
amongstemployees.Thisbenefitseems
to be important, especially at a time
whentheyounggenerationsareasmall
proportion of the population in some
EuropeanCountries.
Thetablebelowprovidessomeexamples
of CSR activities that SMEs could imple-
ment according to different categories of
shareholders:

Shareholders and
owners
Reporting of socially responsible business practices to shareholders
Definition of mission that includes non-financial objectives
Employees
Engagement in the empowerment of employees
Prioritisation of employee health and safety issues
Provision of opportunities to share in company growth and profitability
Encouragement of employee/management communication
Support employees possibilities to balance work, family, and personal development
commitments
Customers
Monitoring of quality, safety and environmental impacts of products and services
Prompt response to customer complaints
Natural Environment
Commitment to minimising negative impacts and optimising resources
Performance of full life-cycle analysis on all products/services
Incorporation of environmental values into purchasing decision
Wider community
(including public
authorities)
Involvement in philanthropic activities that meet community needs
Partnership with community-based organisations that support business success (i.e.
promotion of entrepreneurial initiatives in the region)
Recruitment practices aimed at disadvantageous groups
Sensitivity to local customs and cultures
Compliance with human rights standards
Contractors / sup-
pliers
Incorporation of social/environmental values into purchasing decision
Avoiding of business relationship with companies that use illegal practices (i.e. child
labour)
Active engagement in supply chain risk management. Checking up of socially respon-
sible practices through the whole supply chain
Prompt response to supplier complaints
0
ManyEUSMEsarealreadyinvolved,
althoughtodifferentdegrees,inCSR
activities but they are not yet defin-
ingsocialresponsibilityasanissueto
be incorporated into the enterprises
core business activities, so that CSR
activitiesareinmostcasesoccasional
andunrelatedtothebusinessstrategy.
Thekeymotivationforinvolvementis
relatedtoethicalreasons.
Despite the importance of the ethi-
cal considerations, only a minority
shareoftheEuropeanSMEsinvolved
in social activities is unable to iden-
tifyanybusinessbenefitderivedfrom
them. The two main benefits identi-
fiedbySMEsincludeanimprovement
oftheloyaltyofcustomersandbetter
relationswiththegeneralcommunity/
publicauthorities.Involvementinso-
cial responsibility is more hampered
byattitudinalreasonsthanbylack-
ofresources.
On the contrary there are several
barriers amongst SMEs to become
involvedinenvironmentallyresponsi-
bleactivitiesduetonegativecompany
culture towards the environment,
unawareness of the environmental
impacts of the business, scepticism
towards the business benefits associ-
ated with positive environmental im-
provementsand,finally,therecurrent
shortages of time, financial and staff
resources,togetherwithalackoftech-
nicalexpertiseandskills.
Inanycaseitextremelyimportantto
stressthatcontents,natureandextent
of the SMEs CSR activities clearly
show a number of distinctive and in-
trinsiccharacteristicswhichinclude:
Inmostsmallfirms,ownershipand
management/control are usually
concentratedinthesamehands,so
theentrepreneurplaysacentraland
key role in the development of an
SME that allows him/her to make
personalchoicesaboutappropriate
ways to allocate funds. Thus, the
personalpreferenceoftopmanage-
mentandownersisthemostinflu-
ential factor affecting the type and
extent of SMEs external commu-
nityinvolvement.
Small business managers/owners
are strongly embedded in their lo-
cal communities. Thus, SMEs rely
much more than large enterprises
onthehealth,stabilityandprosperi-
tyofthelocalcommunitiesinwhich
they operate, since most of their
clientsandthemajorityoftheirem-
ployeescomefromthesurrounding
area.Therefore,thereputationofa
companyatitslocation,itsimageas
an employer, producer or actor in
thelocalscene,certainlyinfluences
itscompetitiveness.
SMEs often lack personnel, finan-
cialandtimeresources.Ontheone
hand,SMEsaremoreeconomically
vulnerable than large enterprises, a
problemthatimpliesthatlong-term
investments in, i.e. CSR activities
notclearlyrelatedtothecorebusi-
ness, are regarded as secondary by
owner-managersandveryoftenare
thereforepostponed.
Personalrelationshipsandclosein-
dividualcontactsaremorefrequent
insmallerbusinesses.Theenhanced
possibilities of personal contacts
between the owner-manager and
employees,financingpartners,sup-
pliers, customers and, sometimes,
even competitors very often help
to build trustful and open business
partnershipsinawayimpracticable
in larger firms. However, if things
gowrong,theexistenceofaperson-
alrelationshipmayaddpressuresto
bothsides.
coRpoRate Social
ReSponSibility
conSultancy
CSR enhances long-term business
value, particularly with reference to
customer reputation, employee loy-
altyandinnovation.Ifthereisabusi-
nesscaseforCSR,itfollowsthatbusi-
nesseshaveincentivestoacquireCSR
productsandservices.
Traditionally social enterprises have
covered the field of social inclusion,
development aid, health and educa-
tion, human rights, fight against pov-
erty and so on. Social enterprises, as
ithappensinItaly,arerequiredbylaw
to present annually their social bal-
ance. Furthermore, as stated in the
previousparagraph,socialenterprises
aremulti-stakeholderenterprisesgov-
erned according democratic and par-
ticipative criteria and deeply rooted
on the territory. All these elements
canbeascribedtoCSRattitudesand
characteristics: social enterprises may
transform this implicit knowledge on
CSR issues into a structured set of
services to be offered on the com-
petitive market in the form of CSR
consultancy services for SMEs which
duetolackofpersonnel,financialand
timeresourcesarenotinapositionto
accomplish to CSR requirements on
theirown.
Social enterprises could provide tar-
geted assistance to companies to ad-
vancetheirCSRperformance,thusin
developing a better working environ-
mentinwhichtofunction,gaincred-
ibilityandenhancetheirreputationin
theeyesofthepublic.Withreference
to CSR internal dimension, social
enterprises could provide counsel to
help them develop policies and ap-
proachesthataddresstheircorporate
governanceprocessesas:
Developing business principle and
codesofconduct
Developingpoliciesonareasofspe-
cificconcern,e.g.regardingdiversi-
ty,harassment,complaints,environ-
mentandhumanrights
Developingastrategythatintegrates
thepurpose,valuesandvisionofthe
enterpriseinamannerthatensures
thatCSRisimplementedintoboth
day-to-day operations and longer
termactivities
IntegratingCSRintocorporategov-

2
ernance
Integrating CSR into management
systems, including its alignment to
purpose,valuesandvisionaswellas
appropriate structure and resourc-
ing
Or as workforce is concerned, social
enterprisescouldassistcompaniesin:
Providingtraininganddevelopment
opportunities for employees, in-
cludingfinancialsupportandallow-
ingtimeoffwork
Planningcareerdevelopmentbyset-
tingstructuresandsystemsinplace
supporting deliberate growth and
developmentofindividuals(on-the-
jobtrainingandjob-rotation)
Promotingknowledgemanagement
andorganisationallearning
Conducting job appraisals support-
ed by job specific performance re-
viewsandskillsneedsassessments
With reference to CSR external di-
mension, social enterprises could
foster the establishment of strategic
partnerships with businesses and lo-
cal authorities for the realisation of
specificprojectstopromotelocalde-
velopment.Suchstrategicpartnership
means that joint actions are taken,
whereby one or other shared objec-
tive can be attained with each party
retaining its own identity, values and
independence.
netWoRkS and
knoWledge
ManageMent
Globalization and technological ad-
vances in recent years have led to a
proliferationofnetworksoncommu-
nity,national,regional,andgloballev-
els. While the terms networks and
networkingarecurrentlyinvoguein
avarietyofdisciplines,theseconcepts
are nothing new. Networks, in one
form or another, have been around
forages.
In pre-agricultural societies, indi-
viduals formed communities, and
ones contribution to the community
depended on the utilization of the
perceived strength of the individual.
Hence,somepeoplebecamehunters
andothersbecamegatherers,andthe
sum welfare and sustainability of the
communitywasimprovedasaresult.
Another example is provided by la-
bour unions which in the nineteenth
centuryaroseincitiesasawaytocope
with the new challenges of industri-
alization.Workersfoundsupportand
protectionincommunityandcreated
a vehicle for social change advocacy
thatwouldimprovetheirwelfare.To-
day,professionalassociationsareavi-
talwayformemberstostayup-to-date
on research and current practices, as
wellasameanstohelpmembersob-
tainandretaincredibility.
Part 3 - Actions
Chapter 6 - Network Level
In each of these scenarios, networks

arose as a mechanism for improving
thewelfareoftheindividualbysimul-
taneously improving that of all mem-
bersofthegroup.
A variety of network sub-categories
exists,includingcommunitiesofprac-
tice,knowledgenetworks,sectoralnet-
works,socialchangeoradvocacynet-
works, or service delivery networks,
justtonameafew.Thisvarietypoints
to the fact that networks are created
foravarietyofpurposesandembody
avarietyofstructures.Noformulaex-
ists for how and why network devel-
ops. Network formation can be insti-
gated by external or internal sources,
or for practical or value-based rea-
sons.Networkscanformeitherfrom
thetopdownorfromthebottomup.
Infact,itisoftenacombinationofall
ofthesethingsthatservesastheimpe-
tusfornetworkformation.
Furthermore, as it was evidenced in
Chapter5,networksinthemeaningof
tiesandrelationshipsamongdifferent
subjectsareessentialintheprocessof
businesscreationaswellasforitsfur-
therdevelopmentintheformofrela-
tionswithclients,suppliersandpublic
authoritiesorinmembershiptoentre-
preneurialassociationsandchambers
of commerce and so on. Even more
crucialisnetworkingreferredtosocial
enterprises which are deeply rooted
ontheterritoryandneedtoestablish
lastingtieswiththedifferentactorsop-
eratingatlocallevel.
Strategic partnerships among social
enterprises, private businesses and
local public authorities could there-
fore be a powerful tool whereby to
start fostering local development by
establishing networks that consider
theinteractionbetweensystems.Net-
workingcouldbeusefultocollaborate
onresearch,projectsinthefieldora
social action agenda, social capital is
beingbuiltandnewapproachestode-
velopmentchallengesarebeingborn.
Therefore, a group whose members
mayoncehavethoughtofthemselves
asunlikelypartnersfindthemselvesat
thesametable.
To succeed in having strategic part-
nershipsnetworksworking,first,net-
work members must be encouraged
to dare to share (i.e. be confident
enoughintheirworkthattheyarewill-
ingtoshareitwithothers).Thisshar-
ingcanbefacilitatedbythecreationof
anopenenvironmentinwhichpeople
are willing to analyze and learn from
bothsuccessesandmistakes.Second,
network members must have the ca-
pacitytofullycontribute.Thiscanbe
fostered by creating time and space
for learning and reflection. Thirdly,
network members must be commit-
ted. Strong commitment is naturally
fostered when members make the
priorities of the network match their
ownandtheyseethenetworkasadd-
ingvaluetotheirwork.Simplyraising
awareness of the potential that mem-
bers have in contributing to change
in their organizations may help to
strengthen commitment. Lastly, net-
worksmustpossessthegenerativeca-
pacitiesidentifiedinourframeworkif
theyaretobeabletobuildthesesame
capacitiesintheirmembers.
Social enterprises, local authorities
and private sector could experiment
through networks a different way to
cooperate and sharing their different
expertise to identify innovative solu-
tions to common problems. Sharing
complementary expertise is aimed at
bringing a competitive advantage for
eachmember,thusimprovingthede-
velopment of the entire network and
conversely for the entire community:
i.e.socialenterprisescouldbehelped
in fostering their managerial compe-
tences while private business could
learn how to start empowering proc-
esses to the benefit of their employ-
ees.
Such networks should therefore
operate according to principles of
knowledge management. Knowl-
edge management has been defined
as effectively connecting those who
know with those who need to know,
and converting personal knowledge
into organizational knowledge. Net-
work members have to learn how to
use these systems and processes not
onlytomanagewhattheyknow,butto
createandsharenewknowledgewith
others, and put that knowledge into
action to achieve their organisational
objectives.
Knowledge is much more than in-
formation, and knowledge manage-
ment goes beyond information shar-
ing. Through the process of sharing
information, new ideas are born and
knowledgeisactuallycreated.Knowl-
edge and intellectual capacities are
nowrecognizedasstrategicassetsthat
areasvaluableasmoretangibleones.
Thisapproachisessentialtostrength-
ening strategic partnerships as well
as to identifying tailored, needs- and
capacities-based approaches to local
development.
explicit and iMplicit
knoWledge
Explicitknowledge(thatwhichiswrit-
ten down, recorded or codified in
some manner) is often used almost
interchangeably with information in
the knowledge management/knowl-
edge network context. The mapping
and sharing of knowledge focuses
primarilyonindividualexplicitknowl-
edgeanditsrelationtoorganizational
explicit knowledge (often referred to
as corporate memory). In moving
towardscollaborativeworkprocesses,
organizationsoftenbeginwithknowl-
edge mapping or knowledge elicita-
tion, reviewing the intellectual capital
oftheorganization(reports,manuals,
etc.), identifying expertise within the
organization, identifying gaps in the
corporate knowledge base and re-
cordingtheseinasystematicway.Ina
network,thisprocessofcapturingand
aggregating the explicit knowledge of
Network Level
individuals and organizations is a sig-

nificanttask.Itcreatesthebasisupon
which a network can begin to work
together.
Inthecreationofnewknowledgeand
theeffectiveapplicationofthatknowl-
edge, networks must also recognize
the importance of tacit and implicit
knowledge Tacit knowledge is the
understandingofhowtodothings.It
is created by doing,by personaltrial,
error, reflection and revision (under-
standinghowtoresearchanddevelop
new policy recommendations, learn-
ing how to run a community consul-
tation or learning how to negotiate a
policychangewithadecision-maker).
It is difficult, however, to articulate
what that how to actually is. The
transferoftacitknowledge,therefore,
isfacilitatedthroughsharedprocesses
(working together, mentoring and
so forth) in addition to the physical
transmission of written or recorded
content.
Balancingexplicitandimplicitknowl-
edgemeansundertakingaprocessof
capacity building which involves all
thenetworksmembersandwhichwill
leadto:
Creationofbestpractices
Improved interventions and ap-
proaches
Improvedproject/programdesign
Stronger partnerships, collabora-
tions,andinstitutionallinkages
Improvednetworking
Creation of new ways of learning
and working together; creation of
anenvironmentforlearningandex-
perimentation
Recognition of possibilities for col-
laborativeactions.
beneFitS oF
netWoRking
There is a great deal of variation in
termsofexpectedmembercontribu-
tionandbenefits.Thoughknowledge
and information sharing are impor-
tant activities of most networks, the
core of the network is the relation-
shipsamongitsmembers.
The benefits provided by member-
ship in a network increase the value
oftheworkdonebyeachmember:
IncreasedaccessOnesetofbene-
fitstonetworkmembershipcomes
fromincreasingaccess:toinforma-
tion, expertise, financial resources,
etc.
A multiplier effect Network
membership can achieve greater
accomplishments through utiliza-
tion of the multiplier effect, which
iscreatedbyeffectivenetworks.As
mentioned earlier, since the value
of the network is greater than the
sum of its parts, individual mem-
ber can achieve farther reach and
greater impact in relation to their
ownorganizationalgoalswhenthey
participateinnetworks
Increased visibility Increasing
visibility of issues, good work and
bestpractices,andcontributionsof
underrepresented groups (such as
youthorwomen)
Reducedisolation
Increasedcredibility
FRoM local to
inteRnational
Social enterprises lays their founda-
tions on fostering of human capital
and knowledge; their outputs do not
consist in most of the cases on pro-
ductionofmaterialgoodsbutoncre-
ation and transmission of relational
knowledge:throughsuchaknowledge
theyareabletotransformaninterper-
sonalrelationinanevent(aservice,a
course, an activity) inserted in a spe-
cific organisational dynamic which
leads to an exponential increase of
theknowledgeitselfbyitsarticulation
in procedures, analysis practices and
selectedsolutions.
Knowledgepotentiallyhasnobound-
aries and therefore, according this
perspective, it is possible to imagine
a broadening of social enterprises
activities, with special reference to
human capital development, enter-
priseorganisation,workersparticipa-
tion in corporate governance, needs
analysisandtraining,whichmayover-
come the local dimension of social
enterprisesandprojectthemtowards
aninternationaldimension.Tomake
this step forward, social enterprises
could adopt the same logics govern-

ing industrial districts internationali-
sation.
Nowadays global economy repre-
sentariskbutalsoaninterestingchal-
lenge and opportunity both for pri-
vatebusinessesandsocialenterprises,
whereby their activities could extend
out of their traditional narrow limits
ofthelocalambitofaction.
Considering that social enterprises
addedvaluemostlyconsistsinfoster-
ingrelationaldynamics,theirinterna-
tionalisation process could be found
ontheirrelationalcompetences:wid-
eningoftheirnetworksandsocialties,
broadeningofvalue-productionproc-
esses, ability to develop effective op-
erativemodelsonthebasisofformer
experiences and capacity of develop
innovativecontext-tailoredpractices.
Social enterprises contribution to
global economy can be relevant in
termsof:
Occupationalimpactasqualityand
quantityofnewjobscreated;
Multipliereffectofnetworksonthe
development of a shared transna-
tionalculturalidentity;
Reinforcement of participative de-
mocracy;
Ability in reaching and involving
the most vulnerable categories of
thepopulation;
Specificcompetenciesthatcanim-
proveinstitutionaldialogueatlocal,
nationalandEuropeanlevel.
Network Level
euRopean
coopeRative Society
In the European Union there are at
least300,000cooperativeswhichpro-
vide2.3millionjobsandinfluencethe
everyday life of more than 140 mil-
lions of citizens who are members in
cooperatives.
Socialenterprisesintheformofsocial
cooperativescouldstartinternational-
isingtheiractivitiesbyadheringtothe
European Cooperative Society. Such
initiative has been launched in 2004
in order to have a completion of the
internalmarketandtheimprovement
it brings about in the economic and
social situation throughout the Com-
munity not only in terms of removal
of trade barriers but to foster the ad-
aptation of the structures of produc-
tion. For that purpose it is essential
that companies of all types, the busi-
nessofwhichisnotlimitedtosatisfy-
ingpurelylocalneeds,shouldbeable
toplanandcarryoutthere-organisa-
tionoftheirbusinessonaCommunity
scale.
Anxious to ensure equal terms of
competition and to contribute to its
economic development, the Com-
munity therefore decided to provide
cooperatives,whichareaformofor-
ganisation generally recognised in all
Member States, with adequate legal
instrumentscapableoffacilitatingthe
development of their cross-border
activities, through collaboration, co-
operationormergersbetweenexisting
cooperativesinthedifferentMember
States,orthroughthecreationofnew
cooperative enterprises at European
level.
WiththeadoptionoftheRegulation
on the Establishment of the Legal
Form of the European Company, a
genuine single SCE entity has been
established. These new texts do in
effect permit the creation of a coop-
erativebypersonsresidingindifferent
MemberStatesorbylegalentitieses-
tablishedindifferentMemberStates.
Withaminimumcapitalrequirement
of30000Euros,thesenewSCEscan
operate throughout the internal mar-
ket with a single legal identity, set of
rulesandstructure.Theycanexpand
andrestructuretheircross-borderop-
erations without the costly and time-
consumingexerciseofsettingupofa
networkofsubsidiaries.Cooperatives
from several different countries can
alsonowmergeasSCEs.Finally,ana-
tional cooperative operating in a dif-
ferentMemberStatefromtheonein
whichithasitsregisteredofficecanbe
converted into a European coopera-
tive without first having to be wound
up.Butitisnotonlyofinteresttoco-
operatives. It also provides an ideal
legal instrument for companies of all
types wishing to group together for
theircommonbenefit,forexamplein
ordertoaccessmarkets,achieveecon-
omies of scale or undertake research
ordevelopmentactivities.
European Cooperative Society could
bethereforeusednotonlytostrength-
en the relationship among coopera-
tives all around Europe but also as
a starting point to develop strategic
partnerships among social entities,
private businesses and public institu-
tions at European level according to
themodelpresentedinChapter5.
Network Level
Part 4 - Annexes
TheAnnexesthatcomposethissection
of the Report refer to dissemination,
mainstreamingandevaluationoftheac-
tivitiescarriedoutbytheworkinggroup
alongthetwoyearsoftheimplementa-
tionoftheProject.
While Annex 3 (Evaluation) does not
present any specific peculiarity since it
simplypresentstheresultsoftheinter-
nalevaluationoftheprojectanditsac-
tivities,afewwordshavetobespenton
thelogicthatwasfollowedinthedraft-
ing of Annex 1 (Dissemination) and
Annex2(Mainstreaming).
According to Equal initiatives princi-
ples, dissemination means sharing in-
formationandraisingawarenessofthe
DPsworkandtheresultsachievedwhile
mainstreamingimpliesthetransferand,
eventually, the adoption of lessons
learned. But despite their difference,
bothdisseminationandmainstreaming
involve identification of good practices
and often use the same tools (reports,
presentations,eventsandsoon).
In order to avoid confusion, it was
agreed to include as Annex 1 the out-
puts that can be considered as pure
disseminationandnamelythepresenta-
tions available on the web-site illustrat-
ing the Project progress and working
documents, while in Annex 2 are pre-
sented the workshops and events or-
ganizedbytheworkinggroupasmain-
streaming,althoughobviouslytheyhave
some elements that can be ascribed to
dissemination.
Annexes
Annex 1 - Dissemination
The European Framework
A|ternot|ve Fntrepreneursh|p
Ihe Furopeon Fromework Ihe Furopeon Fromework Ihe Furopeon Fromework
Furopeon 8oc|o| Po||cy
Furopeon 8oc|o| Po||cy
ne o|m cf ne Eu|cpeon un|cn scc|o| ono emp|cymen pc||cy |s ne
p|cmc|cn cf emp|cymen, cee| ||v|ng ono wc|||ng ccno||cns, on
ooequoe |eve| cf scc|o| p|cec|cn, scc|o| o|o|cgue, ne oeve|cpmen cf
numon |escu|ces sc os c ensu|e o n|gn ono suso|noc|e |eve| cf
emp|cymen, ono ne f|gn ogo|ns exc|us|cn.
|u|ne|mc|e equo||y ceween men ono wcmen nos o|sc ceen oooeo c
ne ||s cf Ccmmun|y ccjec|ves exp||c||y p|cv|o|ng no |n o|| |s oc|v||es
ne Ccmmun|y mus o|m c e||m|noe |nequo|||es, ono c p|cmce
equo||y, ceween men ono wcmen.
Sc fo|, ne Ccmmun|y's oc|cn nos fccuseo cn equo| |eomen |n
emp|cymen, o wc||, |n vcco|cno| |o|n|ng ono |n osscc|oeo f|e|os.
Annex 1 - Dissemination - The European Framework
Furopeon Fmp|oyment 8trotegy

