Source: Vinnytsia City Council
On May 22, 2020, during the session of the City Council, deputies approved 2020-2022 Social Entrepreneurship Development Program on the territory of Vinnytsia City ATC. The plan is to increase the number of employed people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups that need to be supported. As well as introduction of a culture of social investment inside the business community. It is also planned to increase the number of social enterprises (SE) in the city etc.
The program was developed by the Economics and Investment Department in cooperation with the Department for Social Policy of the Vinnytsia City Council and with the expert support of the PLEDDG.
All interested parties were involved in the work: social entrepreneurs; those who are planning to launch social enterprises; representatives of SMEs and socially responsible businesses; teachers of higher education institutions and others.
The program is aimed at supporting the development of socially-oriented entrepreneurship, engaging socially vulnerable groups of the population into business activities. And also, dissemination of best practices of social entrepreneurship to address existing social challenges and achieve positive social changes.
The strategic goal of the Program is to develop an ecosystem for the social entrepreneurship development in Vinnytsia City ATC. The action plan for the implementation of the Program provides for a total of 29 projects.
It is planned to achieve strategic goal focusing on 6 objectives:
- Implementation of institutional support for social entrepreneurship and social innovations.
- Popularization of the culture of social entrepreneurship.
- Measuring social impact and the promotion of social reporting.
- Development of business skills and support of the social business development.
- Promotion of free market access for social entrepreneurs.
- Creation of financial instruments for social entrepreneurship development.
Implementation of the Program’s projects will contribute to the achievement of a number of positive socio-economic results, in particular, in the short and long term. Among the main short-term results, it is planned to identify key institutions responsible for the development of social entrepreneurship in the territory of the ATC. Also, it is planned to develop and implement a system of monitoring and evaluation of social entrepreneurship development status in the territory of the city ATC.
In addition, among the short-term results, it is planned to highlight information about the activities of social entrepreneurs on the website of Vinnytsia City Council, to familiarize Vinnytsia youth with the concept of social entrepreneurship.
It is also planned to form a pool of consultants and experts on SE development in the city to provide social entrepreneurs with an easy access to business development advice. Social entrepreneurs will be provided with favorable conditions for active participation in events for SMEs and various city fairs, exhibitions and other public events.
As for the long-term results, it is planned that courses on “Social Entrepreneurship” in various specialties will be taught on the basis of ATC’s HEIs. On the basis of several schools and HEIs, school and youth SE will be launched. It is also planned, to increase the number of employed people with disabilities and those who represent socially vulnerable groups on the basis of the SEs.