During the covid19 epidemic we witnessed the boost of mutual help initiatives. There was the use of existing social cooperatives and third sector institutions as speedways to stay in contact and re-organise services, to keep carrying on assistance to those in need: disadvantaged, persons with disabilities, people suffering mental health, elderly.
Social Cooperatives reinvented their action “overnight”. Just to mention some:
- health and care operators locked themselves inside residential homes to isolate elderly;
- the organization of assistance to not self-sufficient was adapted to rules of containment of the epidemic;
- daycare centers and education services were suspended physically but reinvented embracing technology innovation;
- there was the spread of the use of digital platforms for the organisation and provision of welfare and assistance;
All over the country, bottom-up initiatives bloomed around social enterprises and associations: people stopped to be music teachers in the suburbs or sport trainers in rural and isolated areas to start the delivery of essential goods and provide basic assistance to those in need.
It is important to highlight that as we are approaching December 2020, some vital sectors of the social economy are still suspended or partially closed in order to contain the spread of the epidemic. We cannot effort a desertification of social and cultural institutions, education and training initiatives, as well as assistance and daily centers. The disappearance of social cooperatives will mean that millions of people living in rural, mountain areas, they will not have access to basic care, assistance, education.
We need to secure mechanism for fair and inclusive jobs – The actual Covid 19 crisis will generate a growing number of unemployment, and a lot of people is at risk of being permanently excluded from the labour market. Social cooperatives have a crucial part to play here, at least in two ways:
- social cooperatives create accessible workplaces, taking on board those that traditional businesses find hard to employ;
- social cooperatives are a driver of inclusion on the labour market in general, accompanying people in the complex path of retraining and reskilling, and motivating long term unemployed;
Young people back onboard – Speaking of unemployment, specific actions need to be organised targeting young people. As a concrete example, one can easily realise how young people get incredibly engaged in initiatives coordinated by social cooperatives and associations.
As we think to youth guarantee or the Italian National Civic Service we see initiatives that can be reinforced, that already involve thousands of young per year. Under35s get involved and take action, they are included in new social and work relations that give them new skills, helping them to find new paths of life and career.
We should promote investments in this link, we suggest a scheme where a young person ending up Youth Guarantee or National Civic Service project receive an endowment-grant that he/she can
- invest in the creation of a social cooperative/social enterprise engaging other young people with the same endowment-grant;
- invest in an existing social body carrying out social services of general interest.
Social economy is part of the big picture – While planning recovery initiatives and the mobilization of enormous amount of resources in the Next Generation EU plan, we do not just need to be back on track, we need to embrace a new, inclusive, path. It will be extremely dangerous to set aside social economy.
In addition, we should not forget that social economy institutions need specific tax schemes and incentives in order to be able to pursue the mission of general interest that they carry on. This is vital in rural, mountain and, in general, isolated areas where there is no market, no business is able to survive, where the presence of care and assistance is only provided by the local community that takes action.
New actions to boost investments in social economy – The capacity of the social economy to become more and more able to act and include passes through initiatives that reinforce those actors and stimulate investments.
Technology as a mean of inclusion – We are experiencing the growing presence of technology in our everyday life, especially in new forms of communication. Social economy actors embraced this revolution. We have to encourage the integration of social services of general interest with new forms of assistance, aiming to complement the physical presence. Innovation should point at expanding the number of those that can access assistance, not excluding them not able to “upgrade” to new forms of delivery. We must avoid the indirect creation of new inequalities.
Social economy is a partner of local institutions – Innovation is also in the forms that public administration can use to have a profitable dialogue with third sector institutions. We have to encourage co-design, stimulate and support self-organisation, boost partnerships among local institutions with associations, social cooperatives and social enterprises. They can together create new forms of assistance for existing needs as well as provide answers to emerging needs that were unmet.