Furopeon Fmp|oyment 8trotegy
ne Eu|cpeon Emp|cymen S|oegy EESJ |s oes|gneo os ne mo|n cc| c
g|ve o||ec|cn c ono ensu|e cc-c|o|no|cn cf ne emp|cymen pc||cy
p||c|||es c wn|cn Memce| Soes sncu|o sucsc||ce o Eu |eve|.
|n 2005 ne EES nos ceen |ev|seo c |mp|cve ccc|o|no|cn ceween
Memce| Soes ono ne Eu|cpeon |ns|u|cns ono c cee| ccc|o|noe
emp|cymen pc||c|es w|n moc|ceccncm|c ono m|c|ceccncm|c pc||c|es
cf ne Eu. n|s new EES ccve|s o n|ee yeo| pe||co, f|cm 2005 c 2008.
ne EES f|s w|n|n n|ee p||c|||es:
o|oc ono |eo|n mc|e pecp|e |n emp|cymen, |nc|eose |occu| supp|y
ono mcoe|n|se scc|o| p|cec|cn sysems,
|mp|cve ooopoc|||y cf wc||e|s ono ene|p||ses,
|nc|eose |nvesmen |n numon cop|o| n|cugn cee| eouco|cn ono s||||s.
Open Method of Coord|not|on
Open Method of Coord|not|on
ne EES |n||oeo o new wc|||ng menco o Eu |eve|, wn|cn wos c ceccme
|ncwn os ne 'cpen menco cf cc-c|o|no|cn'.
| |s coseo cn f|ve |ey p||nc|p|es:
sucs|o|o||y,
ccnve|gence,
monogemen cy ccjec|ves,
ccun|y su|ve|||once
|neg|oeo opp|cocn.
Coord|not|on Mechon|sms
Coord|not|on Mechon|sms
ne ccc|o|no|cn mecnon|sms ncw ccmp||se:
on onnuo| Jc|n Repc| cn Emp|cymen,
Gu|oe||nes cn emp|cymen,
No|cno| Refc|m P|cg|ommes,
ne Emp|cymen Ccmm|ee EMCJ nos ceen c|eoeo c p|cmce
ccc|o|no|cn cf Memce| Soes' emp|cymen pc||c|es ono fc| ne
excnonge cf v|ews.
ne Eu|cpeon Scc|o| |uno ES|J, ne Eu's s|oeg|c f|nonc|o| |ns|umen fc|
|occu| mo||e |efc|ms, sc os c p|even ono ccmco unemp|cymen ono
c |nves |n numon |escu|ces, ne|ecy p|cmc|ng o n|gn |eve| cf
cccupo|cno| ono scc|o| |neg|o|cn, po||y ceween men ono wcmen ono
eccncm|c ono scc|o| ccnes|cn.
F8F Ob[ect|ves
F8F Ob[ect|ves
ne mo|n ccjec|ve cf ne ES| |s ne|efc|e c ccmco unemp|cymen: ne
ES| o|ms o |o|n|ng o mc|e quo||f|eo wc||fc|ce p|epo|eo c foce ne new
cno||enges cf ne mo||e ono c p|even |cng-e|m unemp|cymen.
n|s mo|n cjec|ve nos ceen oec||neo |nc n|ee P||c||y cjec|ves:
wc |eg|cno| ccjec|ves
cjec|ve 1 'P|cmc|ng ne Deve|cpmen ono S|ucu|o| /ojusmen cf ne
Reg|cns wncse Deve|cpmen |s |ogg|ng Ben|no'
cjec|ve 2 'Suppc||ng Eccncm|c ono Scc|o| Reccnve|s|cn |n /|eos
|oc|ng S|ucu|o| D|ff|cu||es'J
ono cne nc||zcno| ccjec|ve
cjec|ve 3 'Suppc||ng ne /oopo|cn ono Mcoe|n|so|cn cf ne
Eouco|cn, |o|n|ng ono Emp|cymen Sysems ono Pc||c|es'
Annex 1 - Dissemination - The European Framework
Commun|ty 8upport Fromework

Commun|ty 8upport Fromework
ne Ccmmun|y Suppc| ||omewc|| CS|J |s ne occumen wn|cn ccno|ns
ccn ne s|oegy ono ne p||c||y oc|cns |n o ce|o|n Memce| Soe c|
Reg|cn, ne|ecy oef|n|ng ne spec|f|c ccjec|ves cf sucn oc|cns cgene|
w|n ne f|nonc|o| ccn||cu|cn cf ne S|ucu|o| |unos ono cne| f|nonc|o|
|escu|ces.
ne CS| se|ves os o cos|s fc| o|ow|ng up ne pe|o|cno| P|cg|ommes PJ
nome|y ne occumens no oef|ne ne oc|cns c ce unoe|o|en ono
ensu|e ne |mp|emeno|cn cf ne p|onneo oc|cn ||nes - ono fc|
guo|onee|ng ne cc-c|o|no|cn cf o|| ne Ccmmun|y s|ucu|o| suppc|
meosu|es |n ne Reg|cns |ne|eseo cy ne vo||cus pe|o|cno|
P|cg|ommes.
Ob[ect|ve 3
Ob[ect|ve 3
ne 'cjec|ve 3' o|ms o fcse||ng ne oeve|cpmen cf numon |escu|ces
ono ne g|cwn ono |mp|cvemen cf emp|cymen.
ne |escu|ces o||ccoeo cy ne CS| o|e o|s||cueo omcng s|x p||c|||es.
|||O|||, 4 Deve|cpmen cf oc|ve pc||c|es fc| ne |occu| mo||e
|||O|||, 5 |neg|o|cn |n ne |occu| mo||e cf |no|v|ouo|s mc|e o ||s| cf
scc|o| exc|us|cn
|||O|||, C P|cmc|cn ono |mp|cvemen cf vcco|cno| |o|n|ng, eouco|cn
ono gu|oonce w|n|n o ||fe|cng |eo|n|ng pc||cy
|||O|||, D P|cmc|cn cf o s||||eo |occu| fc|ce, suppc| c en|ep|eneu|sn|p
|||O|||, F Suppc| cf equo| cppc|un||es fc| ne wcmen cn ne |occu|
mo||e
|||O|||, | Mcn|c||ng cf ne CS| ono pe|o|cno| P|cg|ommes
Ihe |to||on Fromework Ihe |to||on Fromework Ihe |to||on Fromework
Not|ono| keform Progromme
Not|ono| keform Progromme
|c||cw|ng exens|ve ccnsu|o|cn ono o|scuss|cn, ne Gu|oe||nes |o|o ocwn
cy ne Eu|cpeon Ccunc|| nove ceen g|cupeo |nc f|ve cpe|o|ng
coegc||es:
exeno|ng ne o|eo cf f|ee cnc|ce fc| c||zens ono ccmpon|es,
g|on|ng |ncen|ves fc| sc|en|f|c |eseo|cn ono ecnnc|cg|co| |nncvo|cn,
s|engnen|ng eouco|cn ono |o|n|ng cf numon cop|o|,
upg|oo|ng ong|c|e ono |nong|c|e |nf|os|ucu|e,
p|cec|ng ne env||cnmen.
ne No|cno| Refc|m P|cg|omme 200-2008 NRPJ |no|coes wno ne |o||on
Gcve|nmen |nenos c oc c |mp|cve ne ccno||cns cf ne ccun|y's
eccncm|c ono scc|o| c|gon|zo|cno| s|ucu|e |n c|oe| c s|mu|oe g|cwn
ono emp|cymen.
Annexes
The Italian Framework
00
Act|ons to be token
Act|ons to be token
ne P|on ccve|s wc o|eos cf oc|cn:
gene|o| meosu|es geo|eo fc| ne eccncm|c sysem os o wnc|e,
spec|f|c p|cjecs no w||| |nc|eose ne p|couc|v|y ono ccmpe||veness cf
ne |o||on eccncmy.
|u|ne|mc|e os o |onsve|so| ccjec|ve, spec|f|c oen|cn |s fccuseo cn
enccu|og|ng ycung pecp|e ono wcmen |nc wc|| n|cugn oc|ve
emp|cymen pc||c|es, enccu|og|ng mc|e expe||enceo wc||e|s c |emo|n |n
ne jcc mo||e n|cugn o se||es cf |e-emp|cymen |ncen|ves, ono
guo|onee|ng scc|o| pc||c|es no o|e oc|e c cffe| mc|e se|v|ces ono
oss|sonce, o|e ne o|eos no nove ceen |oen|f|eo c oc||e ne |nc|eos|ng
oge|ng cf |o||on scc|ey.
nese meosu|es o|e |mp|emeneo ccn o no|cno| ono |eg|cno| |eve|.
NkP ond 8tructuro| Funds
NkP ond 8tructuro| Funds
|o||on |eg|cno| pc||cy |s f|nonceo n|cugn wc o|ffe|en scu|ces cf funo|ng:
ne s|ucu|o| funos ono ne|| |espec|ve no|cno| cc-f|nonc|ng, ono
|escu|ces f|cm ne funo fc| unoe|u|||zeo o|eos.
Reg|cno| pc||cy effc|s o|e ccncen|oeo |n po||cu|o| cn p|cjecs c
upg|ooe ong|c|e ono |nong|c|e |nf|os|ucu|e, c s|engnen numon
cop|o|, ono cn meosu|es c suppc| emp|cymen.
|n c|oe| c ce f|nonceo, ne Reg|cno| pc||cy nos c ccmp|y w|n ne
Ccmmun|y Suppc| ||omewc|| fc| ne cjec|ve 1 ono 3. ne|efc|e ne
s|oegy No|cno| pe|o|cno| P|cg|ommes NPJ ono ne Reg|cno| cnes
RPJ o|e c pu|sue ccn on eccncm|c g|cwn ono ne expons|cn cf
emp|cymen, suppc|eo cy o p|ccess cf |efc|m ono |enewo| |n ne
eouco|cn, |o|n|ng ono |occu|-mo||e sysem.
0
NkP ond Ob[ect|ve 3 - Pr|or|ty F
NkP ond Ob[ect|ve 3 - Pr|or|ty F
|n po||cu|o|, os fo| os spec|f|c pc||cy meosu|es c suppc| femo|e
en|ep|eneu|sn|p |s ccnce|neo, ne NRP ccmp||es w|n ne cjec|ve 3 -
P||c||y E cf ne NP ono RP.
c |mp|cve occess ono oc|ve po||c|po|cn cf wcmen |n ne |occu|
mo||e, ne NP nos se on |neg|oeo opp|cocn cf pc||c|es o|geeo c
o|ow wcmen |nc ne |occu| mo||e.
Spec|f|co||y:
|neg|oeo ono o||c|-mooe wcmen-o|geeo ponwoys oes|gneo fc|
|ons||cn c wc||
|nfc|mo|cn oc|cns o|meo o o|ssem|no|ng en|ep|eneu|sn|p
cppc|un||es
|oen|f|co|cn cf |ns|umens c fcse| ne c|eo|cn ono oeve|cpmen cf
wcmen's ene|p||se, |nc|uo|ng occess c new fc|ms cf f|nonc|ng
Not|ono| 8 keg|ono| |eg|s|ot|on
Not|ono| 8 keg|ono| |eg|s|ot|on
|ow 1/0
n ne esoc||snmen cf ne No|cno| Ccmm|ss|cn cn equo| cppc|un||es
ceween mon ono wcmon
|ow 125/1
n pcs||ve oc|cns c |eocn equo||y ceween mon ono wcmon |n ne
|occu| mo||e
|ow 215/2
n pcs||ve oc|cns c suppc| femo|e en|ep|eneu|sn|p
|oz|c Reg|cno| |ow 51/
n pcs||ve oc|cns c suppc| femo|e en|ep|eneu|sn|p |n |oz|c Reg|cn
|oz|c Reg|cno| |ow 1/
n ne |ns|u|cn cf ncncu| |con fc| en|ep|eneu|sn|p |n||o|ves
Annex 1 - Dissemination - The Italian Framework
0
Annexes
Italian law 215/92
|to||on |ow 215/2 |to||on |ow 215/2 |to||on |ow 215/2
|ow 215/2
|ow 215/2
Law215/92isanationallawmanagedbyEconomicDevelopmentMinistry,
exclusivelydedicatedtofemaleentrepreneurship.
It envisages also the possibility for Regions to finance 50% of the regional
programme for promotion and coordinate positive actions to sustain
female entrepreneurship, according to their objectives and programme
instruments.
0
Ob[ect|ves
Ob[ect|ves
Main law objective is to encourage and develop womens
entrepreneurship, by promoting entrepreneurial training, qualifying
entrepreneurialprofessionalism.
Theprogrammeprovidesforstrictlyintegratemeasuresdirected:
topromotewomenentrepreneurshiptraining
to develop technical and managerial assistance and consultancy
servicesaddressedtofemaleentrepreneurship
to carry out information and support initiatives to spread business culture
amongwomen.
|n|t|ot|ves to be funded
|n|t|ot|ves to be funded
Theonesconcerning:
Startupofnewactivities
Purchase of already existing activities (even machines, equipments,
patentsandsoftwareexpensesareadmissible)
Fulfilmentofadvancedcorporateprojects
Byoutofrealservices(onlyconsultancyexpensesareadmissible)
0
8enef|c|or|es
8enef|c|or|es
Itisaddressedtowomenwhointendtocreateanenterpriseontheirown:
Individualfirms,
Cooperatives,
Partnerships
JointstockCompanies
kequ|rements
kequ|rements
Thecompaniesmustsatisfythefollowingrequirements:
Theymustbesmallcompanies
Theymusthavefemalemanagement(prevalently):
Individualcompany(firm):awomanmustbetheowner
Partnershipsandcooperative:womenmustbepartnerat60%
Incapitalcompanies:womenmustown2/3sharesofthewholeregistered
capital; women must be part of the management for at least 2/3 of the
wholemanagement
Keepthesamecorporateframeworkforatleast5years;
Do not transfer the acquired estates for at least 5 years since facilities
concessiondate;
Bring the investments to an end in 2 years, since facilities concession
date.
Annex 1 - Dissemination - Italian Law 215/92
0
|nvestment 8ectors
|nvestment 8ectors
Agriculture
Manufacturingandassimilated
Commerce
Tourism
Services
Programmes must provide for an investment whose total is between
60.000,00and400.000,00
Adm|ss|b|e Fxpenses
Adm|ss|b|e Fxpenses
Generalplants(wiring,heatingplant,airconditioning,alarmsystem,etc)
Equipmentsandmachines,furnitureandcontrolsystemsincluded
Acquiringofsoftwareandpatents
Architectureworks(includingdesignandjobdirectionexpenses inthelimit
of25%oftotalexpenseforplants,machinesandequipments)Designand
job direction expenses cannot exceed the 5% of architecture works
expenses.
Feasibility studies and business plans in the limit of 2% of the accepted
investmentcost.
Expenses can be charged since the day after the company has sent its
request.
In case of company requiring the facility, even previous
expensesareadmitted.
0
Theprocedureofselectionshappensbypublicnotice.
Facilities are allowed in the limit of the available resources, based on a
sectordividedranking.
The supply of contribution is going to be distributed in two phases: at first
thecompanygets30%ofcontributionandthen70%ofit,respectingthe
developmentoftheworks.
Annex 1 - Dissemination - Italian Law 215/92
0
Annexes
Anti-trafficking in Italy
Ant|-troff|ck|ng |n |to|y Ant| Ant|- -troff|ck|ng |n |to|y troff|ck|ng |n |to|y
Ihe |to||on |eg|s|ot|on
Ihe |to||on |eg|s|ot|on
|o|y |s ne cn|y Eu|cpeon Ccun|y c ccns|oe| |off|c||ng |n numon ce|ngs os
o mcoe|n fc|m cf s|ove|y.
ne mo|n |ego| exs useo c f|gn ogo|ns s|ove|y ono |off|c||ng o|e ne
fc||cw|ng:
/||c|es 00 c 02 cf ne c||m|no| ccoe
/||c|es 0 ono 30 cf ne c||m|no| ccoe
ne 158 Me|||n |ow
/||c|e 18 cf ne |eg|s|o|ve Dec|ee 28/8
0
Art. 00 to 02 - Cr|m|no| Code
Art. 00 to 02 - Cr|m|no| Code
/||c|es 00 c 02 cf ne c||m|no| ccoe ccnoemn:
ne |eouc|cn |nc s|ove|y cf ony numon ce|ng o||c|e 00J,
ne |off|c||ng ono |ooe |n numon ce|ngs o||c|e 01J,
os we|| os ne g|v|ng, se|||ng, ono pu|cnos|ng cf s|oves o||c|e 02J.
nese p|cv|s|cn we|e neve|ne|ess |nccmp|ee oue c |oc| cf c|o||y ono
p|ec|s|cn s|nce ney o|o nc ocuo||y oef|ne s|ove|y ono |off|c||ng.
n /ugus 2003 nese o||c|es cf ne c||m|no| ccoe we|e ne|efc|e oeep|y
|ev|seo w|n ne oocp|cn cf |ow 228/03 wn|cn p|cv|oes o c|eo| oef|n||cn cf
n|s pnencmencn ono |n|couces mcoe|n |ns|umens c f|gn ogo|ns |,
ccns|oe||ng nc cn|y |ep|ess|ve meosu|es cu o|sc fccus|ng cn p|even|cn
ono scc|o| |nc|us|cn cf ne v|c|ms cf |off|c||ng.
Art. 00-b|s ond 02-b|s
Art. 00-b|s ond 02-b|s
/|. 00-c|s
oef|nes s|ove|y os ne ccno||cn cf ony pe|scn upcn wncm o ||gn cf
p|cpe|y c| ony cne| ||gn m|gn ce exe|eo, even |f ne exe||cn cf sucn o
||gn sncu|o cccu| |n o oe focc monne|. | o|sc |nc|uoes o oef|n||cn cf
numon se|v|uoe os ne ccno||cn cf o pe|scn wnc |s ne|o |n sucm|ss|cn
ono fc|ceo c ccmm| sexuo| c| ony cne| ypes cf ocs.
/|. 02-c|s
oef|nes o new cffence, |.e. |off|c||ng |n numon ce|ngs: wnceve|, cy
meons cf v|c|ence, n|eos c| oecep|cn, fc|ces c| enccu|oges o pe|scn c
ene| c| soy c| |eove ne no|cno| e|||c|y, c| |onsfe|s w|n|n ne no|cno|
e|||c|y fc| ne pu|pcses cf eccncm|c c| sexuo| exp|c|o|cn c| se|v|uoe
sno|| ce pun|sneo cy ||gc|cus e|ms cf |mp||scnmen cf e|gn c weny
yeo|s.
Mer||n |ow
Mer||n |ow
|off|c||ng fc| ne pu|pcses cf p|cs|u|cn |s p|cn|c|eo cy wno |s |ncwn os
ne Me|||n |ow, posseo |n 158. cweve|, n|s |ow |s nc |cnge| ve|y effec|ve
oue c cnonges |n ne woy p|cs|u|cn |s p|oc|seo, ono o c||| p|cpcs|ng c
upooe | wos p|eseneo cn Moy 28n, 1, fc||cw|ng ne |n||o|ve cf
pc|||c|ons.
ne c||| mo|es p|cv|s|cns fc| |ep|ess|ve os we|| os p|even|ve meosu|es
ogo|ns |off|c||ng, ono | ses cu woys cf oss|s|ng ycung wcmen w|sn|ng c
escope f|cm p|cs|u|cn. Pun|snmen |n ne fc|m cf f|nes |s o|sc p|esc||ceo
ogo|ns 'cuscme|s' cf p|cs|ues, |n c|oe| c mo|e nem owo|e cf ne foc
no mony cf ne ycung wcmen oc nc engoge |n p|cs|u|cn vc|uno|||y,
cu o|e ocuo||y v|c|ms cf o fc|m cf s|ove|y.
|eg|s|ot|ve Decree 28/8
|eg|s|ot|ve Decree 28/8
Meosu|es useo c p|cec ono oss|s |off|c||ng v|c|ms o|e se cu |n o |ow
posseo cn Ju|y 25n, 18 ccnce|neo w|n |mm|g|o|cn ono ne sous cf
fc|e|gne|s.
ne p|cec|cn ono |enoc|||o|cn cf v|c|ms o|e ccns|oe|eo c ce ne mcs
cen|o| |ssues, ono ney o|e nc mooe c oepeno upcn ne v|c|m's cc-
cpe|o|cn w|n |ego| cco|es.
/||c|e 18 cf ne |ow mo|es p|cv|s|cns fc| o spec|o| |es|oence pe|m| fc|
fc|e|gne|s juogeo c ce v|c|ms cf v|c|en ocs ono se||cus fc|ms cf
exp|c|o|cn.
Annex 1 - Dissemination - Anti-traffiking in Italy
2
8pec|o| kes|dence Perm|t
8pec|o| kes|dence Perm|t
/ spec|o| opp||co|cn fc| o |es|oence pe|m| con ce sucm|eo cy ne
fc||cw|ng cco|es:
ne soe p|csecuc|, |f ne fc|e|gne| nos mooe o soemen w|n|n ne
ccnex cf o c||m|no| p|cceou|e,
ne scc|o| se|v|ces cff|ces cf |cco| gcve|nmens c| ony osscc|o|cns
|eccgn|seo cy ne Depo|men cf Scc|o| /ffo||s off|||oeo w|n ne Ccunc||
cf M|n|se|s.
|ntegrot|on Progrommes
|ntegrot|on Progrommes
ne ocuo| g|on|ng cf o |es|oence pe|m| |s sucjec c ne opp||con's
po||c|po|cn |n ne oss|sonce ono |neg|o|cn p|cg|ommes cffe|eo e|ne|
cy ne scc|o| se|v|ces cff|ces cf |cco| gcve|nmens c| cy cff|c|o||y
|eccgn|seo osscc|o|cns.
\|c|ms en|c||eo |n nese p|cg|ommes enjcy nume|cus oovonoges: occess
c meo|co| oss|sonce ono |o|n|ng ccu|ses, |eg|s|o|cn w|n emp|cymen
cff|ces, ono ne pcss|c|||y c wc|| |ego||y.
ne |es|oence pe|m| |s vo||o |n||o||y fc| s|x mcnns ono |s |enewoc|e |f ne
|ego| p|cceeo|ngs sncu|o sc |equ||e. | con o|sc ce |eneweo |f ne v|c|m
cco|ns o vo||o wc|| ccn|oc, c| | con ce ccnve|eo |nc o suoen v|so |f
ne v|c|m en|c|s |n o scncc| c| un|ve|s|y.
Annexes
Social Enterprises
8oc|o| Fnterpr|ses: on F0 Def|n|t|on 8oc|o| Fnterpr|ses: on F0 Def|n|t|on 8oc|o| Fnterpr|ses: on F0 Def|n|t|on
|ntroduct|on
|ntroduct|on
ne eccncm|c ono scc|o| s|gn|f|conce cf Scc|o| Eccncmy ene|p||ses |s
w|oe|y |eccgn|zeo.
ne|| |mpc|once |s o|sc g|cw|ng |n ne foce cf new eme|g|ng neeos.
Recen f|gu|es |no|coe no opp|cx|moe|y m||||cn pecp|e o|e emp|cyeo
cy ne scc|o| eccncmy ene|p||ses cc-cpe|o|ves, muuo|s, osscc|o|cns
ono fcunoo|cns - CM/| - ono scc|o| ene|p||sesJ |n ne Eu|cpeon un|cn.
Cc-cpe|o|ves |n ne p|couc|cn ono ne ccnsume| o|eos nove, oepeno|ng
cn ne scu|ce cf ne ooo, ceween 78 ono 150 m||||cn memce|s |n ne
un|cn.
ne Scc|o| Eccncmy, po||cu|o||y cc-cpe|o|ves ono osscc|o|cns, con o|sc
mo|e o sucson|o| ccn||cu|cn c ne |neg|o|cn cf ne eccncm|es cf ne
Cono|ooe Ccun||es.
Genero| Chorocter|st|cs
Genero| Chorocter|st|cs
Scc|o| Eccncmy en||es sp||ng f|cm ne eccncm|c ono scc|o| neeos cf ne||
memce|s. ne|e o|e ce|o|n ccmmcn cno|oce||s|cs sno|eo cy Scc|o|
Eccncmy en||es:
ne|| p||mo|y pu|pcse |s nc c cco|n o |eu|n cn cop|o|. ney o|e, cy
nou|e, po| cf o so|enc|oe| eccncmy, wncse ene|p||ses o|e c|eoeo cy
ono fc| ncse w|n ccmmcn neeos, ono occcunoc|e c ncse ney o|e
meon c se|ve
ney o|e gene|o||y monogeo |n occc|oonce w|n ne p||nc|p|e cf 'cne
memce|, cne vce'
ney o|e f|ex|c|e ono |nncvo|ve - Scc|o| Eccncmy ene|p||ses o|e ce|ng
c|eoeo c mee cnong|ng scc|o| ono eccncm|c c||cumsonces
Mcs o|e coseo cn vc|uno|y po||c|po|cn, memce|sn|p ono ccmm|men.
|mportonce of 8oc|o| Fnterpr|ses
|mportonce of 8oc|o| Fnterpr|ses
ne Scc|o| Eccncmy |s |mpc|on cecouse |:
ccn||cues c eff|c|en ccmpe||cn |n ne mo||es
cffe|s ne pcen|o| fc| jcc c|eo|cn ono new fc|ms cf en|ep|eneu|sn|p
ono emp|cymen
|s |o|ge|y fcunoeo cn memce|sn|p-coseo oc|v||es
mees new neeos
fovcu|s c||zen po||c|po|cn ono vc|uno|y wc||
ennonces sc||oo||y ono ccnes|cn
ccn||cues c ne |neg|o|cn cf ne eccncm|es cf ne cono|ooe
ccun||es.
Furopeon Cooperot|ve 8oc|ety

