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International models of cooperative and social enteprises

 

This area focuses on research examining the efficiency and effectiveness of cooperative and social enterprise models and networks. To this end, area 5 coordinates the collection of models of social and cooperative enterprises, both from within and outside Europe; from countries experiencing varying degrees of economic development with different types of welfare systems.
 
The aim is to create an open access database of case studies that could be utilized for:
 
1 / comparative studies;
2 / shaping future forms of intervention; and
3 / giving policy suggestions to both national governments and international institutions, who are often quite interested in learning about concrete success stories from cooperative and social enterprises. 

 

 

 
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Project List

Cooperative models worldwide
The cooperative form is a flexible business model that over time has proven capable of adapting to a myriad of economic, cultural, and social contexts and has also been used to develop enterprises in multiple productive and service sectors.
 
Over the last three decades, new cooperative forms and networks of cooperatives have emerged in new fields (e.g. social cooperatives), demonstrating their capacity to adjust to the evolution of needs arising in society.
Social enterprises and their evolution

This project involves the coordination of research activities being conducted by researchers identified through dedicated ‘calls for case studies’. Specifically, the calls aim to collect case studies that follow a particular protocol, provided by Euricse, which high-lights the principle characteristics of the social enterprises being studied. The first call, launched in June 2010, concentrates on social enterprises providing work integration for disadvantaged individuals and these organizations’ contribution to social innovation.