00:04In the southern Polish town of Bielewe, men who experienced addiction and homelessness are being offered a new chance to
00:11re-join society, learn new skills and enter the job market.
00:35The people you just heard from are all part of this cooperative, an example of what's known as the social
00:41economy, enterprises that ensure everybody in society finds their place.
00:46And as we all face the rising cost of living and inflation, does this non-profit model offer a route
00:52to a more resilient economy?
00:58Here at the Arti Cooperative in Bielewe, Poland, lives are being turned around.
01:0329-year-old Artur Maczewski used to have a drug problem and was living on the streets. Now he's learning
01:10to weld and it's not easy.
01:23Artur has already earned a European Welding Certificate and he's eager to learn more.
01:39The training at the Arti Cooperative is supported by a project called Butterflies from Lower Silesia. It has a budget
01:46of 630,000 euros, 70% of which is from the European Social Fund Plus.
01:52The cooperative often holds group meetings like this to discuss problems, interview newcomers and debate solutions.
02:00Arti has an important social and economic role in town. It helps men out of addiction and homelessness, trains them
02:07and offers services like construction and gardening to local authorities.
02:12A deep Christian faith drives Arti founder Jaroslav Pilecki to give everyone in need a chance to redeem themselves.
02:19In the normal work office, another commercial office would have no chance to reach a level of increase.
02:29We would learn about the normalness because we would have been free.
02:31We are tolerated, we are happy to have an increase and when we have a few months and they are
02:38full-quality people,
02:39they would have no value in commercial offices.
02:41There are 4.3 million social economy organizations like Arti in Europe, ranging from foundations and charities to associations and
02:50cooperatives.
02:51They represent 11.5 million paid jobs, meaning over 6% of the workforce.
02:57The sector is a sizable contributor to the European economy, but it could be bigger.
03:02Our recent review of the EU's Social Economy Action Plan found that despite significant progress,
03:09the social economy is still lacking recognition and support in a consistent way across the EU.
03:15So what can be done?
03:16One recommendation is to create frameworks to allow social economy enterprises better access to financing and investment.
03:23Here at Rotslav University of Economics and Business, Professor Stanislav Kamiński argues for new legislation too.
03:31We need more coordinated and supportive legal framework in the European Union.
03:37So for example, we need legal status of social enterprise that is clear across the European Union.
03:45We also need to create laws which support social economy organizations, for example, in the public procurement system.
03:55An example of that public procurement in action is underway here in Bielewa,
04:00where this social housing is being completely renovated by the arty cooperative team, including Paweł Snopek.
04:07I can do this.
04:09This is my training.
04:12And here I am preparing for the housing for the materials.
04:17So for me, this is nice and I am happy that I can do this.
04:25Paweł struggled with addiction and survived a suicide attempt before joining the cooperative.
04:30When I just lost everything.
04:33When I had no place where to work, I just got a plan for the cooperation, a mission, and I
04:43got here.
04:44Paweł is one of around 3,000 people.
04:47This social economy enterprise has already helped.
04:50And the construction of these new apartments and church gives the arty cooperative room to rebuild many more.
05:00I have to work with a big-ajurop C-5 inch an-a-soup learning structure.
05:00I have to work with a small part of our first apartment.
05:00You
Comments