Furopeon Cooperot|ve 8oc|ety
ne ccjec|ve cf ne SCE Soue, wn|cn wos oocpeo cy ne Ccunc|| cn
22no Ju|y 2003 |s c p|cv|oe cc-cpe|o|ves w|n ooequoe |ego| |ns|umens
c foc|||oe ne|| c|css-cc|oe| ono |ons-no|cno| oc|v||es. ne new Soue
po|o||e|s ne Soue fc| o Eu|cpeon Ccmpony SEJ, oocpeo |n 2001, cu
nos ceen o||c|eo c ne spec|f|c cno|oce||s|cs cf cc-cpe|o|ve scc|e|es.
Bu ne Soue |s nc cn|y cf |ne|es c cc-cpe|o|ves. | o|sc p|cv|oes on
|oeo| |ego| |ns|umen fc| ccmpon|es cf o|| ypes w|sn|ng c g|cup cgene|
fc| ne|| ccmmcn cenef|, fc| exomp|e |n c|oe| c occess mo||es, ocn|eve
eccncm|es cf sco|e c| unoe|o|e |eseo|cn c| oeve|cpmen oc|v||es.
ne Soue w||| o|sc enoc|e 5 c| mc|e Eu|cpeon c||zens pnys|co| pe|scnsJ
f|cm mc|e non cne Memce| Soe c c|eoe o Eu|cpeon Cc-cpe|o|ve
Scc|ey.
8CF Noture
8CF Noture
ne SCE |||e o|| cc-cpe|o|vesJ |s o |ego| en|y no o||cws |s memce|s
pnys|co| pe|scns c| |ego| en||esJ c co||y cu ce|o|n oc|v||es |n ccmmcn,
wn||e o ne some |me p|ese|v|ng ne|| |noepenoence.
Memce|s cf on SCE w||| nc|mo||y ce cuscme|s c| supp||e|s ono w||| ce
o||ec|y ono pe|scno||y |nvc|veo |n ne oc|v||es ono ne monogemen cf
ne SCE. /n SCE mus nove os |s p||nc|po| ccjec ne so|sfoc|cn cf |s
memce|s' neeos ono/c| ne oeve|cpmen cf ne|| eccncm|c ono scc|o|
oc|v||es, ono nc ne |emune|o|cn cf o cop|o| |nvesmen.
ne oc|v||es cf on SCE sncu|o ne|efc|e ce unoe|o|en fc| ne muuo|
cenef| cf |s memce|s |n sucn o woy no eocn memce| cenef|s f|cm ne
oc|v||es cf ne SCE |n |e|o|cn c n|s vc|ume cf |ooe w|n ne cc-cpe|o|ve,
nc n|s cop|o| ccn||cu|cn.
Annex 1 - Dissemination - Social Enterprises
8CF Chorocter|st|cs (1)

/n SCE m|gn ce c|eoeo:
||cm sc|ocn 'ex ncvc'J, cy f|ve c| mc|e nou|o| pe|scns, cy wc c| mc|e
|ego| en||es c| cy o ccmc|no|cn cf f|ve c| mc|e nou|o| pe|scns ono |ego|
en||es,
By o me|ge| cf wc c| mc|e ex|s|ng cc-cpe|o|ves.
By ccnve|s|cn cf on ex|s|ng cc-cpe|o|ve wn|cn nos, fc| o |eos wc yeo|s,
noo on esoc||snmen c| sucs|o|o|y |n oncne| Memce| Soe
|n ne f||s wc coses o |eos wc cf ne nou|o| pe|scns c| |ego| en||es sncu|o
ce f|cm o|ffe|en Memce| Soes.
ne m|n|mum cop|o| |equ||emen |s Eu|c 30,000.
/n SCE mus ce |eg|se|eo |n ne Memce| Soe wne|e | nos |s neoo cff|ce. |
moy mcve |s |eg|se|eo cff|ce f|cm cne Memce| Soe c oncne| w|ncu
nov|ng c w|no-up ono |e-|eg|se|.
|c| ox pu|pcses on SCE |s |eoeo os ony cne| mu||-no|cno| ccmpony
occc|o|ng c ne no|cno| f|sco| |eg|s|o|cn opp||coc|e o ccmpony c| c|oncn
|eve|. | w||| ccn|nue c poy oxes |n ncse Memce| Soes wne|e | nos o
pe|monen esoc||snmen.
\c|ng |n on SCE |s gene|o||y ccnouceo |n occc|oonce w|n ne cc-cpe|o|ve
p||nc|p|e cf 'cne memce| - cne vce'. cweve|, we|gneo vc|ng moy ce
o||cweo |n ce|o|n c||cumsonces c |ef|ec ne omcun cf cus|ness ocne w|n
ne SCE.
/n SCE mus co|| o gene|o| mee|ng o |eos cnce pe| yeo|. Dec|s|cns o|e
o|en cy s|mp|e mojc||y cf ncse memce|s p|esen c| |ep|eseneo, excep fc|
cnonges c ne |ne|no| soues wne|e o 2/3 mojc||y |s |equ||eo. |c| cnonges
c ne soues o quc|um cf ? cf o|| memce|s |s |equ||eo.
ne |ne|no| soues cf ne SCE mus se cu |s monogemen s|ucu|e
occc|o|ng c cne cf wc pcss|c||||es: wc-|e| s|ucu|e monogemen ccoy
ono supe|v|sc|y ccoyJ ono ne-|e| s|ucu|e oom|n|s|o|ve ccoyJ.
Annexes
Female Enterprises in Lazio
Femo|e Fnterpr|ses |n |oz|o Femo|e Fnterpr|ses |n |oz|o Femo|e Fnterpr|ses |n |oz|o
Femo|e Fnterpr|ses
Femo|e Fnterpr|ses
ne|e |s |nc|eos|ng ev|oence no mc|e ono mc|e wcmen o|e ceccm|ng
|ne|eseo |n smo|| cus|ness cwne|sn|p ono/c| ocuo||y so||ng up |n
cus|ness.
|n o wc||o wn|cn |equ||es new fc|ms cf suso|noc|||y fc| ne no|cno|
p|couc|ve sysem ccmpe||veness, femo|e en|ep|eneu|sn|p |eveo|eo |se|f
os o w|nn|ng focc| c |eocn o |eo| eccncm|c g|cwn.
ne p|cg|ess|ve |nc|eose cf femo|e en|ep|eneu|sn|p |n |o|y ono |n |oz|c
Reg|cn con ce meosu|eo cy ccns|oe||ng ne g|cw|ng |nc|oence cf
ene|p||ses |eoo cy wcmen c| nov|ng o femo|e mojc||y so|e.
/ccc|o|ng c ooo p|cv|oeo cy o CENS|S su|vey cn femo|e
en|ep|eneu|sn|p |n Rcme P|cv|nce ono |oz|c Reg|cn, ne en|ep|eneu||o|
sceno||c oppeo|s mc|e ono mc|e v|o|, oynom|c ono oeep-|cceo non
jus few yeo|s ogc.
Fnterpr|ses |n |oz|o keg|on

Fnterpr|ses |n |oz|o keg|on
Abso|ute o|ue D|fference % D|fference
2003 2004 2005 2003-2005 2003-2005
Femo|e Fnterpr|ses
kome 53.314 54.2 5.87 3.52 ,7
|oz|o 1.53 3.222 .21 4.80 5,1
|to|y 1.174.543 1.17.80 1.21.112 44.5 3,8
Non-femo|e Fnterpr|ses
kome 17.81 18.518 173.588 5.772 3,4
|oz|o 25.524 25.75 2.587 7.03 2,7
|to|y 3.821.15 3.842.747 3.8.38 78.11 2,00
Ioto| Fnterpr|ses
kome 221.130 225.34 230.44 .334 4,2
|oz|o 351.03 35.014 32.80 11.743 3,3
|to|y 4.5.738 5.01.85 5.118.48 122.70 2,5
8ome Fv|dences
8ome Fv|dences
Beween 2003 ono 2005 ne numce| cf femo|e ene|p||ses oc|ve |n
Rcme nos unoe|gcne on |nc|eose cf 3.52 un|s ,7%J |eocn|ng
5,87 un|s os co|.
Du||ng |os yeo|, Rcme nos ceen ne |o||on P|cv|nce wn|cn |eg|se|eo ne
mcs |e|evon |nc|eose |n e|ms cf ene|p||ses |eoo cy wcmen 4%J
ne oynom|sm cf femo|e ene|p||ses |n ne pe||co 2004 2005 nos ceen
mucn mc|e n|gne| non ne cne cf ncn-femo|e ene|p||ses: 4% ve|sus
1,7%
/s o ccnsequence, ne |eve| cf fem|n|zo|cn cf ne en|ep|eneu||o|
sceno||c |eg|se|eo o ong|c|e |nc|eose: 24,7% cf ne ene|p||ses nove o
femo|e mojc||y
Feotures of Femo|e Fnterpr|ses

Feotures of Femo|e Fnterpr|ses
ne o|mens|cno| g|cwn cf femo|e ene|p||ses wos occcmpon|eo cy o
s|ucu|o| ccnsc||oo|cn wn|cn |s ccnf||meo cy o |eos fcu| o|ffe|en
pnencmeno:
Cnc|ce cf mc|e |e||oc|e fc|ms cf ene|p||se: ceween 2003 ono 2005 ne
numce| cf jc|n-scc| ccmpon|es |nc|eose wos 48,3% wn||e ne g|cwn cf
po|ne|sn|ps ono sc|e ccmpon|es wos mc|e ccno|neo, 7,5% ono 2,4%
|espec|ve|y
S|engnen|ng cf ne femo|e |eooe|sn|p: ne numce| cf ene|p||ses |eoo cy
wcmen |nc|eoseo cf 7,%
|gne| en|ep|eneu||o| oynom|sm: ne c||n|oe cf femo|e ene|p||ses wos
cf o |cng exen supe||c| non ne cne cf ncn-femo|e ene|p||ses 10%
ve|sus 7,2%J
Scunoness cf femo|e en|ep|eneu||o| foc||c: ne mc|o||y |oe cf femo|e
ene|p||ses wos |cwe| non ne cne cf ncn-femo|e cnes
Femo|e Fnterpr|ses by 8ector
Femo|e Fnterpr|ses by 8ector
komo Prov|nce |to|y
Abso|ute % Fem. Fnt / Abso|ute % Fem. Fnt /
o|ue D|str|but|on Ioto| Fnt o|ue D|str|but|on Ioto| Fnt
Agr/cu/Iure 4.741 8,3 31, 278.04 22,8 28,8
/ndusIry .832 12,0 12,3 1.472 13,7 12,2
|ndustry 4.72 8,2 20,1 127.1 10,5 1,7
Construct|ons 2.10 3,8 , 38.811 3,2 5,4
5erv/ces 45.303 7,7 28,3 774.51 3,5 27,8
Irode 24.153 42,5 28,3 387.37 31,8 27,2
Pote|s ond kestouronts 4.242 7,5 32,5 85.02 7,0 33,
Ironsports 1.5 2, 11,8 21.882 1,8 11,1
Mon. And F|n. |ntermed|ot|on 1.25 2, 23, 22.83 1, 23,1
Computers, reseorch 5.851 10,3 25,8 127.131 10,4 24,4
8oc|o| 8erv|ces .383 11,2 4,7 10.23 ,0 4,1
Pub||c 8erv|ces (Peo|th,
educot|on.) 1.33 2,4 2,5 21.044 1,7 30,0
IoIo/ 5.87 100,0 24,7 1.21.112 100,0 23,8
Annex 1 - Dissemination - Female Enterprises in Lazio
20
New ond O|d ocot|ons
New ond O|d ocot|ons
ne ccnsc||oo|cn cf ne wcmen p|esence |n |oo||cno| secc|s wos
occcmpon|eo cy o g|cwn cf ne femo|e p|esence o|sc |n secc|s wn|cn
o|e cy |oo||cn cno|oce||zeo cy o mo|e p|esence, os ccns|uc|cns,
ccmpue| sc|ence ono cne| spec|f|c e||o|y se|v|ces:
u cf 3.52 new ene|p||ses 3.118 87%J o|e ccncen|oeo |n ne se|v|ces
secc|. ne g|cwn |oe cf femo|e ene|p||ses |n |oz|c |n n|s f|e|o wos 7,4%
ve|sus o no|cno| ove|oge cf 5,%
/|ncugn |ooe |s s||| ne fovcu||e secc| fc| so|-ups, scc|o| se|v|ces ono
oovonceo n||o secc| |eg|se|eo on |nc|eose cf 8%
Sucn o |e|evon |nc|eose wos oue nc cn|y cecouse cf o mojc|
unoe|sono|ng cf ne neeos |e|oeo w|n neo|n ono eouco|cn secc|s cu
o|sc |n ne pe|spec|ve cf o new ccnsc|cusness cf ne pecu||o||y cf Rcme
os o c|y cf ne eouo|nmen, no |s o m|xu|e cf eouco|cn ono
ene|o|nmen, wn|cn |eoo c ne c|eo|cn new |n||o|ves ono expe||ences |n
ne cu|u|o| ono o||s|c o|eo.
Percentoge of Femo|e Presence
Percentoge of Femo|e Presence
4,7
32,5
31,
28,5
2,5
25,8
23,
20,7
11,8
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2
Ihe 8oc|o| 8ector
Ihe 8oc|o| 8ector
ne sc co||eo scc|o| secc| wn|cn |nc|uoes puc||c, pe|scno| ono scc|o|
se|v|cesJ, wne|e 11,2% cf Rcmon femo|e en|ep|eneu|sn|p |s ccncen|oeo,
|s ne f|e|o w|n ne n|gnes |oe cf fem|n|zo|cn: 4,7% cf ne ene|p||ses
o|e |un cy wcmen.
ne mojc||y cf ne ene|p||ses o|e sc|e ccmpon|es 83% cf ne co|J cu
ne|e |s o |e|evon quco cf cccpe|o|ve scc|e|es 1,%J.
|u|ne|mc|e n|s |s ne secc| wne|e ne femo|e en|ep|eneu||o| |oo||cn nos
|s |ccs, ccns|oe||ng no mc|e non 30,4% cf ne ene|p||ses so|eo ne||
oc|v||es mc|e non 15 yeo|s ogc, 33,3% ceween ono 15 yeo|s ogc ono
cn|y |ess non 5 yeo|s ogc.
Ihe Cooperot|ves
Ihe Cooperot|ves
/|ncugn cccpe|o|ves |ep|esen o m|nc||y omcng ne femo|e ene|p||ses,
ney o|e neve|ne|ess s|gn|f|con s|nce |n eocn cf nem ne|e o|e o |eos 2
femo|e en|ep|eneu|s.
23% cf ne cccpe|o|ves o|e oc|ve |n ne puc||c secc| neo|n,
eouco|cn.J, 17% |s |nvc|veo |n scc|o| ono pe|scno| se|v|ces ono 22%
oeo|s w|n ccmpue| sc|ence ono |eseo|cn.
wcmen |ep|esen 4% cf ne wc|||ng memce|s |n cccpe|o|ves cu ne||
p|esence |n monoge||o| pcs||cns |s s||| pcc|.
Pe|scno| & Scc|o| Se|v|ces
Puc||c Se|v|ces
/g||cu|u|e
|nous|y Ccns|uc|cns
|ooe
ce|s & Resou|ons
|onspc|s
Ccmpue|s & Reseo|cn
Annex 1 - Dissemination - Female Enterprises in Lazio
22
Young ond Mu|t|-ethn|c
Young ond Mu|t|-ethn|c
|n |s ccnc|us|cns ne CENS|S Su|vey fccuses cn wc ospecs no we oeem
|ne|es|ng os ooo o|sc fc| cu| Equo| P|cjec:
ne fc|e|gn femo|e en|ep|eneu|s sncweo ne n|gnes oeg|ee |n e|ms cf
oynom|sm: 1.857 ene|p||ses no|f cf ne co|J wos cpeneo cy ncn-|o||on
wcmen.
|n Rcme P|cv|nce |n |os 5 yeo|s ne |nc|eose cf ene|p||ses |un cy fc|e|gn
wcmen wos o|cuno 108% ve|sus o no|cno| |oe cf ,%J.
ne mojc||y cf femo|e en|ep|eneu|s o|e ycung wcmen: 25% o|e
ceween 30 ono 40 yeo|s c|o, 31,1% |on| ceween 18 ono 2 yeo|s c|o
ono 8,1% o|e |ess non 18 yeo|s c|o.
2
Annexes
Female Enterprises in Ile de France
Femo|e Fnterpr|ses |n |e de Fronce Femo|e Fnterpr|ses |n Femo|e Fnterpr|ses |n |e |e de Fronce de Fronce
8|tuot|on of Femo|e Fnterpr|ses
8|tuot|on of Femo|e Fnterpr|ses
ne|e o|e |n ||once opp|cx|moe|y 570.000 wcmen neoo cf cus|ness 27%
cf ne co| cf neoos cf cus|nessesJ. Eocn yeo|, scme 80.000 wcmen
c|eoe c| cuy cu o ccmpony.
wcmen cuy cu ccmpon|es mc|e cfen non men ono ney c|eoe mc|e
|no|v|ouo| cus|nesses non ccmpon|es. ney oppeo| c use |ess cop|o| c
ceg|n ne|| oc|v|y. / |||e mc|e non no|f cf nem neeos nc mc|e non
7.500 eu|cs pe|scno| cop|o| ccn||cu|cn, |cons, vo||cus o|os.J o quo|e|
o |eos 15.000 eu|cs.
48% nove on ove|oge u|ncve| cf 45.000 eu|cs.
wcmen o|e espec|o||y p|esen |n se|v|ces, |eo|| |ooe ono nce|-ccffee-
|esou|ons. |n nese secc|s, ne|| ccmpon|es nove o su|v|vo| |oe n|gne|
non ncse cf men excep fc| se|v|ces fc| cus|nessJ
ne|| ove|oge oge |s 38 yeo|s. ney oppeo| c ce mc|e n|gn|y eoucoeo
non men. / n||o cf nese wcmen ccme f|cm o pe||co cf p|cfess|cno|
|noc|v|y.
2
Women's Prof||e
Women's Prof||e
/ |o|ge mojc||y o|e ceween 30 ono 50 yeo|s c|o. ne|e o|e |e|o|ve|y few
wcmen c|oe| non 50 yeo|s. wcmen cf |ess non 30 yeo|s c|o |ep|esen o
s|gn|f|con po| o n||o cf ne pe|scnsJ.
Mc|e non no|f cf nese wcmen ||ve o|cne, wnene| ney o|e unmo|||eo,
sepo|oeo c| o|vc|ceo. 44% o|e mo|||eo c| ||ve w|n o po|ne|, 45% nove
cn||o|en.
ne|| |eve| cf suo|es |s ve|y o|ve|se. 21% |ef o cc||ege c| ofe| eo||y
scncc||ng, 13% ofe| seccnoo|y scncc|. 42% wen cn c n|gne| suo|es.
Mc|e non no|f ne wcmen o|e |mm|g|ons. Mony cf nem nove oocpeo
||encn no|cno||y. 37% ccme f|cm ne /f||con ccn|nen, 14% f|cm o
Eu|cpeon ccun|y. /mcngs ne ||encn 37%J 13% ccme f|cm ne ||encn
cve|seos oepo|mens ono e|||c||es.
Mc|e non e|gn wcmen cu cf en o|e unemp|cyeo ono o|e |eg|se|eo o
ne /NPE. /mcng nem, opp|cx|moe|y no|f cf nem nove ceen
unemp|cyeo fc| |ess non o yeo|. 14% nove |nccme suppc|.
Chorocter|st|cs
Chorocter|st|cs
84% cf ccmpony c|eo|cns o|e |n ne se|v|ce |nous||es: |n |ooe 38% cf
c|eo|cnsJ, |n ne nce| |ooe 13%J ono se|v|ces fc| cus|ness ono
ncusenc|os 33%J.
nese f|e|os |equ||e mc|e |e|o|cno| ono use|-f||eno||ness.
wcmen oeve|cp o cee| |e|o|cno| newc||.
Ccmpon|es o|e smo||e|, w|n |ess emp|cyees ono |cwe| u|ncve|: usuo||y
smo|| ono meo|um s|zeo ccmpon|es
ne|| ||fespon |s |cnge| non no cf ne ccmpon|es c|eoeo cy men.
2
Annex 1 - Dissemination - Female Enterprises in Ile de France
ne mc|vo|ng fc|ce cen|no wcmen c|eo|ng ne|| cwn cus|ness |s

|noepenoence ono ne neeo c |eccnc||e p|cfess|cno| ono fom||y ||fe.
C|eo|ng cne's cwn ccmpony |s o |eo| cp|cn fc| wcmen:
fc| 1 cu cf 3 cy cnc|ce
fc| 1 cu cf 4 on cppc|un|y
c so| w|n ne|e |s on equo| oes||e c se up cne's cwn ccmpony o|ncugn
wcmen occcun fc| cn|y 30%. nus, wcmen |n cus|ness |ep|esens o g|eo
pcen|o|. ne eccncmy neeos o|ve|s|y ono mus |eccgn|ze ono oeve|cp
n|s o|ffe|ence.
F|nonc|o| Meosures
F|nonc|o| Meosures
/ Guo|onee |uno cn wcmen's |n||o|ve
|c| o|| ccmpon|es fc| wn|cn ne |espcns|c|||y |s ossumeo cy wcmen
wnoeve| ne|| |ego| fc|m ono ne|| c|oncn cf |nous|y.
|nfc|mo|cn ono nc|o|ng cf f||es:
De|ego|cn |D| fc| wcmen's ||gns ono equo||y De|ego|cn |D| oux D|c|s
oes |emmes e |'ego||e.J
|R|ED Eu|cpe
|cco| sov|ngs c|ucs fc| wcmen |n cus|ness
/ov|ce, fc||cw-up . R/C|NES
|/NS
/D|E
||once |n||o|ves Reseou ||once |n||o|ves newc||J
En|ep|eno|e |eoe|o|cn cf ne osscc|o|cns cf neoos cf ccmpon|esJ
C|go|es C|uc o'|nves|sseu|s pcu| une Ges|cn /|e|no|ve e |cco|eJ
2
Orgon|zot|ons
Orgon|zot|ons
/D|E|
C|D||
|emmes e en|ep||ses wcmen & ccmpon|esJ
ff|ce Reg|cno| oe fc|mo|cn e oe |c|mo||es pcu| |es p|cfess|cns
||ce|o|es Reg|cno| cff|ce cf |o|n|ng ono fc|mo|||es fc| ||ce|o| p|cfess|cnsJ
Bcu|ques oe ges|cn Bus|ness ccnsu|onc|esJ
C/P En|ep||se
8t|mu|ot|ng Fntrepreneursh|p
8t|mu|ot|ng Fntrepreneursh|p
Meosu|es w||| ce o|en c |nc|eose ocn|evemens ono expe||ences:
cy se|ng up o no|cno| ono Eu|cpeon compo|gn cf ccmmun|co|cn
o|m|ng c p|cmce en|ep|eneu|sn|p omcngs ycung pecp|e
c mo|e |ncwn ono oeve|cp gcco en|ep|eneu||o| p|oc|ces ou||ng
seccnoo|y eouco|cn
c mcc|||se ne occ|s |n eouco|cn c fovcu| ne c|eo|cn cf cus|nesses
Bes|oes |eouc|ng scc|o| ccn||cu|cns ono s|mp|e| f|sco| meosu|es
espec|o||y fc| smo|| ono meo|um s|zeo ccmpon|es, o ccns|oe|oc|e effc|
nos ceen mooe c ccns|oe|oc|y |eouce ccn||cu|cns. ve| ne nex f|ve
yeo|s nese |eouc|cns w||| omcun c scme c||||cn eu|cs.
/|| cf nese meosu|es sncu|o o||ec|y |mpoc ono |nc|eose cy mc|e no ,5
pc cn ove|oge ne cuy|ng pcwe| cf m|n|mum so|o||es.
2
Part 4 - Annexes
Corporate Social Responsibility
Corporote 8oc|o| kespons|b|||ty Corporote Corporote 8oc|o| kespons|b|||ty 8oc|o| kespons|b|||ty
|ntroduct|on
|ntroduct|on
Cc|pc|oe Scc|o| Respcns|c|||y |s essen|o||y o ccncep wne|ecy ccmpon|es
oec|oe vc|uno|||y c ccn||cue c o cee| scc|ey ono o c|eone|
env||cnmen.
Mony focc|s o|e o||v|ng n|s mcve cwo|os cc|pc|oe scc|o| |espcns|c|||y:
new ccnce|ns ono expeco|cns f|cm c||zens, ccnsume|s, puc||c
ounc|||es ono |nvesc|s |n ne ccnex cf g|cco||so|cn ono |o|ge sco|e
|nous||o| cnonge,
scc|o| c||e||o o|e |nc|eos|ng|y |nf|uenc|ng ne |nvesmen oec|s|cns cf
|no|v|ouo|s ono |ns|u|cns ccn os ccnsume|s ono os |nvesc|s,
|nc|eoseo ccnce|n occu ne oomoge couseo cy eccncm|c oc|v|y c
ne env||cnmen,
|onspo|ency cf cus|ness oc|v||es c|cugn occu cy ne meo|o ono
mcoe|n |nfc|mo|cn ono ccmmun|co|cn ecnnc|cg|es.
2
8us|ness ond C8k
8us|ness ond C8k
/s ccmpon|es nemse|ves foce ne cno||enges cf o cnong|ng env||cnmen
|n ne ccnex cf g|cco||so|cn ono |n po||cu|o| ne |ne|no| Mo||e, ney o|e
|nc|eos|ng|y owo|e no cc|pc|oe scc|o| |espcns|c|||y con ce cf o||ec
eccncm|c vo|ue.
/|ncugn ne p||me |espcns|c|||y cf o ccmpony |s gene|o|ng p|cf|s,
ccmpon|es con o ne some |me ccn||cue c scc|o| ono env||cnmeno|
ccjec|ves, n|cugn |neg|o|ng cc|pc|oe scc|o| |espcns|c|||y os o s|oeg|c
|nvesmen |nc ne|| cc|e cus|ness s|oegy, ne|| monogemen |ns|umens
ono ne|| cpe|o|cns.
Ihe Furopeon Context
Ihe Furopeon Context
/ ne Eu|cpeon |eve|, ne cno||enge |s occu ncw cc|pc|oe scc|o|
|espcns|c|||y con ccn||cue c ne ||sccn gco| cf cu||o|ng o oynom|c,
ccmpe||ve ono ccnes|ve |ncw|eoge-coseo eccncmy. |n ooo||cn, ne
Eu|cpeon Summ| |n N|ce |nv|eo ne Ccmm|ss|cn c |nvc|ve ccmpon|es |n
o po|ne|sn|p w|n ne scc|o| po|ne|s, NGs, |cco| ounc|||es ono cco|es
no monoge scc|o| se|v|ces, sc os c s|engnen ne|| scc|o| |espcns|c|||y.
ne mo|n ccn||cu|cn cf o Eu|cpeon opp|cocn w||| ce c ccmp|emen ono
ooo vo|ue c ex|s|ng oc|v||es cy:
p|cv|o|ng on cve|o|| Eu|cpeon f|omewc||, o|m|ng o p|cmc|ng quo||y
ono ccne|ence cf cc|pc|oe scc|o| |espcns|c|||y p|oc|ces, n|cugn
oeve|cp|ng c|coo p||nc|p|es, opp|cocnes ono cc|s, ono p|cmc|ng ces
p|oc|ce ono |nncvo|ve |oeos,
suppc||ng ces p|oc|ce opp|cocnes c ccs-effec|ve evo|uo|cn ono
|noepenoen ve||f|co|cn cf cc|pc|oe scc|o| |espcns|c|||y p|oc|ces,
ne|ecy ensu||ng ne|| effec|veness ono c|eo|c|||y.
2
Annex 1 - Dissemination - Corporate Social Responsability
Ihe |nternot|ono| Context
Ihe |nternot|ono| Context
/ ne |ne|no|cno| |eve|, o Eu|cpeon opp|cocn c cc|pc|oe scc|o|
|espcns|c|||y mus nus |ef|ec ono ce |neg|oeo |n ne c|cooe| ccnex cf
vo||cus |ne|no|cno| |n||o|ves, sucn os ne uN G|cco| Ccmpoc 2000J, ne
|ne|no|cno| |occu| |gon|so|cn ||'sJ ||po||e Dec|o|o|cn cf P||nc|p|es
ccnce|n|ng Mu||no|cno| Ene|p||ses ono Scc|o| Pc||cy 177/2000J, ne
|gon|so|cn fc| Eccncm|c Cccpe|o|cn ono Deve|cpmen ECDJ
Gu|oe||nes fc| Mu||no|cno| Ene|p||ses 2000J.
wn||e nese |n||o|ves o|e nc |ego||y c|no|ng, |n ne cose cf ne ECD
gu|oe||nes ney cenef| f|cm ne ccmm|men cf oone||ng gcve|nmens c
p|cmce ne|| ocuo| ccse|vonce cy cus|ness. ne Eu|cpeon Ccmm|ss|cn |s
ccmm|eo c ne oc|ve p|cmc|cn cf ne ECD gu|oe||nes.
cse|vonce cf ne cc|e || |occu| sonoo|os f|eeocm cf osscc|o|cn,
occ|||cn cf fc|ceo |occu|, ncn-o|sc||m|no|cn ono e||m|no|cn cf cn||o
|occu|J |s cen|o| c cc|pc|oe scc|o| |espcns|c|||y, ne|| mcn|c||ng ono
ccmp||once sncu|o ce s|engneneo.
A C8k Def|n|t|on
A C8k Def|n|t|on
Mcs oef|n||cns cf cc|pc|oe scc|o| |espcns|c|||y oesc||ce | os o ccncep
wne|ecy ccmpon|es |neg|oe scc|o| ono env||cnmeno| ccnce|ns |n ne||
cus|ness cpe|o|cns ono |n ne|| |ne|oc|cn w|n ne|| so|enc|oe|s cn o
vc|uno|y cos|s.
Be|ng scc|o||y |espcns|c|e meons nc cn|y fu|f||||ng |ego| expeco|cns, cu
o|sc gc|ng ceycno ccmp||once ono |nves|ng `mc|e' |nc numon cop|o|,
ne env||cnmen ono ne |e|o|cns w|n so|enc|oe|s. | cpens o woy cf
monog|ng cnonge ono cf |eccnc|||ng scc|o| oeve|cpmen w|n |mp|cveo
ccmpe||veness.
/ numce| cf ccmpon|es w|n gcco scc|o| ono env||cnmeno| |ecc|os
|no|coe no nese oc|v||es con |esu| |n cee| pe|fc|monce ono con
gene|oe mc|e p|cf|s ono g|cwn.
0
Ihe |nterno| D|mens|on
Ihe |nterno| D|mens|on
w|n|n ne ccmpony, scc|o||y |espcns|c|e p|oc|ces p||mo|||y |nvc|ve
emp|cyees ono |e|oe c |ssues sucn os |nves|ng |n numon cop|o|, neo|n
ono sofey, ono monog|ng cnonge, wn||e env||cnmeno||y |espcns|c|e
p|oc|ces |e|oe mo|n|y c ne monogemen cf nou|o| |escu|ces useo |n
ne p|couc|cn. ney cpen o woy cf monog|ng cnonge ono |eccnc|||ng
scc|o| oeve|cpmen w|n |mp|cveo ccmpe||veness.
| nos o||ec |mp||co|cns cn:
umon |escu|ces monogemen
eo|n ono sofey o wc||
/oopo|cn c cnonge
Monogemen cf env||cnmeno| |mpocs ono numon |escu|ces
Pumon kesources Monogement
Pumon kesources Monogement
CSR |n numon |escu|ces monogemen ccu|o |nc|uoe ||fe|cng |eo|n|ng,
empcwe|men cf emp|cyees, cee| |nfc|mo|cn n|cugncu ne ccmpony,
cee| co|once ceween wc||, fom||y, ono |e|su|e, g|eoe| wc|| fc|ce
o|ve|s|y, equo| poy ono co|ee| p|cspecs fc| wcmen, p|cf|-sno||ng ono
sno|e cwne|sn|p scnemes, ono ccnce|n fc| emp|cyoc|||y os we|| os jcc
secu||y.
Respcns|c|e |ec|u|men p|oc|ces, |nvc|v|ng |n po||cu|o| ncn-o|sc||m|noc|y
p|oc|ces, ccu|o foc|||oe ne |ec|u|men cf pecp|e f|cm enn|c m|nc|||es,
c|oe| wc||e|s, wcmen ono ne |cng-e|m unemp|cyeo ono pecp|e o
o|soovonoge.
Sucn p|oc|ces o|e essen|o| |n |e|o|cn c ocn|ev|ng ne Eu|cpeon
Emp|cymen S|oegy ccjec|ves cf |eouc|ng unemp|cymen, |o|s|ng ne
emp|cymen |oe, ono f|gn|ng ogo|ns scc|o| exc|us|cn.
Peo|th ond 8ofety ot Work

Peo|th ond 8ofety ot Work
Ccmpon|es, gcve|nmens ono secc| c|gon|so|cns o|e |nc|eos|ng|y |cc||ng
o ooo||cno| woys cf p|cmc|ng neo|n ono sofey, cy us|ng nem os o
c||e||o |n p|ccu||ng p|coucs ono se|v|ces f|cm cne| ccmpon|es ono os o
mo||e|ng e|emen fc| p|cmc|ng ne|| p|coucs c| se|v|ces.
ccupo|cno| sofey ono neo|n c||e||o nove ceen |nc|uoeo c vo|y|ng
oeg|ees |nc ex|s|ng ce||f|co|cn scnemes ono |oce|||ng scnemes fc|
p|coucs ono equ|pmen. Ce||f|co|cn scnemes cf monogemen sysems
ono succcn|occ|s fccus|ng p||mo|||y cn cccupo|cno| sofey ono neo|n
nove o|sc ceen |ouncneo.
Adoptot|on to Chonge
Adoptot|on to Chonge
Res|ucu||ng |n o scc|o||y |espcns|c|e monne| meons c co|once ono o|e
|nc ccns|oe|o|cn ne |ne|ess ono ccnce|ns cf o|| ncse wnc o|e offeceo
cy ne cnonges ono oec|s|cns.
|n po||cu|o|, n|s |nvc|ves see||ng ne po||c|po|cn ono |nvc|vemen cf
ncse offeceo n|cugn cpen |nfc|mo|cn ono ccnsu|o|cn. |u|ne|mc|e,
|es|ucu||ng neeos c ce we|| p|epo|eo cy |oen|fy|ng mojc| ||s|s,
co|cu|o|ng o|| ne ccss, ccn o||ec ono |no||ec, osscc|oeo w|n
o|e|no|ve s|oeg|es ono pc||c|es, ono evo|uo|ng o|| cf ne o|e|no|ves
wn|cn wcu|o |eouce ne neeo fc| |eounoonc|es.
By engog|ng |n |cco| oeve|cpmen ono oc|ve |occu| mo||e s|oeg|es
n|cugn |nvc|vemen |n |cco| emp|cymen ono/c| scc|o| |nc|us|cn
po|ne|sn|ps, ccmpon|es con |essen ne scc|o| ono |cco| |mpoc cf |o|ge
sco|e |es|ucu||ng.
2
Fnv|ronmento| |mpoct
Fnv|ronmento| |mpoct
|n gene|o|, |eouc|ng ne ccnsump|cn cf |escu|ces c| |eouc|ng pc||u|ng
em|ss|cns ono wose con |eouce env||cnmeno| |mpoc.
Env||cnmeno| |nvesmens o|e nc|mo||y |efe||eo c os `w|n-w|n' cppc|un||es
gcco fc| cus|ness ono gcco fc| ne env||cnmen. n|s p||nc|p|e nos ceen
esoc||sneo fc| o numce| cf yeo|s, ono wos mcs |ecen|y |eccgn|seo |n ne
Ccmm|ss|cn's s|xn env||cnmen oc|cn p|cg|omme.
| exp|o|ns ncw ne Eu|cpeon un|cn ono Memce| Soe gcve|nmens con
fu|f|| ne|| |c|e c ne|p cus|ness c |oen|fy mo||e cppc|un||es ono
unoe|o|e `w|n-w|n' |nvesmens. | se cu o numce| cf cne| meosu|es
o|meo o cus|ness: esoc||snmen cf o ccmp||once oss|sonce p|cg|omme
c ne|p cus|ness unoe|sono Eu|cpeon Ccmmun|y env||cnmeno|
|equ||emens, oeve|cpmen cf no|cno|, cu no|mcn|seo, ccmpony
env||cnmeno| pe|fc|monce |ewo|o scnemes no |oen|fy ono |ewo|o
gcco pe|fc|me|s ono enccu|og|ng vc|uno|y ccmm|mens ono
og|eemens.
Ihe Fxterno| D|mens|on
Ihe Fxterno| D|mens|on
Cc|pc|oe scc|o| |espcns|c|||y exenos ceycno ne occ|s cf ne ccmpony
|nc ne |cco| ccmmun|y ono |nvc|ves o w|oe |onge cf so|enc|oe|s |n
ooo||cn c emp|cyees ono sno|enc|oe|s: cus|ness po|ne|s ono supp||e|s,
cuscme|s, puc||c ounc|||es ono NGs |ep|esen|ng |cco| ccmmun||es, os
we|| os ne env||cnmen.
| nos o||ec |mp||co|cns cn:
|cco| ccmmun||es
Bus|ness supp||e|s ono ccnsume|s
umon ||gns
G|cco| env||cnmen
|oco| Commun|t|es
|oco| Commun|t|es
Ccmpon|es ccn||cue c ne|| ccmmun||es, espec|o||y c |cco|
ccmmun||es, cy p|cv|o|ng jccs, woges ono cenef|s, ono ox |evenues. n
ne cne| nono, ccmpon|es oepeno cn ne neo|n, soc|||y, ono p|cspe||y
cf ne ccmmun||es |n wn|cn ney cpe|oe.
Mony ccmpon|es ceccme |nvc|veo |n ccmmun|y couses, ncoc|y cy
meons cf p|cv|s|cn cf ooo||cno| vcco|cno| |o|n|ng p|oces, oss|s|ng
env||cnmeno| cno|||es, |ec|u|men cf scc|o||y exc|uoeo pecp|e, p|cv|s|cn
cf cn||oco|e foc||||es fc| emp|cyees, po|ne|sn|ps w|n ccmmun||es,
spcnsc||ng cf |cco| spc|s ono cu|u|o| evens c| ocno|cns c cno||oc|e
oc|v||es. ccmpon|es |nc|eos|ng|y use nese |e|o|cns c suppc| ne
|neg|o|cn cf ne|| off|||oes |nc vo||cus mo||es |n wn|cn ney o|e p|esen.
ne fom|||o||y cf ccmpon|es w|n ne |cco| occ|s, ne |cco| env||cnmen
|oo||cns ono s|engns |s on osse f|cm wn|cn ney con cop|o||se.
8us|ness Portners 8 Consumers
8us|ness Portners 8 Consumers
|o|ge ccmpon|es o|e o ne some |me cus|ness po|ne|s cf ne smo||e|
cnes, ce | os ne|| cuscme|s, supp||e|s, succcn|occ|s c| ccmpe|c|s.
Ccmpon|es sncu|o ce owo|e no ne|| scc|o| pe|fc|monce con ce
offeceo os o |esu| cf ne p|oc|ces cf ne|| po|ne|s ono supp||e|s
n|cugncu ne wnc|e supp|y cno|n. ne effec cf cc|pc|oe scc|o|
|espcns|c|||y oc|v||es w||| nc |emo|n ||m|eo c ne ccmpony |se|f, cu w|||
o|sc cucn upcn ne|| eccncm|c po|ne|s.
Scme |o|ge ccmpon|es oemcns|oe cc|pc|oe scc|o| |espcns|c|||y cy
p|cmc|ng en|ep|eneu||o| |n||o|ves |n ne |eg|cn cf ne|| |cco|cn. Exomp|es
fc| sucn p|oc|ces |nc|uoe menc||ng scnemes cffe|eo cy |o|ge ccmpon|es
c so|-ups ono |cco| SMEs, c| oss|sonce c smo||e| f||ms cn scc|o| |epc||ng
ono ccmmun|co|cn cf ne|| cc|pc|oe scc|o| |espcns|c|||y oc|v||es.
Cc|pc|oe venu||ng ccns|ues o fu|ne| woy fc| |o|ge ccmpon|es c
foc|||oe ne oeve|cpmen cf new |nncvo|ve ene|p||ses. Cc|pc|oe
venu||ng meons no ne |o|ge ene|p||se o|es o m|nc||y so|e |n o
p|cm|s|ng so|-up ono p|cmces |s oeve|cpmen.
Pumon k|ghts
Pumon k|ghts
unoe| |nc|eos|ng p|essu|e f|cm NGs ono ccnsume| g|cups, ccmpon|es
ono secc|s o|e |nc|eos|ng|y oocp|ng ccoes cf ccnouc ccve||ng wc|||ng
ccno||cns, numon ||gns ono env||cnmeno| ospecs, |n po||cu|o| ncse cf
ne|| succcn|occ|s ono supp||e|s.
Ccoes cf ccnouc sncu|o ce opp||eo o eve|y |eve| cf ne c|gon|so|cn ono
p|couc|cn ||ne. |u|| o|sc|csu|e cf |nfc|mo|cn cy ccmpon|es |s |mpc|on,
|nc|uo|ng c |cco| ccmmun||es, os po| cf on cngc|ng o|o|cgue w|n nem.
|o|n|ng fc| |cco| monogemen, wc||e|s ono ccmmun||es cn
|mp|emeno|cn |s equo||y |mpc|on. |u|ne|mc|e, ne empnos|s mus ce
cn o `oeve|cpmeno| opp|cocn' cne wn|cn s|esses ccn|nu|ng g|oouo|
|mp|cvemens c sonoo|os, ono c ne ccoe |se|f. |n ne cose cf cn||o
|occu|, ccmpon|es sncu|o nc jus |espec ne |ee| cf ne || ccnven|cns
cy o|sm|ss|ng ccn|occ|s wnc use cn||o |occu|, cu sncu|o o|sc, fc|
exomp|e, ne|p c oc||e cn||o pcve|y cy oss|s|ng cn||o|en |nc eouco|cn.
G|obo| Fnv|ronment
G|obo| Fnv|ronment
n|cugn ne |onsccunoo|y effec cf mony cus|ness-|e|oeo env||cnmeno|
p|cc|ems, ono ne|| ccnsump|cn cf |escu|ces f|cm oc|css ne wc||o,
ccmpon|es o|e o|sc occ|s |n ne g|cco| env||cnmen. ney con ne|efc|e
pu|sue scc|o| |espcns|c|||y |ne|no|cno||y os we|| os |n Eu|cpe.
8A 8000 8tondord
8A 8000 8tondord
Mojc| |ne|no|cno| |n||o|ves o|e fccus|ng cn ne g|cco||so|cn cf scc|o|
sonoo|os, puc||c o|sc|csu|e cf |nfc|mo|cn ono ne oeve|cpmen cf scc|o|
|epc|s, no |s, ne Scc|o| /cccunoc|||y 8000 sonoo|o ono ne G|cco|
Repc||ng |n||o|ve.
Scc|o| /cccunoc|||y |ne|no|cno| S/|J nos oeve|cpeo o sonoo|o fc|
|occu| ccno||cns ono o sysem fc| |noepenoen|y ve||fy|ng focc||es'
ccmp||once. ne sonoo|o, Scc|o| /cccunoc|||y 8000 S/8000J ono |s
ve||f|co|cn sysem o|ow f|cm esoc||sneo cus|ness s|oeg|es fc| ensu||ng
quo||y sucn os ncse useo fc| |S 000J ono ooo seve|o| e|emens no
|ne|no|cno| numon ||gns expe|s nove |oen|f|eo os ce|ng essen|o| c
scc|o| ouo||ng.
Mainstreaming is defined as a proc-

ess which enables activities to impact
on policy and practice. This process
includes identifying lessons, clarify-
ing the innovative approach that pro-
ducedtheresults,theirdissemination,
validationandtransfer.Itgoesbeyond
dissemination since it represents the
phaseoftransferandthewayinwhich
other actors take account of the re-
sults, approaches and key elements
elaboratedbytheDPs.
Toprofitablytransferlessonslearned
andbestpracticesidentifiedalongthe
twoyearsofactivityaswellastoshare
informationandraiseawarenessofthe
workcarriedoutbytheDPsmembers
and of the results achieved, the tran-
snational working group organized
differentworkshopsandmeetingsad-
dressed both to national partners of
theProjectandtoexternalaudiences
(local and public authorities, social
operators,beneficiaries).
Workshops revealed to be not only
an effective way to share expertise
and experiences through network-
ing and to present tangible outcomes
and products but also a concrete op-
portunity to validate the innovative
sharedmodelidentifiedbythework-
inggroupthroughaprocessofmutual
empowerment which involved both
the DP members and the audience.
Participants were directly stimulated
andaskedtoprovidesuggestionsand
inputs on the basis of their personal
Annexes
Annex 2 - Mainstreaming
and working experience with the ex-

pressed objective of testing the sus-
tainabilityandthetransferabilityofthe
theoreticalmodelfromtheprojectto
practice.
Hereunder the speeches delivered
during a workshop held in Sviluppo
Lazio premises are reported to pro-
vide a clear example of the dissemi-
nation and mainstreaming activities
carriedout.
betWeen WelFaRe
and MaRket
byStefanoMarturini
The Equal Project District Valley ac-
tuallycomprisestwoprojects:asecto-
rialoneandageographicalone.The
subject is the same for both projects:
the strengthening and the develop-
ment of social cooperation. In the
methodology we have chosen, we
deemedusefultohaveaninteraction
between the projects to finalize them
towardoneofthecommonobjectives
of all communitarian projects, which
ismainstreaming.Consideringallthe
communitarian initiatives in the last
fifteenyearssoalsothosepreceding
Equalsitisclearhowoneofthecru-
cialelementsisthemainstreamingof
theactionsrealized.Anumberofab-
solutelyextraordinaryprojectswerein
factrealized,whichleadtoagreatin-
novationintheirsectorofpertinence
(which fundamentally was support
of disadvantaged people) but in the
majority of cases they remained pilot
experiences, exemplar cases which
never succeeded in translating in a
realinstitutionalcultureofservices.
Equal tried to adopt a different ap-
proach: each project in order to be
eligible had to present as a formal-
ized partnership between public and
private,thisasastructuralelementto
realizeaneffectivemainstreamingand
therefore to systemize the outcomes
producedbytheinterventions.Never-
thelessfirstresultsshowusthatalsoin
this case mainstreaming is not work-
ingbothatnationalleveland,evento
a larger extent, at transnational level.
Bearing in mind this problem, for
these projects, we tried at least to es-
tablishastrongrelationbetweenthem
to realize a horizontal mainstreaming
betweenthetwoinitiatives.
Duetoproblemsoccurredinthestart-
up phase, related with the change of
somepartners,wehadtorevisesome
actionsandredefinetheproject,reject-
ing from the very beginning the idea
of difficult and complicated attempts
of carrying out a quantitative analysis
ofthephenomenonunderexam,that
isthesocialcooperation.Wedeemed
interesting to set up a research since
it is important to gather information
onasector,thesocialone,whichfor
itsnatureisextremelyheterogeneous
andcomplextobeclassifiedinterms
ofstructuresandmodels.
Ourresearchthereforefocuseditsob-
jectivesandcontentsonsomeimpor-
tantissuespertainingsocialsectorand
socialcooperation,inparticular.
The first subject we analyzed con-
cerned the organizational models. A
social cooperative is and must be an
enterprise from the economic point
ofview,meaningthatithastobesus-
tainable, since, if not sustainable, it
wouldfailinreachingitsgoals,thatis
job integration of disadvantaged peo-
ple. Sustainability should therefore
imply that a social cooperative is an
enterprise able to act in the competi-
tive market and as a consequence it
should be structured according those
organizationalmodelssuitableforany
enterprise in order to be entrepre-
neurially successful. But it does not
work like this for social cooperatives
duetotheirintrinsicnaturesincetheir
roots and their strength certainly do
notlayintheeconomicandentrepre-
neurialculture:theystartfromdiffer-
entassumptionsandpresentveryhet-
erogeneous structures. Our research
tried to identify these organizational
mechanisms,whichareoftenimplicit
andspontaneous,bycarryingoutboth
adeskanalysisandafeedoneinorder
tohavethemstructuredandtoevalu-
atehow social enterprises(andsocial
cooperatives in particular) interpret
andusethesedifferentmodels.
Asecondissuewasrelatedwithsocial
entrepreneurs competences. Social
entrepreneursareentrepreneursinall
respectsbutinthemeantimetheyare
alsonon-entrepreneursinallrespects,
sincetheypossessdifferentandcom-
plementarycompetences.Aswehave
alreadystated,itistruethatthesocial
cooperation is enterprise but despite
this social entrepreneurs compe-
tences are not exactly like those be-
longingtotraditionalentrepreneurs
since he requires some qualities and
competences, often transversal ones,
which are peculiar of social enter-
prises. It exists therefore a synthesis
of competences which mix relational
competences and traditionally entre-
preneurial ones. We tried to under-
standinthisheterogeneousuniverseif
itwerepossibletoidentifysometrans-
versalandhorizontalcharacteristicsto
elaborate a training profile for social
entrepreneurs.
A third point refers to the access to
credit. Here I do not believe I have
to spend many words mentioning all
those situations almost ever rich in
human capital but scarce in material
andfinancialresourcesandwithpoor
guarantees.Anditisnotonlyduetoa
resistanceofcreditoperatorsinfront
ofweakenterprises,associalcoopera-
tivesare,butitalsodependsbyalack
of consciousness of the social entre-
preneurs in terms of credit needs in
ordertocarryouttheiractivities.
A further theme of research referred
to spin-off models. We started con-
sidering the so-called Biagi Law and
in particular its article 14, related to
Law 68/99 (Law on Mandatory Em-
ploymentofDisabledPeople).Article
14envisagesthepossibilityforanen-
terprisetopaytoasocialcooperative
thesalaryofthedisabledpersonthat
0
shouldhavebeenemployedtorespect
thetermsofthelawintermsoftraining
pathandcompetencesprovisiontobe
lateremployedintheenterprise.This
articleisextremelycontroversialboth
for associations and labour unions
which debate on its opportunity and
correctness, with serious motivations
on both sides. We tried to examine
theproblemwithoutbeinginvolvedin
this quarrel, not focusinga literal ob-
servance of article 14 (that is for the
enterprise to employ a disabled per-
son, to put him in a cooperative and
payforhissalaryandcosts)butthink-
ingtothepossibilityfortheenterprise
to externalize part of its productive
activities according a spin-off model,
through the establishment of a new
enterpriseand obtaining the result to
have more disadvantaged people in-
serted in a productive system and to
providemoreopportunitiesofgrowth
for social cooperation. We tried to
understand how spin-off phenomena
impact on the entrepreneurial world
andwediscoveredthatinItalyaround
70% of the new firms originate from
spin-off.
Lastpartoftheresearchwasmorefo-
cusedonLazioRegion,whichmeans
onaspecificterritoryofanalysis,and
referred to still existing problems af-
fecting social cooperation, which we
triedtosolveoratleasttoopenadis-
cussion, through focus-groups, to or-
ganize services really able to provide
answersandsupporttotheidentified
needs.
Outputs of both projects are train-
ingproducts:onceunderstoodwhich
the organizational models are and to
have them explicit and identified the
typicalprofessionalprofileofasocial
entrepreneur,weelaboratedatraining
path that those working in the social
cooperation sector might easily use.
Theothertrainingproposal(currently
implemented)gathersthesocialoper-
atorsandbankingoperatorsinajoint
training action to stimulate a mutual
knowledgeandfostertheovercoming
ofsomeexistingmisunderstandingsin
order to establish a different relation
betweensocialcooperationandfinan-
cialsphere.
Testingatnationallevelwillbecarried
outinFolignowiththedirectinvolve-
mentoftheCouncillorshipforSocial
Affairs. The other subject, also rel-
evant, is in fact related with Law 328
whichenvisagestheplanningforgeo-
graphicterritories,definedasdistricts,
ofallsocialandsupportservices.The
lawallowstheprovisionofprecisean-
swerstospecificneedsdirectlyidenti-
fied and evidenced by disadvantaged
people.Inouropinion,aswestatedat
the very beginning during the project
planning,thelawitselfisgenialbutin
itsimplementationsomethingismiss-
ing. What is missing? The entrepre-
neurialworldismissing.Ifwearenot
able to create a link between social
policies and local development poli-
cies and those dealing with social in-
clusion,therewillalwaysbesomething
lagging behind and precisely those
people willing to become part of the

labour market and their valorisation,
thatisjobinsertionpolicies.Therewe
realized the so-called districts of the
socialeconomy,insertingourtraining
path in regional policies. Why? Be-
cause we would have wanted, at least
once,toconcretizethemainstreaming
processbysupportinganinstitutional
initiative, already strong and real, but
unfortunatelyregionaltimingdoesnot
correspond to project timing. So we
realized our B plan: an alliance with
a consortium of social cooperatives
(COIN) widespread at national level
and comprising almost 70 of them
and realize with them this joint train-
ing activity on the contents already
mentioned.
Idobelievethatthethirdsectorrep-
resents a new and innovative model
of development. There are a lot of
thing at political and cultural level
thatcanconfirmthisassumption.We
have to remember some steps that
determined real changes and epis-
temological break-ups in psychiatry,
where everything started, that is its
de-institutionalization. By consider-
ingthisprocessthreestepshavetobe
underlined. First step occurred when
a subside was given to patients: from
simplebeneficiariesofaservice,they
weregiventhepossibilitytopayforit
and therefore they became consum-
ers,peoplethatinasortofextentare
part of the economic mechanisms.
Secondstep was determined by their
inclusioninthelabourmarket,where
they were transformed in producers,
or,evenbetter,inworkersthusreally
involvedinthecommunitylife.These
twostepsrequiredyearsbeforebeing
realized and lead to a change and an
improvementalsoforsocialoperators
whohadtomanagethejobinclusion
of these disadvantaged people. This
process brought to a correspond-
ent development of organizational
models: from simple mechanisms of
welfare (subsidies) we went through
the so-called community welfare
(networks). Now, and it the last step
tobeachieved,throughthesocialco-
operation, we have to realize a real
workfare.
Why can social cooperation be con-
sideredamodelofdevelopment?Be-
cause, out of the persisting problems
tobefaced,socialcooperationisable
toconjugateinthemeantimeproduc-
tive mechanisms and welfare. Today
inItalyitrepresentsaround5%ofthe
Gross National Product, 6% in the
United States. If politicians and en-
trepreneurswillbeabletounderstand
the potential of social cooperation,
thinking in strategic terms and not in
tacticalones,thenitisrealisticbelieve
thatthethirdsectorcouldrepresenta
newmodelofdevelopment.
tRa Stato e MeRcato
diStefanoMarturini
Il Progetto Equal District Valley in
realt composto da due progetti:
2
uno di carattere settoriale e uno di
carattere geografico. Il tema trattato
lo stesso per entrambi i progetti: il
rafforzamentoelosviluppodellacoo-
perazione sociale. Nella metodologia
sceltaabbiamoritenutoopportunofar
interagireiprogettitradilorofinaliz-
zandoliaquellocheunodegliobiet-
tivi pi importanti, comune a tutti i
progetticomunitari,ilmainstreaming.
Considerando le iniziative comunita-
rie degli ultimi quindici anni, quindi
anche quelle precedenti agli Equal,
si evince come uno degli elementi
cruciali sia la messa a mainstreaming
delle azioni realizzate. Sono, infatti,
statirealizzatinumerosiprogettiasso-
lutamentestraordinarichehannorin-
novatomoltoallinternodelsettoredi
cuisioccupavano,fondamentalmente
dellaiuto alle fasce deboli, sia in ter-
minidiaiutodirettochediinterventi
di sistema, ma nella maggioranza dei
casi sono rimasti esperienze pilota,
casiesemplarichenonsonomairiu-
scitiatradursidavveroinunacultura
istituzionalediservizi.
Equal ha cercato di adottare un ap-
proccio diverso: ogni progetto per
essere eleggibile doveva presentarsi
come una partnership tra pubblico e
privatoformalizzata,questocomeele-
mentostrutturaleperriuscirearende-
repossibileilmainstreamingequindi
la messa a sistema dei risultati pro-
dotti dagli interventi. I primi risultati
ci dicono per che anche in questo
caso il mainstreaming fallimentare:
loalivellonazionaleeloalivello
transnazionale,forseinmisuraancora
maggiore. Tenendo presente questo
problema,riguardoaidueprogettiin
questione,abbiamocercatoalmenodi
metterli in relazione forte tra di loro
per realizzare quantomeno un main-
streaming di carattere orizzontale tra
ledueiniziative.
Iproblemidiavviodeiprogetti,legati
al cambiamento di alcuni partner, ci
hannoportatoarielaborareleazionie
a reimpostare i progetti scartando fin
dallinizio lidea di difficili e macchi-
nosi tentavi di analisi quantitativa del
fenomenodellacooperazionesociale.
Abbiamopertantopensatodiorganiz-
zare una ricerca perch importante
comunque assumere informazioni su
questo settore che per sua natura
estremamente eterogeneo e sfugge a
classificazionichetendanoastruttura-
reinterminidimodelloquantoviene
fattonelcampodellimpresasocialee
dellacooperazionesocialeinpartico-
lare.
Laricercahaincentratoisuoiobietti-
vi e i suoi contenuti su alcune grandi
tematiche relative alla cooperazione
sociale.
Il primo tema analizzato riguarda i
modelli organizzativi. La cooperativa
sociale unimpresa e deve essere
unimpresa dal punto di vista econo-
mico, ovvero deve essere sostenibile,
perch senza la sostenibilit dellim-
presa,lacooperazionesocialefallisce
neisuoiobiettivichesonoquellidiin-
tegrareallavoropersonechevengono
dallefascedeboli.Lasostenibilitdo-
vrebbe quindi tradursi in unimpresa

capace di stare sul mercato e di con-
seguenza uniformarsi con tutti quei
modelli organizzativi che le imprese
normalmente richiedono per riuscire
ad avere successo imprenditoriale.
Noncosperlanaturadellacoope-
razione sociale: le radici dalle quali
traelasuaforza,laculturadiinterven-
to, non sono certamente nel mondo
economicoedimprenditoriale;parte,
infatti, da presupposti molto diversi
e presenta una struttura molto etero-
genea. La ricerca ha pertanto inteso
identificare quelli che sono i mecca-
nismi organizzativi, anche impliciti,
ovvero quelli che spontaneamente si
realizzano attorno al modello che la
cooperazione sociale sviluppa. La ri-
cerca di questi modelli organizzativi
realizzata sia attraverso unanalisi
dicaratteredeskchedicaratterefeed
miraastrutturarlieavalutareinquale
modolimpresasociale(elecoopera-
tivesocialiinparticolare)siappoggia-
noaquestimodelli.
Un secondo filone di ricerca riguar-
da le competenze dellimprenditore
sociale.Sitrattadiunimprenditorea
tuttiglieffettimaanchediunnon-im-
prenditore a tutti gli effetti, nel senso
cheracchiudeinscompetenzediver-
se.verochelacooperazionesocia-
le impresa ma anche vero che le
competenzedellimprenditoresociale
non si sovrappongono esattamente a
quelle dellimprenditore tradiziona-
le perch richiedono alcune qualit
e alcune competenze, spesso di ca-
rattere trasversale, che sono peculiari
dellimpresa sociale, senza le quali la
cooperazionesocialenonriesceadan-
dareavanti.Cunasintesidicompe-
tenzecheappartienedaunapartealle
competenzedicarattererelazionalee
caratteristiche tipiche dellimprendi-
tore tradizionale. Abbiamo quindi
cercato di capire in questo universo
eterogeneo se era possibile risalire a
delle caratteristiche trasversali e oriz-
zontalicheconsentisserodielaborare
unprofiloformativoperlimprendito-
resociale.
Un terzo punto quello dellaccesso
al credito. In questa sede non credo
di dover spendere tante parole in
termini di accesso al credito menzio-
nando le tante situazioni che sono
quasi sempre a forte capitale umano
e a scarsissimo capitale di altre risor-
se materiali e finanziarie con tutto il
sistemadigaranziechedebole.Non
solo la resistenza del mondo del
credito a fronte di aziende che sono
deboli,sitrattaanche,ragionandosul
mondo delle cooperative sociali, di
unamancataconsapevolezzadaparte
degli operatori sociali di necessit di
creditoperportareavantileattivit.
Unulterioreargomentodiricercaha
riguardato i modelli di spin-off. Sia-
mopartitidaunragionamentomolto
precisochetraeisuoiargomentidalla
Legge Biagi e in particolare dallarti-
colo14dellaLegge,legatoallaLegge
68/99(Leggesulcollocamentoobbli-
gatoriodeidisabili).Secondolartico-
lo14esistelapossibilitperunazien-
dadipagareallacooperativasocialelo
stipendiodellapersonachesisarebbe
dovuta assumere per rispettare lob-
bligointerminidipercorsoformativo
odipreparazioneulterioredicompe-
tenze per lingresso in azienda. un
articoloestremamentecontroversosia
perleassociazionideidisabilicheper
isindacatichedibattonoinmeritosua
opportunitecorrettezza,conmotiva-
zioniseriedaentrambiilati.Abbiamo
pertanto cercato di affrontare la que-
stionecercandodinonentrareinque-
staconflittualitmoltoaccesaconuna
nostraidea,ovverononpensaretanto
adunosservanzaletteraledellarticolo
14 (lazienda prende un disabile, lo
collocainunacooperativasocialeene
pagalostipendioeicostiparcheggian-
dolol)mapiuttostopensandomagari
ad esternalizzare parte delle proprie
attivit produttive secondo modelli
di spin-off, attraverso la costruzione
di una nuova impresa e ottenendo il
risultato di integrare pi persone in
difficoltallinternodiunsistemapro-
duttivoedandomaggioriopportunit
di crescita al mondo della coopera-
zione sociale. Siamo andati a cercare
di capire cosa succede nel mondo
imprenditoriale rispetto ai fenomeni
di spin-off e abbiamo scoperto che il
70%circadelleimpreseinItalianasce
daspin-off.
Lultimaparteunanalisipicentra-
ta sulla Regione Lazio, quindi su un
territoriobenspecificodianalisi,esi
propone di lavorare sui punti critici
della cooperazione sociale, soprattut-
to attraverso focus-groups al fine di
organizzare dei servizi che siano in
grado di dare risposta e sostegno ai
punticriticievidenziati.
Da entrambi i progetti emergonodei
veri e propri prodotti formativi: una
voltachesiamoriuscitiacapirequali
sonoimodelliorganizzativiearender-
liesplicitiecheabbiamoidentificatoil
profilo professionale tipico di un im-
prenditoresociale,abbiamoelaborato
unpacchettoformativoutilizzabileda
colorocheaffrontanoilmondodella
cooperazionesociale.Laltropacchet-
to formativo (attualmente in corso)
riunisceglioperatoridellacooperazio-
nesocialeeglioperatoridelcreditoin
unazione formativa congiunta al fine
distimolarelareciprocaconoscenzae
favorireilsuperamentodialcunedif-
fidenzeemancateconsapevolezzeper
aprireunapartitadiversadelrapporto
tracooperazionesocialeemondodel
credito.
La sperimentazione livello nazionale
sarcondottaaFolignoevedrlapar-
tecipazione diretta dellAssessorato
alle Politiche Sociali. Laltra idea ab-
bastanza importante , infatti, quella
cheattieneallaLegge328chepreve-
delapianificazionesuterritorigeogra-
fici ben definiti in termini di distretti
dituttiiservizisocialiedisostegno.
unaleggecheconsentediindividualiz-
zaresullabasedeibisognievidenziati
dapersonecheappartengonoallefa-
scedeboliiltipodirisposteaibisogni
che vengono colti. Noi abbiamo so-
stenutoancheinsededielaborazione
delprogettochelaLegge328genia-
le ma che nellapplicazione manchi
unpezzo.Qualepezzomanca?Man-
cailpezzodelmondoimprenditoria-
le.Perchsenonsiriescealegaretra
loro le politiche sociali e le politiche
disviluppolocaliediintegrazioneso-
cialeunlavorocherischiasempredi
rimanere monco mancando lultimo
pezzo,quellocheriguardachidevein-
serirsinellavoroelasuavalorizzazio-
ne, ovvero le politiche di inserimen-
to lavorativo. L abbiamo realizzato,
dopoaverinseguitopermesilaRegio-
neLazio,quellichevengonodefinitii
distretti delleconomia solidale, ovve-
roinserireilnostropercorsoformati-
vo allinterno della politica regionale.
Perch? Per rendere una volta tanto
concretoilprocessodimainstreaming
e quindi per finalizzare le risorse e
sostenere una iniziativa istituzionale
giforteegipresentemapurtroppo
itempiregionalinoncoincidonocon
itempidelprogetto.Quindiabbiamo
messoinattoilpianoBchequello
distabilireunalleanzaconunconsor-
ziodicooperativesocialidilivellona-
zionale(COIN)chehaassociatecirca
unasettantinadicooperativesocialie
conlorofacciamoquestaazionecon-
giunta di formazione dei cooperatori
socialisuicontenutidicuiprima.
Ilterzosettoreritengosiaunmodello
di sviluppo nuovo ed innovativo. Ci
sono molte cose di carattere politico
e culturale che mi danno ragione.
Ricordiamo alcuni passaggi che sono
stati vere e proprie rotture epistemo-
logiche nel mondo della psichiatria
da cui tutto partito, ovvero dalla
de-istituzionalizzazione psichiatrica.
Attraversoquestoprocessodisupera-
mento possiamo evidenziare almeno
trepassaggi.Ilprimopassaggiostato
cheagliutentistatariconosciutauna
pensione:dasempliciutentidiunser-
vizio, stato concesso loro di pagar-
loepertantosonostatitrasformatiin
consumatori, in persone che in qual-
chemodosonopartedeimeccanismi
delleconomia. Il secondo passaggio
si avuto quando sono stati integra-
ti attraverso il lavoro, trasformandoli
daconsumatoriaproduttori,o,come
pi corretto dire, a lavoratori che
quindiapienotitolo partecipanoalla
vita della collettivit. Questi due pas-
saggi hanno richiesto anni per essere
realizzati e hanno portato anche ad
unacrescitadeglioperatorisocialiche
hanno dovuto affrontare linserimen-
tolavorativodellepersonedeboli.Ci
hatrovatouncorrispondentesviluppo
di adeguati modelli organizzativi: sia-
mo passati da meccanismi semplici
di puro welfare (sussidi) al cosiddet-
to community welfare (meccanismi
di rete). Si tratta ora terzo ed ultimo
passaggio, di realizzare, attraverso la
cooperazionesociale,ilworkfare.
Perch la cooperazione sociale pu
considerarsiunmodellodisviluppo?
Perchaldildeitantinodicriticiche
permangono,lacooperazionesociale
riesce a coniugare meccanismi pro-
duttivi e welfare nella stessa soluzio-
ne. Oggi in Italia rappresenta circa il
5%delProdottoInternoLordo,negli
Stati Uniti il 6%. Se la classe politica
eimprenditorialeriesconoacapirein
termini strategici e non tattici il valo-
redellacooperazionesocialeallora
realistico pensare che il terzo settore
possapresentarsicomeunnuovomo-
dellodisviluppo.
Social balance
aS a neW tool
oF coRpoRate
inFoRMation
byLetiziaSalemme
Inthecourseoftime,corporateinfor-
mationofItaliancompaniesimproved
bothtowardtheirexternalandinternal
background;thisquantitativeandqual-
ityimprovement,inadditiontoanew
awareness of social problems, must
be considered a result of a decisional
process at a strategic level, which is
indented to create behavioural guide-
lines.
Socialbalancewasbornjustbecause
a company needs to communicate its
purpose,itsownmission,itsvalues.
Thats why already in 1993 Unipol
Group Social Report and in 1994
State Railways Social Balance it was
neededtoexplainwhatsocialbalance
information is representing and how
much importance company assigned
tothisdocument.
Infact,itispointedoutthatasSocial
Balanceismeantanaccountrender-
ing model concerning quantity and
quality of relationships between the
company and the stakeholders repre-
senting the whole society, aiming to
define an homogeneous, exact, com-
plete and transparent picture of the
complexinterdependenceamongeco-
nomic and socio-political factors con-
cerningallcorporatechoices.Social
Balance is a potentially extraordinary
tool,itrepresentstheauthenticationof
an ethical profile, the element justify-
ing an entitys role, not only in struc-
turaltermsbutmostlyinmoralterms
infrontofthereferentsociety;itisan
opportunity for emphasizing its own
relationship with the territory, it is a
chance for affirming the idea of the
company as a good citizen, that is an
economicalentitywho,bypursuingits
owninterest,willcontributetoimprove
lifequalityofthemembersofthecom-
munity, which it is part of. Company
missionanditssharingareimportant
elements for obtaining the consensus
of its own customers, of its own staff
andofpublicopinion.
Therefore, it can be stated that the
company social responsibility feel-
ing starts in the wealth distribution
moment, occurring in an economi-
cal system focusing change, operators
concertedactionandinformation.
This is the activity domain of social
cooperative companies, which, as
collective companies, do assign a
very strong importance to social re-
sponsibilitytotheextentofincludingit
amongsocialaimstopursue.Howev-
er,itcouldnotbedifferent,consider-
ingthatsuchresponsibilityistakenon
whencompanyorganizationistending
toaninteractionwiththeenvironment
and with the external entities; in fact,
since the cooperative company con-
siders stakeholders support as a nec-
essary element, it is esteemed of fun-
damental importance trying to satisfy
demandscomingfromdiscussionwith
stakeholders.
Therefore, social balance is an in-
formation tool, which is useful to all
stakeholderstowardcooperativecom-
pany,butitcanbeconsideredalsoan
effectiveplacementtoolforallpeople
wantingtoproduceitwithinthecoop-
erativecompany.
Consideringthatsocialbalanceisalso
a dissemination tool of business cul-
tureanditwasemergingasareportof
companyroleinitsexternalandinter-
nal background, it is needed to point
outthatanelementstronglycondition-
ingitsachievementisthelackofawrit-
ingstandardpattern.
Allcompanies,whicheditedthisdocu-
ment, have personalized its content
andcomposition.
Thatsthereasonforpresentingwithin
Equal project District valley a prac-
ticemanualexplainingtheorganization
proceduresforeditingthisdocument,
and to organize an educational event,
to whom all Lazio social cooperative
companies interested to this argu-
ment could take part for investigating
all subjects mentioned in the practice
manual.
Besidestheinvestigationonsocialbal-
ance writing methods, in this manual
itwillbeshownaspecimenwhichcan
beadoptedbysocialcooperativecom-
panies, provided with examples and
abstractsofsocialbalancesalreadyed-
itedbyothercompanies.
Proteo Spa carried on a small survey
within social cooperative companies
ofAtype(thoseaimingthepursueof
public interest for human improve-
ment and for citizens social integra-
tionthroughthemanagementofedu-
cational and social-sanitary services),
of B type (those aiming as well the
pursue of public interest for human
improvement and for citizens social
integration, but carrying on different
activitiesagriculture,industry,trade,
services- which are targeted to the
placement of disadvantaged people),
within integrated social cooperative
companies (carrying on both type A
andtypeBactivities)andwithinasyn-
dicateofsocialcooperativecompanies
inLazio.
This survey pointed out that most of
these cooperative companies would
intend to edit social balance because
itisfeltasanefficienttoolforcommu-
nicating their own values, but till now
theydidnotpresentedanysuchdocu-
mentforlackofinformationandlack
ofcapabilitytoreportaboutcompany
socialresponsibility.
Through District Valley Equal
Projectitwillbetriedtogiveatheoreti-
calandorganizationalinputtothese
companiesinLazio,tryingtoprovide
meansforcommunicatingtheirvalues
andtheirnatureofsocialcompany.
In such way, it will be shown that so-
cialcompanypurposeisalsocaringfor
everyonecominginarelationshipwith
it,consideringafuturelargerparticipa-
tionofcitizensandofwholecommu-
nity to the achievement of common
targets, which are not necessarily of
an economical nature (environment
defence, improvement of human re-
sources relationship, consumer direct
relationship,incentivestoagreaterin-
terestforartandculture,andsoon).
This project is aimed to increase the
number of social cooperative compa-
nies which are interested in creating
organizational rules for the right use
ofinformationtoolsreportinganalysis
andreportsaboutmutualfunctionbe-
tweeneconomicalandsocialaspects.
Reputation and image acquired by a
companyinthesocialandeconomical
contextinwhichitisactingarefunda-
mental for determining its strategies.
In fact, if a company is able to com-
municate all necessary information
to obtain a competitive gain in social
field,itissurelyabletoproperlycom-
municatewithitsinterlocutors.
Partners have a strongly positive per-
ception about the organization and
theyconsenttoafreelyacceptedcode
of behaviour, whose drafting they
weredirectlyinvolvedin.
The company culture meant as an
opensystemmustbereadconsidering
fourfactors:
Legitimation:theremustbeacorre-
spondence between environmental
rulesandvalues;
Efficiency:companymustbeableto
satisfy expectations of the different
company interlocutors who control
its strategies and behaviours and
provide for resources (material, fi-
nancialresources,etc.);
Appreciation: members should be
emotionally involved in the organi-
zation(loyaltyfeeling,activepartici-
pationatalllevels,etc.);
Utility:companymustbecapableto
satisfy needs and personal interests
ofgroupmembers.
But which are the rules that a social
balance should follow for it could be
regarded as correct and truthful from
an information point of view? Since
social balance is a document contain-
ing quality and quantity references, it
is necessary that it will observe both
ordinary accounting rules as well as
allthoserules,whoseobservationwill
improve a wider reliability of such a
document.
Principlestoconsiderare:
Socialbalanceutilityforreceivers;
Qualitative and quantitative infor-
mationintegrity;
Comprehensibilityandclearness;
Neutralityandimpartiality;
Prudenceprinciple;
Comparability;
Homogeneity;
Continuityandmethodologyimple-
mentation both in the accounting
report as well as in the accounting

principlesandassessmentcriteria;
Competenceprinciple;
Significance and prominence of re-
porteddata;
Costasbasicassessmentcriteria;
Social balance writing procedure in
accordance with right accounting
principles;
Informationverification.
It is to underline that reliability and
transparency of information supply
to stakeholders are included among
company responsibility toward social
contextand,furthermore,acompany
canbeconsideredinnovative,compet-
itive and socially useful only if it can
demonstrate:
Seriousnessandmanagingefficiency;
Credibility;
Reliabilityandtransparency;
Confidenceandloyaltyfeeling;
Active participation to community
improvement.
Coming back to social balance, we
shouldpointoutthatithasnotatypi-
cally economical content and it ap-
pearseasilyreadableforeveryrecipi-
ents,butitcouldnotberegardedasa
reliabletoolifreportedinformationis
not subject to a right selection, made
accordingly to its significance and rel-
evance.
In fact, it should be impartial, scien-
tific, neutral, verifiable and evident
and its intelligibility and readability
should be consequence of explaining
annotations, schedules, graphics and
diagrams, which must be included in
thisdocument.
Insocialbalancetoo,thebasicassess-
mentcriteriaisrepresentedbyopera-
tionalcost,sothatitcanbemaintained
therelationshipbetweensocialbalance
quantityreferencesandtheaccounting
dataoftheannualfinancialreport.
Inconclusion,itcanbestatedthatso-
cial cooperative company is the most
qualifiedentityforadoptingsocialbal-
ance as an information tool about its
missionbecause,asitalreadyemerged
withanactivityorientationtopartners
and consumers satisfaction, through
social balance it can succeed in natu-
rallyaccordingthefinancialreportac-
countingrealitywiththesocialreality.
In other words, by editing social bal-
ance, cooperative company finally
succeeds in leaving the typically eco-
nomic--social company conception,
manifestingthesocio-economicalcon-
ception,whichissurelymoresuitable
withitsnature.
il bilancio Sociale
quale nuovo
StRuMento di
inFoRMazione
SocietaRia
diLetiziaSalemme
Linformazionesocietariadelleimpre-
seitalianeconiltrascorreredeglianni
miglioratasiaversolambienteester-
nocheversolambienteinterno;ilmi-
0
glioramentoqualitativoequantitativo,
oltreadessereconseguenzadellapre-
sa di coscienza delle problematiche
sociali,deveritenersiilrisultatodiun
processodecisionalealivellostrategi-
corivoltoallacreazionedilineeguida
comportamentali.
Il bilancio sociale nasce proprio
perch limpresa sente il bisogno di
comunicare lo scopo del proprio
esistere, la propria missione, i propri
valori.
Ed ecco che gi nel rapporto sociale
1993delGruppoUnipolenelbilan-
ciosocialeredattonel1994dalleFer-
roviedelloStatosisentelanecessitdi
spiegare cosa rappresenta linforma-
zionecontenutanelbilanciosocialee
quanta importanza limpresa attribui-
sceaquestodocumento.Sievidenzia
infatticheperbilanciosocialesiinten-
de un modello di rendicontazione
sullequantitesullequalitdirelazio-
netralimpresaeglistakeholdersrap-
presentatividellinteracollettivit,che
mira a delineare un quadro omoge-
neo,puntuale,completoetrasparente
dellacomplessainterdipendenzatrai
fattorieconomiciequellisocio-politi-
ciconnaturatieconseguentiallescelte
dimpresa.Ilbilanciosocialeuno
strumentopotenzialmentestraordina-
rio, rappresenta infatti la certificazio-
nediunprofiloetico,lelementoche
legittima il ruolo di un soggetto, non
solo in termini strutturali ma soprat-
tutto morali, agli occhi della comu-
nit di riferimento, un momento per
enfatizzare il proprio legame con il
territorio,unaoccasioneperafferma-
re il concetto di impresa come buon
cittadino,ciounsoggettoeconomico
che perseguendo il proprio interesse
prevalente contribuisce a migliorare
la qualit della vita dei membri della
societ in cui inserito. La missione
aziendale e la sua condivisione sono
elementi importanti per avere il con-
sensodellaclientela,delproprioper-
sonale,dellopinionepubblica.
Sipuquindiaffermarecheilsentir-
si socialmente responsabile dellim-
presanascenelmomentodelladistri-
buzione della ricchezza che avviene
inunsistemaeconomicocentratosul
cambiamento,sullaconcertazionedei
proprioperatoriesullinformazione.
Equestolambitodiattivitdelleso-
cietcooperativesocialiche,inquanto
impresecollettive,attribuisconouna
importanzaestremaallaresponsabilit
socialealpuntodiinserirlatraglisco-
pisocialidaperseguire.Peraltronon
potrebbeaccaderediversamentevisto
chetaleresponsabilitvienefattapro-
priaquandolorganizzazioneazienda-
le propende allinterazione con lam-
biente nonch con i soggetti esterni
alla stessa; la cooperativa infatti con-
siderando elemento indispensabile il
sostegnodeglistakeholders,ritienedi
fondamentale importanza cercare di
soddisfare le esigenze che emergono
insededidialogoconglistessi.
Il bilancio sociale quindi uno stru-
mento di informazione utile a tutti i
soggetti portatori di interessinei con-
frontidellacooperativa,mapuesse-
reconsideratoancheunvalidomezzo
diinserimentolavorativopertuttiquei
soggetticheallinternodellacoopera-
tivasocialevoglianorealizzarlo.
Tenutocontocheilbilanciosociale
anche unostrumentodi divulgazione
della cultura dimpresa e che nasce
come rendiconto del ruolo che lim-
presa svolge nel suo ambiente (inter-
noodesternochesia),occorrerileva-
recheunelementochenecondiziona
problematicamentelarappresentazio-
necostituitodallassenzadiunmo-
dello standard di redazione; tutte le
impresechehannoredattoquestodo-
cumentonehannopersonalizzatola
composizioneedilcontenuto.
Ecco la volont di presentare nel-
lambito del Progetto Equal District
Valley un manuale esplicativo delle
procedure organizzative per la pre-
disposizione di questo documento e
di organizzare un evento formativo
al quale tutte le cooperative sociali
della Regione Lazio interessate al-
largomento possano partecipare per
approfondireletematichetrattatenel
manualestesso.
Nel manuale, oltre ad approfondire
le metodiche redazionali del bilancio
sociale, si presenter un fac-simile di
modello (non esistendo ad oggi un
modellopredefinito)chelecooperati-
vesocialipossonoutilizzare,corredato
daesempiedestrattidibilancisociali
gipubblicatidaaltresociet.
E stato svolto da Proteo s.p.a. un
piccolo sondaggio nellambito delle
cooperativesocialiditipoA(chehan-
no lo scopo di perseguire linteresse
generale della comunit alla promo-
zioneumanaeallintegrazionesociale
dei cittadini attraverso la gestione dei
servizi socio-sanitari ed educativi), di
tipo B (che hanno sempre lo scopo
di perseguire linteresse generale del-
la comunit alla promozione umana
e allintegrazione sociale dei cittadi-
ni, ma attraverso lo svolgimento di
attivit diverse agricole, industriali,
commerciali o di servizi finalizzate
allinserimento lavorativo di persone
svantaggiate), integrate (che svolgono
leattivitsiaditipoAcheditipoB)e
nellambitodiunconsorziodicoope-
rativesocialinelLazio.
Ilsondaggioharilevatochelamaggior
parte di queste cooperative avrebbe
intenzione di redigere il bilancio so-
ciale perch avvertito come efficace
strumentodicomunicazionedeipro-
privalori,maadogginonhaprodotto
alcundocumentointalsensoinman-
canza di informazione e di compe-
tenzeutiliarelazionareinmeritoalla
responsabilitsocialediimpresa.
ConilProgettoEqualDistrictValley
sicercherquindididareuninput
teoricoedorganizzativoaquestisoda-
lizilazialicercandodifornireimezzi
per dar loro la possibilit di comuni-
care la propria missione e la propria
naturadiimpresasociale.
Sievidenzierintalmodochelosco-
po della cooperativa sociale anche
quello di occuparsi del benessere di
chiunque entri in relazione con essa,
in vista di un possibile allargamento
2
della partecipazione dei cittadini, e
quindi della comunit, alla realizza-
zione di obiettivi comuni non neces-
sariamente di carattere economico
(rispetto dellambiente, miglioramen-
todelrapportoconlerisorseumane,
rapporto diretto con il consumatore,
incentiviaduninteressemaggiorealla
culturaedallarte,ecc...).
Tale iniziativa volta ad incrementa-
re il numero di imprese cooperative
sociali interessate alla produzione di
regole organizzative volte al corretto
utilizzo degli strumenti informativi
contenentianalisierelazionisullare-
ciprocafunzionalittraaspettiecono-
miciesociali.
Limmagineelareputazionechelim-
presa acquisisce nel contesto sociale
ed economico in cui opera sono es-
senziali per la determinazione delle
proprie strategie. Se infatti limpresa
riesce a comunicare tutte le informa-
zionichesononecessarieperassume-
re un vantaggio competitivo in tema
sociale,sicuramenteingradodico-
municare correttamente con i propri
interlocutori.
I soci hanno una percezione molto
positiva dellorganizzazione ed ade-
riscono ad un codice di comporta-
mentoliberamenteaccettatoeallacui
redazione hanno direttamente parte-
cipato.
Lacorrispondenteculturadiimpresa
intesacomesistemaapertodeveesse-
relettaconsiderandoquattrofattori:
la legittimazione: deve sussistere
unacorrispondenzatranormeeva-
loridellambiente;
lefficienza: limpresa deve essere
capace di soddisfare le aspettative
dei vari interlocutori aziendali con-
trolloridellesuestrategieedeisuoi
comportamentiefornitoridirisorse
(finanziarie,materiali,ecc...);
lapprezzamento:imembridevono
essereemozionalmentelegatiallor-
ganizzazione (sentimento di lealt,
partecipazione attiva a tutti i livelli,
ecc...);
lutilit: limpresa deve essere effi-
cacenelconsentirelasoddisfazione
deibisogniedegliinteressipersona-
lideimembridelgruppo.
Ma quali dettami deve seguire un
bilancio sociale che possa ritenersi
corretto e veritiero da un punto di
vistainformativo?Essendoilbilancio
sociale un documento che contiene
riferimenti qualitativi e quantitativi,
necessario che rispetti sia i principi
contabili generali che tutte quelle re-
goleilcuirispettofavoriscelamaggio-
reattendibilitditaledocumento.
Iprincipidaconsideraresono:
utilit del bilancio sociale per i de-
stinatari;
completezza dellinformazione sia
quantitativachequalitativa;
comprensibilitechiarezza;
neutralitoimparzialit;
principiodellaprudenza;
comparabilit;
omogeneit;
continuit e applicazione delle me-
todologieutilizzatesianellarappre-
sentazionecontabilecheneiprincipi
contabilieneicriteridivalutazione;
principiodellacompetenza;
significativit e rilevanza delle noti-
ziepresentate;
ilcostocomecriteriobasedelleva-
lutazioni;
conformit del procedimento di
formazione del bilancio sociale ai
correttiprincipicontabili;
verificabilitdellinformazione.
E da sottolineare che lattendibilit
e la trasparenza nel fornire informa-
zioni agli stakeholders rientrano tra
le responsabilit dellazienda verso il
contestosocialeepoiunaziendada
considerarsiinnovativa,competitivae
socialmenteutilesolosedimostra:
serietedefficienzagestionale;
credibilit;
affidabilitetrasparenza;
sensodifiduciaedilealt;
partecipazione attiva allo sviluppo
dellacollettivit.
Tornando al nostro bilancio sociale,
dobbiamoevidenziarechenonhaun
contenuto prettamente economico e
si presenta di facile lettura per qua-
lunquedestinatario,marischiadinon
essere considerato uno strumento
attendibile se le informazioni in esso
contenute non sono assoggettabili ad
una possibile selezione da effettuarsi
in base alla loro significativit e rile-
vanza.
Esse infatti devono essere obiettive,
razionali,neutrali,attendibili,verifica-
biliedevidentielalorocomprensibi-
lit e leggibilit conseguente a note
esplicative,tabelle,graficiediagrammi
chedevonoesserecontenutiinquesto
documento.
Anche nel bilancio sociale il criterio
baseperlevalutazionirappresenta-
to dal costo specifico in modo che si
possamantenereuncollegamentotra
i riferimenti quantitativi del bilancio
socialeedidaticontabilidelbilancio
diesercizio.
Concludendo,nonsipucheasserire
che la cooperativa sociale il sogget-
to pi idoneo ad adottare il bilancio
sociale come mezzo di informazione
dellapropriamissioneperchnascen-
dogiconunorientamentodellapro-
priaattivitrivoltaalsoddisfacimento
deisociedeifruitorideiservizidalla
stessa forniti, con il bilancio sociale
riesceaconciliarespontaneamentela
realt oggettiva-contabile data dal bi-
lanciodiesercizioconlarealtsocia-
le;lacooperativaredigendoilbilancio
socialeriescecioadabbandonarela
concezione prettamente economico-
socialedellimpresaesplicitandoquel-
lasocio-economicachesicuramente
piconsonaallaproprianatura.
cSR aS an
oppoRtunity FoR
WoMen-led Social
enteRpRiSeS
byAnnaLucic
InthissecondpartoftheWorkshop
IandMs.Neveuwillpresentthetran-
snational component of the Equal
ProjectDistrictValleywhichinvolves
fortheItaliansidetheDPDistrictVal-
leyrepresentedbyIntesaFormazione
and Proteo and for the French side
the DP Longue Marche here repre-
sentedbyLuego.
I will try to provide you with a com-
prehensive picture of the process
we followed during the transnational
meetingswehavecarriedoutsofarin
Paris,oftheobjectiveswehavestated
andthemodalitieswehavechosento
realize them, starting from the TCA
thatwasasortofcompassguidingus
inthesemonthsway.
In the meantime I will more specifi-
callyconcentrateontheanalysisofthe
regionalcontextweexamined,theone
of Lazio Region, while data referred
to French situation will be afterwards
detailedbyMs.Neveu.
The Alternative Entrepreneurship
Project,whichisthenameofthetran-
snational project, according to TCA
terms, should have been focused on
business creation for disadvantaged
peoplewithinadequateorinsufficient
entrepreneurial competences and
skills and as a consequence it envis-
agedtherealizationofasetoftraining
and technical assistance interventions
aimedathelpingandsupportingthese
peopleinstartinganddevelopingtheir
ownbusinessactivity.
It was an indisputably ambitious ob-
jectivebuttherewastheconcreterisk
of overlapping with other similar ini-
tiatives already successfully put in ac-
tion and carried out by national and
regional entities, Chambers of Com-
merceorentrepreneurialassociations
andorganisationsdealingwithjobin-
clusionofdisadvantagedpeopleinthe
labourmarket.
Thusmaintainingthefinalaimofthe
project,wedecidedtofacethesubject
inamorecriticalperspectivetryingto
identify and highlight methodological
approaches which might be consid-
ered innovative, also consideringthat
employment and social policies were
on the top of governmental agendas
both Italy and France and at Euro-
pean level in general, since EU ob-
jectiveforthedecade20002010is
to become the most competitive and
dynamic knowledge-based economy
in the world capable of sustainable
economicgrowthwith moreandbet-
ter jobs and greater social cohesion
(European Council, Lisbon, March
2000).
This theoretical statement is trans-
lated into practice by a model which
integrates economic and social poli-
cies and has its core pivoted around
entrepreneurshipandobviouslysmall
andmediumenterprises.
To better understand the logic fol-
lowedduringtheproject,thetargetof
beneficiaries deserves a few words of
specification. TCA did not identify a
precise category of subjects to whom
addresstheinterventionbut,sincethe
French national project was focused
onjobinsertionoftraffickedwomen,
wedecidedtoconcentrateonpolicies
promoting female entrepreneurship
with specific reference to immigrant

womenthatfortheirconditionarein
alotofcasesdoublydisadvantaged.
Anyway,inordertobeabletodefine
practices and training paths applica-
ble for both Countries, we started by
conductingathoroughanalysisofthe
communitarian policies on matter of
labour and inclusion which provide
directives to the different member
States to avoid the risk of fossilizing
onnationalpeculiaritiesoftherespec-
tivelabourmarkets.
Once identified common guidelines,
we went through a detailed examina-
tion of the local economic situation
and of the initiatives to promote en-
trepreneurship carried out both at
nationalandregionallevelinthetwo
Countries.
Accordingto2005Censisdata,wom-
en are nowadays protagonists of the
occupationalgrowthofLazioRegion:
the most relevant increase of pink
enterprisesinItalyoccurredinLazio
(+3,21%asto2004)andRomecounts
the highest number of women entre-
preneursinItaly(42.501).
Among the distinctive features of
this phenomenon we registered an
increase in the number of joint-stock
companies, a growth of female lead-
ership inside enterprises, a higher
entrepreneurial dynamism (birth-rate
+10%versus+7,2%ofnon-femaleen-
terprises).
The spirit of initiative shown by for-
eign women entrepreneurs is also
notable:nowadaystheyare1857and
in five years they have doubled their
presenceontheregionalterritory.
As far as sectors are concerned,
services represent the main domain
of development of female entrepre-
neurship and, although they are an
extremely articulated reality, the role
ofprotagonistisplayedbycommerce
andsocialservices(whicharethesec-
tor with the highest rate of feminiza-
tion with 47,6% of enterprises man-
agedbywomen).
Aspiring entrepreneurs, a steadily
growinguniverseofwomenwillingto
start their own activity, also deserve
a special mention. According to data
providedbyBICLaziorelatedtoap-
plicationsreceivedtobenefitforfunds
disbursed under law 215/92 provi-
sions, their number showed an in-
crease of +71% and considering only
Rome province the datum is even
more impressive, +87,3%. 49,2% of
the applications presented was then
financed.
Thesedataarepositiveandundoubt-
edly encouraging but contextualized
inthegloballabourmarkettheyshow
howeverthelimitsoffemaleentrepre-
neurship: although women represent
43,6% of the regional working force,
female enterprises are only 24,7% of
thetotal.
Thisshowsthereforetheexistenceof
specificpeculiaritiesinthedifficulties
women have to face in starting-up a
business, in acceding to services, in
the set-up of the enterprise structure
that inevitably have repercussions on
all the other elements that influence

the enterprise future development.
Furthermore female enterprises are
usuallysmallerandlessrootedinthe
territory.Inthefinalextentitmustbe
addedtothispictureforeignwomens
particulardifficultiesintermsofknowl-
edgeofItalianlanguage,acknowledge-
ment of the educational qualification
obtainedintheirCountryandobtain-
mentofaresidentialpermit.
It is even not worth not to take into
consideration figures recently pub-
lished by the European Commission
stating that the enterprises death-rate
intheirfirstfiveyearsofactivityisset
around50%.
Nevertheless it is not disputable and
in fact is evident the existence of a
numberofentities,atinstitutionallev-
elandnot,whichprovideservicesand
consultancyforenterprises,especially
for small and medium ones. In par-
ticular, Im thinking to Chamber of
Commercedesks,somereallyspecial-
ized on specific targets as women or
immigrants willing to become entre-
preneurs, organisations like Sviluppo
LazioandProteo,businessincubators
and thousand of other entities totally
devotedtothissubject.
Thequestionwethenaskedourselves
was: what could we do that has not
beenyetdone?Howtodefinetraining
paths to promote entrepreneurship
without incurring in an easy replica-
tionofalreadyexistinginitiatives?And
so why dont simply try to integrate
already profitable actions in order to
fostertheresultstheyachieved?
Therefore, stated that we were not
buildinginthedesert,wecarriedout
an extensive analysis of the interven-
tions already realized to identify and
highlightthestillexistingproblemsto
besolvedwithaspecificfocusonour
targetofreference.
Most common problems refer to an
excessivediversificationandinelastic-
ity of the incentives, a lack of coor-
dination among the different actors
involved and in start-up instruments,
spread of illusions and false myths
on enterprise start-up and consolida-
tion process, entrepreneurs wariness
and resistance in asking for support
andtraining,highcostofconsultancy
services, difficulties in applying and
obtainingloans,mismanagementoffi-
nancialresourcesandlastbutnotleast
problemsrelatedwithcommunication
andmarketingabilities.
Iftheseobstaclescouldbeconsidered
as typical of the business creation
process since they might be faced by
everybodywhoispreparinghimselfto
embark on an entrepreneurial activ-
ity; there are some other specifically
linked with the disadvantaged condi-
tionofthesubjectsinexam:potential
entrepreneurslack of awareness and
professionalknowledge,lack of basic
entrepreneurial culture referred both
at the start-up and the further man-
agement phases, lack of information
or however difficulties in acceding to
toolsandorganizationsprovidingsup-
portforentrepreneurs.
Moreover considering the target we

are dealing with, it is fundamental to
acknowledgethatthedecisionofcre-
atingabusinessdependsonlogicsand
motivationsunlikefromthoseapplied
by a traditional entrepreneur. An
enterprise is established not only to
grant a better allocation to available
economic resourcesbut also because
there is a clear difficulty in entering
thelabourmarketortosolveaneedy
situationbyundertakingaself-affirma-
tionprocess.
Accepted these preliminary remarks,
it follows as a consequence that the
process of business creation might
require a longer time, in some case
it might last even 5 years. To avoid
theriskthatitturnsintoaneconomi-
cal failure but also a social one (with
repercussions that often involve rela-
tives and employees too), we have to
consider or better to reconsider the
support offeredto the aspiring entre-
preneurtomadeitascontinuousand
non-fragmentedaspossible,layingthe
foundations for and assistance which
overcomes the limits of the start-up
phase by continuing even afterwards
for the entire duration of the entre-
preneurialexperience.
Inotherwords,wedeemessentialto
provideasupportwhichtellstheun-
toldaboutbusinesscreation:tostrive
toofferapicturemoreadherenttore-
ality,togobeyondthelogicofapurely
technicalsupport,whichisforsurein-
dispensableandfundamental,totack-
le themes inherent to entrepreneurs
personal expectations, motivations
andintentions,totheinnerassociative
andrelationalsphereoftheenterprise
and to the role that each component
oftheenterprisewillplay.
This envisages, at practical level, the
necessityofproposingarangeofhighly
specialized and personalized training
productsandcoursesbutevenimplies
theadoptionofadifferentinterpreta-
tiveparadigmoftheenterprise.
It means that the enterprise should
be considered either as an economic
subject and as a process of social ac-
tivation characterized by psychologi-
cal, social and relational dynamics as
muchevidentastheenterprise,espe-
ciallyifmicroorsmall,coincideswith
theentrepreneurwhocreatedit.
This convincement lead to a series
of attitudes that may be translated in
tailored, constant and customized
training and consultancy activities to
beintegratedandcoordinatedwithac-
tivitiesofentrepreneurshippromotion
that, as already mentioned, are suc-
cessfullyimplementedbyinstitutional
and non-institutional organisations.
This sort of continuous flanking will
foster, as a not secondary effect, the
development of informal networks
where all the subjects will be directly
involvedthuscontributingtoafurther
andmoreincisiverootingoftheenter-
prisecultureintheregionalterritory.
When it came the time to define an
entity able to provide all these men-
tioned additional services, to decline
thebusinesslogicsinarelationalview
andtooffersupporttodisadvantaged
people in their job insertion process,
social enterprise appeared to be as a
choice almost obliged due to its spe-
cificfeatures,toitsprovisionofservic-
eswithahighdegreeofpraiseworthi-
ness(thatisservicesnoteconomically
convenient for any other enterprise),
to its capability in discriminating on
prices (letting everybody pay the
amount they can afford) and to em-
ploy disadvantaged people which in
our case could benefit of a sort of
indirect training-on-the-job being the
social enterprise itself in the end an
entrepreneurialsubject.
Theproblemwehadthentofacewas
the classical problem affecting most
of social enterprises: the economic
sustainability of their activities. In
fact, even considering the possibility
to stipulate agreements with local au-
thoritiesandtogainfinancingsoffered
both by public institutions or banks,
the social enterprise has to envisage
activitiesorservicesthatallowincome
creation.Statedthattheactionsinfa-
vourofjobinsertionofdisadvantaged
people are not provided under mar-
ket conditions, the social enterprise
has to be able to identify a range of
servicestobeproposedatcompetitive
pricesthatgeneratevirtuousprocesses
ofself-sustainability.
In our opinion an applicable modal-
ity, as per European directives on
business development and corporate
social responsibility promotion with
specific reference to the adoption of
CSR practices in small and medium
enterprises, could be the identifica-
tionofareasandsectorsoftheprof-
itentrepreneurialscenariothat,with
opportune mediations, could benefit
from services/supplies offered by so-
cial enterprises and based on market
logics.
The attention recently shown by the
private sector on social and environ-
mental issues finds its application in
the adoption of socially responsible
behaviours which also comprise the
concrete use of a set of specific tools
(as ethical codes, social statement,
environmental and social certifica-
tions)toevaluatethem.
ThenewItalianLawonSocialEnter-
prises(LDMarch24th,2006,n.155)
envisagesthedutyofpresentingaso-
cialstatementforsocialenterprises.At
European and national level a strong
pressure is exerted in order to have
socialenterprisesstartingcertification
processesespeciallyasfarasqualityof
servicesandproductsisconcerned.
Internally,socialenterprisesareruled
according to a democratic govern-
ancesystemwhereallmembershave
the right to actively participate in the
decisional management processes.
Externally,asalreadymentioned,the
territorialrootingallowsthesocialen-
terprisetooffermodelsofsustainable
developmentandsociallycompatible.
All these factors in a non-defined or
non-consciouswaycorrespondtolog-
icswhichareproperofcorporateso-
cialresponsibility.
Againstastilloutstandingneedofsmall
and medium enterprises concerning
the adoption of socially responsible
practices also in consideration of the
costs it implies (it almost unbearable
thepossibilityforasmallenterpriseto
payforaCSRmanager)conversely
there is an existing but unexpressed
know-how (in terms of economic ad-
vantage) of social enterprises on the
sameissues.
In conclusion, we have therefore to
guideandstructure,throughaprofes-
sionalizingtrainingthesepotentialities
transformingtheminservicesthatthe
social enterprises could offer to the
private ones; that is developing new
synergiestocombinethesenewneeds
ofprofitenterprisesandassureinthe
meanwhile a financial sustainability
forsocialenterprises.
la cSR coMe
oppoRtunit peR
le iMpReSe Sociali
FeMMinili
diAnnaLucic
In questa seconda parte della matti-
nata sar compito mio e di Catheri-
ne Neveu presentarvi la componente
transnazionale del progetto Equal
District Valley che ha visto coinvolti
perparteitalianailconsorzioDistrict
ValleyrappresentatodaIntesaForma-
zioneeProteoeperpartefranceseil
consorzioLongueMarcherappresen-
tatodaLuego.
Cercher di conseguenza di fornirvi
un quadro complessivo del percorso
che abbiamo seguito nel corso degli
incontri transnazionali che finora ab-
biamo tenuto a Parigi, degli obiettivi
che ci siamo posti e delle modalit
cheabbiamosceltoperconcretizzarli
apartiredallaTCAchestataunpo
la bussola che ci ha guidato nel cam-
minodiquestimesi.
Alcontempomisoffermersullanali-
sidelcontestoregionalecheabbiamo
presoinesame,quellodellaRegione
Lazio, mentre per quanto concerne i
dati relativi alla situazione francesevi
saranno di seguito presentati da Ca-
therine.
Il progetto Alternative Entrepreneur-
ship,cheilnomedelprogettotransa-
zionale,neiterminiprevistidallaTCA
doveva focalizzarsi sulla creazione di
impresa per soggetti svantaggiati non
in possesso di adeguate o sufficienti
conoscenzeincampoimprenditoriale
ediconseguenzaprevedevalappron-
tamento di una serie di interventi di
formazione,trainingeconsulenzaallo
scopo di mettere in condizione que-
stisoggettidiavviareesviluppareuna
loroattivitdibusiness.
Unobiettivoindubbiamenteambizio-
somacherischiavadiandaresempli-
cementeasovrapporsioaconfonder-
siadaltreiniziativesimiligimessein
campo e realizzate con successo da
enti nazionali, regionali, Camere di
Commercio o associazioni imprendi-
0
torialieorganizzazionichedasempre
sioccupanodiinserimentodisoggetti
svantaggiatinelmondodellavoro.
Fattosalvolobiettivofinaledellinter-
ventoabbiamoquindisceltodisvilup-
parelargomentoinmodopicritico
cercando di soffermarci e di eviden-
ziarequellechepotesseroesseremo-
dalit innovative di approccio, alla
lucesoprattuttodelfattochesiainIta-
lia che in Francia e a livello europeo
ingeneraleinquestiultimiannimolto
statorealizzatoalivellodipolitiche
attivedellavoroediinclusionesociale
ancheinconsiderazionedellobiettivo
che lUnione Europea si posta per
il decennio 2000 2010 di fare del-
lEuropa leconomia basata sulla co-
noscenza pi competitiva e dinamica
delmondo,ingradodirealizzareuna
crescita economica sostenibile con
nuoviemiglioripostidilavoroeuna
maggiorecoesionesociale.
Cisitraducenellapraticanellapro-
posta di un modello di integrazione
tra politiche di sviluppo economico
epolitichediintegrazionesocialeche
ha come nucleo limprenditorialit e
naturalmente la piccola e media im-
presa.
Una nota di precisazione, utile a
comprendere il lavoro da noi svolto,
merita il target di utenza da noi sele-
zionato per il progetto. La TCA non
identificava una categoria precisa di
soggettiacuirivolgerelinterventoma
dalmomentocheilprogettonaziona-
le francese era incentrato sul recupe-
ro lavorativo delle donne vittime di
tratta abbiamo scelto di concentrarci
sullepolitichedipromozionedellim-
prenditoriafemminileconparticolare
riferimentoallinclusionedelledonne
immigratecheperlalorocondizione
inmolticasisicasisitrovanoadessere
doppiamentesvantaggiate.
Inognicaso,trovandociadoveriden-
tificaredelleprassiedeipercorsifor-
mativichepotesseroessereapplicabili
neiduePaesiabbiamoinprimiscon-
dottounattentaanalisidellepolitiche
comunitarieintemadioccupazionee
inclusione che forniscono le direttive
aidiversiStatinazionaliondeovviare
ilrischiodifossilizzarcisupeculiarit
nazionali dei rispettivi mercati del la-
voro.
Identificatelineeguidacomuni,siamo
passati ad un esame dettagliato della
situazione economica locale e delle
politichediincentivazioneallimpren-
ditoriapromossetantoalivellonazio-
nalecheregionaleneiduePaesi.
Stando ai dati forniti dal Censis rela-
tivi allanno 2005 le donne risultano
ormaiessereprotagonistedellacresci-
taoccupazionaledellaRegioneLazio:
lincrementopisignificativodiimpre-
serosasiavutoinfattiinLazio(con
un+3,21%rispettoal2004)mentrela
cittdiRomacontailmaggiornume-
rodiimprenditricidItalia(42.501).
Tralecaratteristichedistintivedique-
stofenomenosirilevainnanzituttoun
aumentodiformediimpresapiso-
lideconunincrementodelleimprese
di capitali rispetto alle societ di per-
sone e delle imprese individuali, una
crescita della leadership femminile

allinterno dellimpresa, un elevato
dinamismo imprenditoriale (+10%
cometassodinatalitcontroun7,2%
diquellenonfemminili).
Un altro dato degno di nota la di-
namicit mostrata dalle imprenditrici
straniere che hanno registrato un sal-
do di 1857 unit, raddoppiando in
cinqueannilaloropresenzasulterri-
torioregionale.
Rispetto ai settori di attivit, i servizi
rappresentanoilprincipaleambitodi
sviluppodellimprenditoriafemminile
e,purpresentandosicomeunarealt
estremamentearticolataalproprioin-
terno,lapartedelleonevienegiocata
dal commercio e dal terziario sociale
(che costituisce in assoluto il settore
a pi alto tasso di femminizzazione
conil46,7%delleimpreseguidatoda
donne).
Un discorso a parte meritano infine
leaspirantiimprenditrici,ununiverso
sempre pi numeroso di donne che
ambiscono ad avviare unattivit in
proprio, e che alcuni dati forniti da
BICLaziosulledomandedifinanzia-
mentoexlegge215/92consentonodi
tratteggiareconqualcheulterioredet-
taglio.
Se si guarda al trend, tra il 2002 (IV
bando)eil2005(Vbando)ilnumero
delledomandepresentateedammes-
se in graduatoria a livello regionale
cresciutodel71%esesiconsiderala
sola provincia di Roma la crescita
ancorapirilevante:+87,3%.Dique-
steil49,2%statoammessoafinan-
ziamento.
Datipositiviesenzaltroincoraggianti
ma che contestualizzati nel mercato
generaledellavoromostranocomun-
que i limiti dellimprenditoria fem-
minile:afrontedelfattocheil43,6%
dellaforzaoccupazionaleregionalesia
costitutodadonne,leimpresefemmi-
nilisonosoloil24,7%deltotale.
Sievidenziadiconseguenzaunadiffi-
colttuttaspecificanellavviodimpre-
sa,nellaccessoaiservizi,nelcarattere
dellasceltaimprenditorialechefinisce
inevitabilmente per ripercuotersi sui
tanti elementi che incidono sullo svi-
luppo futuro dellimpresa. Le impre-
se femminili inoltre si caratterizzano
in generale per essere pi piccole e
meno radicate sul territorio. A ci si
devonosommarequelledifficoltpe-
culiariincontratedalledonnestranie-
re in termini di conoscenza della lin-
guaitaliana,riconoscimentodeltitolo
distudioottenutonelPaesedorigine
epermessodisoggiorno.
Non si pu inoltre neppure prescin-
deredallestimepubblicatedirecente
dalla Commissione Europea che evi-
denziano come il tasso di mortalit
delleimpreseneiprimicinqueannidi
vitasiaggiriintornoal50%.
Tuttavianonsipunegare,edanzi
evidente,lesistenzadimoltepliciorga-
nismi,chealivelloistituzionaleenon,
fornisconoservizieconsulenzainma-
teriadistart-upeingeneralediservizi
alle imprese soprattutto alle medie e
piccole. Nello specifico penso agli
sportelliperleimpresedelleCamere
2
di Commercio, alcuni dei quali spe-
cializzatiinconsulenzeperledonnee
per gli immigrati che vogliono avvici-
narsialmondoimprenditoriale,asog-
getti come gli stessi Sviluppo Lazio e
Proteo,agliincubatoridiimpresa,alle
milleentitchesulterritorionaziona-
leelocalesonocostantementeattivati
atalfine.
Ladomandachequindicisiamoposti
stata:cosasipufarechenonsiagi
stato fatto? Come proporre percorsi
formativi di promozione allimpren-
ditorialit senza scadere nella replica
di attivit importanti gi in essere?
E quindi perch pi semplicemente
nonlimitarsi,sedilimitazionesipu
parlare,ad integrareazioni gidiper
s proficue in modo da incentivarne
ulteriormenteirisultati?
Postochenonstiamocostruendonel
deserto, abbiamo perci cercato di
analizzareleazionigiinesserefoca-
lizzandocisuquellechepossonoesse-
re considerate problematiche ancora
esistentisoprattuttoinconsiderazione
delnostrotargetdiriferimento.
Tra le criticit individuate troviamo:
leccessiva diversificazione e rigidit
degli incentivi, lo scarso coordina-
mento tra i diversi attori e strumenti
diavvioegestioneimprenditoriale,la
diffusionedifaciliillusioniefalsimiti
sul processo di avvio e di consolida-
mento dimpresa, la diffidenza e la
resistenzadellimprenditoreacercare
sostegno e formazione, i costi della
consulenzaedelsostegno,ledifficolt
di accessoalcreditoegli errorinella
gestione delle risorse finanziarie e in
ultimomanonmenorilevantelediffi-
coltlegateallacapacitdicomunica-
zioneecostruzionediunimmaginedi
impresaallesterno.
Se queste problematiche possonoes-
sereconsideratetipichedelproces-
so di creazione di impresa nel senso
che sono condivisibili da chiunque si
appresti ad intraprendere unattivit
imprenditoriale,venesonoaltrespe-
cificamente afferenti alla situazione
disvantaggiodeisoggettiinesame:la
scarsaconsapevolezzaepreparazione
professionale del potenziale impren-
ditore/ice,lamancanzadiunacultura
imprenditorialedibaserelativasiaalla
fase di avvio dellimpresa ma anche
della sua successiva gestione, la ca-
renzadiinformazioneocomunquela
difficolt di accedere agli strumenti e
agliorganismidisupportoallimpren-
ditoria.
Inoltreinriferimentoaisoggettisvan-
taggiatibisognariconoscerechelavvio
diimpresarispondealogicheemoti-
vazioni diverse rispetto a quelle che
muovono un imprenditore tradizio-
nale. Limpresa non viene costituita
solo per allocare al meglio le risorse
economiche disponibili ma anche
perchsemplicementesihadifficolt
ad accedere al mercato del lavoro o
perusciredaunasituazionedidisagio
attraversounprocessodiautoafferma-
zione.
Stantilepremesse,neconseguecheil
processo di creazione dimpresa pu
richiederetempipilunghi,inalcuni
casi fino a 5 anni. Onde evitare che

esso si risolva in un fallimento non
solo economico (con ricadute che
coinvolgono sovente anche familiari
e dipendenti) ma anche sociale, oc-
corre pensare o ripensare il sostegno
offerto allaspirante imprenditore/ice
rendendolo il pi possibile continuo
e non frammentato, gettando le basi
per un accompagnamento non solo
infunzionedellavvioedelconsolida-
mento ma che si spinga anche oltre,
proseguendo per tutta la durata del-
lesperienzaimprenditoriale.
Occorreinuncertosensofornireun
supportochedicailnondettocirca
la creazione di impresa: sforzarsi di
offrire unimmagine maggiormente
aderente alla realt, uscire cio dalla
logica del sostegno prettamente tec-
nico,chepureimprescindibileedi
fondamentaleimportanza,peraffron-
taretematicherelativeagliambitidelle
aspettative, delle motivazioni e delle
intenzionidellimprenditore,allasfera
associativaedellerelazioniallinterno
dellimpresa,altipodilavoroealruo-
lo che ciascun componente dellim-
presadovrsvolgere.
Cicomportanonsoloproporreuna
filieradiprodottiepercorsiformativi
altamentespecializzatiepersonalizzati
alivellopratico,maimplicaladozione
diundiversoparadigmainterpretativo
dellimpresa.
Sitrattadiconsiderarelimpresanon
solo come soggetto economico ma
anche come processo di attivazione
socialecaratterizzatadadinamichedi
tipo sociale, psicologico e relazionale
tanto pi evidenti quanto limpresa,
soprattuttonelcasodellamicroepic-
colaimpresavienespessoacoincide-
reconlimprenditorechelhacreata.
Ne consegue tutta una serie di atteg-
giamenti che possono essere tradotti
inattivitdiformazioneeconsulenza
mirate, costanti nel tempo, customiz-
zatechevadanoadintegrarsieacoor-
dinarsi con le attivit di promozione
e avvio allimprenditoria che come
gi citato, in modo assolutamenteec-
cellente,organismiistituzionalienon
svolgono da tempo con successo. Il
perdurare dellesperienza di affianca-
mento porterebbe inoltre, come ef-
fettonientaffattosecondario,allinne-
scodilogichediretechevedrebbero
coinvolti a vario titolo tutti i soggetti
interessati al processo di creazione
dimpresa,conlapossibilitdisvilup-
pare networks di sostegno informale
checontribuirebberocoltempoara-
dicare ulteriormentela cultura di im-
presasulterritorioregionale.
Dovendopensaredidefinireunentit
ingradodifornireimenzionatiservizi
addizionali, in grado di interpretare
le logicheimprenditorialiin unottica
direlazionalitedioffriresostegnoa
soggettisvantaggiatinellaloroinclusio-
ne nel sistema produttivo, limpresa
socialesiimpostacomesceltaquasi
obbligataperlesuecaratteristichepre-
cipue,perilsuoessereincondizione
di produrre servizi ad alto grado di
meritorietovveroservizichenonsa-
rebbero convenienti per nessun altra
impresa,perilsuoessereingradodi
discriminare sul prezzo (facendo pa-
gareaciascunoquellochedisposto
a pagare) e in ultimo per limpiegare
alsuointernosoggettisvantaggiatiche
nel caso in esame potrebbero bene-
ficiare di una sorta di training on the
jobindirettoessendolimpresasociale
asuavoltasoggettoimprenditoriale.
Si pone a questo punto il problema
comuneatutteleimpresesocialilega-
toallasostenibiliteconomicadellat-
tivit svolta. Infatti pur considerando
la possibilit di stipulare convenzioni
con le autorit locali e di accedere ai
finanziamenti per le imprese sociali
offerti sia per parte pubblica che da
istitutibancari,devonoesserepreviste
attivitdifornituradiservizichecon-
sentanoallimpresasocialedigenerare
ricavi.Postocheleazioniasupporto
dellacreazionediimpresapersoggetti
svantaggiati data la loro natura sono
erogate a condizioni non di mercato,
limpresasocialedeveessereingrado
diidentificareunrangediservizipro-
ponibiliallesternocheleconsentano
diinnescareprocessivirtuosidiauto-
sostenibilit.
Una modalit a nostro avviso appli-
cabile, in considerazione delle attuali
direttive europee in tema di sviluppo
imprenditorialeedipromozionedel-
laresponsabilitsocialeconspecifico
riferimento alladozione di tali prassi
dapartedellepiccoleemedieimpre-
se, potrebbe essere lidentificazione
diareeesettoridelmondoimprendi-
toriale profit che con le opportune
mediazionipotrebberofruirediservi-
zi/fornitureoffertidalleimpresesocia-
liebasatisulogichedimercato.
La sensibilizzazione in tempi recenti
delsettoreprivatosutemidicarattere
sociale e ambientale concretamente
trova la sua applicazione nella ado-
zione da parte delle impresedi com-
portamenti socialmente responsabili
rivolti sia allinterno che allesterno
dellimpresachesitraduconopoinel-
limpiego di strumenti specifici (quali
il codice etico, il bilancio sociale, le
certificazioni in materia ambientale e
sociale) che ne consentono la valu-
tazione.
La nuova disciplina dellimpresa so-
ciale (DL 24 marzo 2006, n. 155)
prevedelobbligodiredazionedelbi-
lanciosocialeperlimpresasociale.A
livello comunitario e nazionale esiste
unafortepressioneaffinchleimpre-
se sociali intraprendono percorsi di
certificazione soprattutto per quanto
concerne la qualit dei servizi e dei
prodottiofferti.
Sul piano interno limpresa sociale
dotatadiunsistemadigovernancede-
mocraticosecondocuituttiisocihan-
no diritto di concorrere attivamente
alla gestione dei processi decisionali.
Sul piano esterno, come gi citato, il
radicamento territoriale consente al-
limpresasocialediproporremodelli
di sviluppo sostenibile e socialmente
compatibili.
Tutti i fattori menzionati, si pu ben
notare,inmodomagarinondefinitoo
consapevole rispondono alle logiche
propriedellaresponsabilitsocialedi
impresa.
Afrontedunquediunbisognoancora
inevasosoprattuttoperquantoconcer-
nelepiccoleemedieimpreserelativo
alladozione di pratiche socialmente
responsabililegatoancheaicostidiat-
tuazionedellestesse(difficilmenteuna
piccolaimpresapuprendersilonere
di spesare un CSR manager) esiste
per converso un know-how esistente
mainespresso(interminidivantaggio
economico) dellimpresa sociale affe-
rentelemedesimetematiche.
Sitratta,equiconcludo,diincanalare
e strutturare, attraverso percorsi pro-
fessionalizzati,questepotenzialittra-
sformandole in servizi che limpresa
sociale pu offrire al mondo dellim-
prenditoriaprivata;sviluppandoquin-
dinuovesinergieingradodiconiugare
lenuovenecessitdelleimpreseprofit
egarantirealtempostessolasosteni-
bilitfinanziariadelleimpresesociali.
the Social SectoR in
FRance
byCatherineNeveu
To continue on the same themes
already developed by the other
speakers, Ill focus on the womens
situationinFrenchlabourmarket.Job
insertion is an extremely complicate
issue for women who in fact found
more difficulties than man both in
finding a job and in starting-up their
ownbusiness.
In general womens unemployment
rateishigherthanmensoneandalso
as far as the degree of qualification
is concerned the differential is
considerable.
Only 30% of people involved in
processes of business creation are
women and, when it comes to the
juridicalformofthebusiness,only7%
of women decides to start-up a s.r.l.
Considering that business creation is
oneofthemostrelevantwaystofind
an occupation and gain economic
relevance,thescenarioissadenough.
But there is room for optimism, if
one considers that in ten years the
percentage of female entrepreneurs
increasedfrom18%to30%.
Reasonsforthisphenomenonhaveto
be identifies in two main factors: the
firstoneisrelatedwithahigherlevel
ofeducationpossessedbywomen,the
second one is related with womens
need to combine professional and
family life which is both an obstacle
andareasonofsuccesssinceitallows
women in developing organisational
skillswhichcouldbelaterusedinthe
managementoftheirbusinesses.
Women over-50s are those more
interested in starting-up their own
business(+14%)whetherbecausethey
are the category most hampered by
unemployment or whether because
their family burden is reduced since
theirchildrenhavegrown.
Themajorityofwomen-ledenterprises
operates in the tertiary sector (84%):
trade, hotel and restaurants, business

services and heath care. Many
enterprises are small- and medium-
sized ones but the number of micro-
enterprises is extremely relevant too.
Despitethedifficultieswomenhaveto
faceinsettinguptheirbusinesses,the
mortality rate of female enterprises
is lower than the one of their male
counterparts.
Motivations for business creation
are given by a combination between
desireofbeingindependentandneed
of reconcile professional and family
life.
InIledeFranceRegionapersonout
of six decides to start a business: as
a consequence also the number of
women-led enterprises is higher than
the national average. 24% of people
moves toward self-employment due
toastateoflong-termunemployment,
andthisisvalidalsoforwomen.
InFrancesocialsectorischaracterized
by high feminization rates. In the
field of domicile assistance, 92%
of the employees are women and
most of them are immigrants. But,
if managerial roles inside social
sectors organisations are taken
into consideration, only 20% of the
managerial roles are covered by
women. Therefore even in the social
sector, which most likely could offer
a concrete opportunity to promote
womens insertion in the labour
market, managerial positions still
belongtomen.
As a consequence, if social sector
represents a way to favour womens
job inclusion (despite social sectors
low salaries and widespread
precariousness),itwouldbeaparadox
toconsideritasapossibilitytopromote
female entrepreneurship considering
the low number of women covering
managerialroles.
il SettoRe Sociale in
FRancia
diCatherineNeveu
Per inserirsi nel filone gi trattato
nel corso degli altri interventi, mi
soffermer sulla situazione della
donna nel mercato del lavoro
francese. Il mondo dellinserimento
professionale in Francia non per
nullafavorevolealledonnecheinfatti
pertrovareunimpiegooperaccedere
a forme di creazione dimpresa
incontranomaggioridifficoltchenon
gliuomini.
Ingeneraleiltassodidisoccupazione
femminile superiore a quello
maschileeancheperquantoriguardail
livellodiqualificazioneildifferenziale
moltoelevato.
Relativamente alla creazione di
impresasoloil30%degliimprenditori
sono donne e se si considera la
forma di impresa solo il 7% decide
di avviare una s.r.l. Se si pensa che
la creazione di impresa il modo
principaleditrovareunlavoroeavere
di conseguenza un peso economico,
lasituazionepiuttostotriste.Visono
spazi per un maggiore ottimismo se
persiconsiderachenellarcodidieci
annilapercentualedelleimprenditrici
passatadal18%al30%.
Allabasediquestofenomenovisono
essenzialmenteduefattori:ilprimo
legatoalmaggiorlivellodieducazione
delledonneintesosiacomeeducazione
primariacheprofessionale;ilsecondo
connessoallanecessitdiconciliare
vita professionale e vita privata che,
oltre ad essere un possibile ostacolo,
consente alle donne di sviluppare
maggiori capacit organizzative e
gestionali che si ritrovano poi nella
lorogestioneaziendale.
Le donne oltre i 50 anni det
sono quelle che pi si interessano
alla creazione dimpresa (con un
incremento del 14%) sia perch
sono le pi interessate da fenomeni
di disoccupazione di lungo corso,
sia perch hanno minori obblighi
familiariessendoifiglicresciuti.
Ilsettoredominantedellimprenditoria
femminile il terziario (84%):
commercio, ristorazione e alberghi,
servizialleimpreseeaiprivati.Rispetto
alla dimensione molte imprese sono
di piccole e medie dimensioni e un
numeromoltorilevantedidimensioni
micro. Malgrado le difficolt a cui si
accennavaprima,iltassodimortalit
delle imprese femminili inferiore a
quellodiquellemaschili.
Lemotivazioniprevalentichespingono
allacreazionediimpresasonodateda
una combinazione tra desiderio di
indipendenzaenecessitdiconciliare
travitaprivataeprofessionale.
Nella regione dellIle de France un
francesesuseicrealapropriaimpresa:
di conseguenza anche il numero di
impresefemminilisuperiorerispetto
alrestodelPaese.Il24%dellepersone
spintoversolauto-imprenditorialit
perchdisoccupatoequestoundato
comuneancheperledonne.
In Francia il settore sociale
caratterizzatodaunafortecomponente
femminile.Nellassistenzaadomicilio
circa il 92% sono donne, soprattutto
impiegate.Sesipassaperaconsiderare
i ruoli manageriali allinterno delle
organizzazionidelterzosettore,soloil
20% dei ruoli dirigenziali ricoperto
da donne. Quindi anche nel terzo
settore, che potrebbe essere una
leva per promuovere linserimento
lavorativo delle donne, le funzioni
di responsabilit sono ancora
appannaggiomaschile.
Di conseguenza se vero che il
settore sociale rappresenta un modo
per favorire linserimento lavorativo
delle donne(nonostantei bassisalari
e la diffusa precariet), sarebbe per
paradossale considerarlo come
una possibilit per promuovere
limprenditoria femminile visto che
vi sono poche donne in posizioni
manageriali.
Regione Lazio
Regione Lazio
Alternative
Entrepreneurship
Project report
www.districtlazio.it
Regione Lazio
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PROTEO
MEDIOCREDITO ITALIANO
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Alternative Entrepreneurship Project Report: Mediocredito Italiano

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Alternative Entrepreneurship Project Report: Mediocredito Italiano

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Alternative

data on private and social entrepre-

Part 1 - Introduction - Project Highlights

Alternative Entrepreneurship - Project report

Part 1 - Introduction - Project Highlights

methodology necessary to maximise

Part 1 - Introduction - Project Highlights

Phase 3 Development of a Shared Model

Phase 5 Evaluation and Monitoring

Alternative Entrepreneurship - Project report

Alternative Entrepreneurship - Project report

The European Council of March

Alternative Entrepreneurship - Project report

macroeconomic and microeconomic

those who are. However, the at-risk-

Alternative Entrepreneurship - Project report

and training systems and the better

Alternative Entrepreneurship - Project report

ductivity growth, prevent exclusion

Alternative Entrepreneurship - Project report

into higher value markets in tradi-

Alternative Entrepreneurship - Project report

The plurality of legal forms recog-

Furthermore the status of social en-

Alternative Entrepreneurship - Project report

various member of the social coop-

and medium enterprise according to European standards and to the subjec-

Alternative Entrepreneurship - Project report

ployment initiatives towards unem-

Alternative Entrepreneurship - Project report

Alternative Entrepreneurship - Project report

Alternative Entrepreneurship - Project report

Employees > 15 years old

collaterals, small amounts of credit

Alternative Entrepreneurship - Project report

substitute the existing technical

ethical values may include a com-

key distinguishing characteristics are

Social Enterprise Level

investment in research and innova-

Alternative Entrepreneurship - Project report

Health and safety at work - Com-

ployment and/or social inclusion

Social Enterprise Level

means of provision of additional

Alternative Entrepreneurship - Project report

respect the letter of the ILO con-

are comparable in scope, intent, im-

Alternative Entrepreneurship - Project report

as the FSC criteria). These instru-

enhancing the environment (in a general

morale often lead to increased produc-

Social Enterprise Level

Alternative Entrepreneurship - Project report

Social Enterprise Level

Alternative Entrepreneurship - Project report

In each of these scenarios, networks

individuals and organizations is a sig-

Alternative Entrepreneurship - Project report

could adopt the same logics govern-

Furopeon Fmp|oyment 8trotegy

Commun|ty 8upport Fromework

Furopeon Cooperot|ve 8oc|ety