During the period of 25 – 30 July 2022, the project organized a study visit to Poland, in the region of Poznan and surrounding municipalities that are a part of the national network of SE cooperation. 23 participants from various ministries, municipalities, social enterprises and regional centres for support of social entrepreneurship from Republic of North Macedonia had opportunity to see polish examples of local partnerships between local municipalities, companies, social enterprises, all collaborating for the benefits of sustainable local development and their citizens.
The international study visit to Poland is one of the most important activities planned within the project as it embodies the practical side of social entrepreneurship learning and an exchange of good practices.
On the first day of the visit, the group visited the Barka Foundation headquarters in Poznan where they met the representatives of the Wielkopolska Centre for Support of Social Enterprises and the Centre of Social Integration. The group shared good practices and knowledge transfer regarding social entrepreneurship efforts of the Barka Foundation. As a learning part of the study visit, two Barka members, Robert and Waldek shared their life stories, presenting the mechanism of integration within the community thanks to the support of people who have experienced addiction and homelessness.
In the Barka Foundation, the leaders play an important role in supporting others in need. This is a self-help mechanism which supports not only needy persons but also empowers those who provide support and empowerment. The leaders have also shared the experiences of the Barka Foundations abroad (UK, Ireland, The Netherlands, Belgium, Island, France, Germany, Iceland, Canada, Africa), where the Barka leaders are hired as a support team to work with the Polish and the national entities.
The Barka presentation was followed by a Stakeholders conference with the participants of the Macedonian delegation and respected guests from Poland, chairpersons of councils, CSOs and SEs from the Wielkopolska region, experts for the reintegration, business activities and animation of local communities, etc.
The last part of the study tour on the 26th of July was the visit to the social enterprise “Invisible Street”, which provides an exhibition in darkness for the daily visitors. It hires 6 blind and partly sighted persons who are the guides in the street which is for the sighted persons who want to experience how it is to function in total darkness and who, by visiting such a social enterprise, build a sense of empathy and higher awareness of the challenges of various vulnerable groups.
For participants of the study visit, it was a unique experience as they were touched by the way how visually-challenged citizens are able to manage their daily lives in total darkness. This experience contributes to awareness-raising of citizens, which is one of the aims of the social enterprise, apart from the employment of marginalized groups.
The second day of the visit was dedicated to locations in Turowo/ Pniewy, Kwilcz, Chudobczyce to meet social enterprises and local authorities and see how they cooperate.
The group started the tour from Turowo where the Foundation Nasza ARKA runs a social enterprise providing social services for the elderly people. They have a day centre where they passionately care for 30 persons. Then the Macedonian delegation proceeded to the local community Kwilcz, where the mayor of Kwilcz, Stanislaw Mannek and Krystyna Dorsz, the chairperson of the non-profit company Diakonijna Spółka Zatrudnienia greeted them in the social settlement which has been built by this non-profit company. 8 flats have been built from the profit of SE, which was reinvested for the support of the workers that had previously been homeless persons but with the support of the Barka, and going through the rehabilitation in the Barka community homes and the CIS, they have managed to start an independent life. The plot for the houses has been donated by the local authority. The tenants pay for the maintenance costs for the flats. Next on the agenda was factory of Diakonijna Spółka Zatrudnienia, which was established 10 years ago by the Barka Foundation, the local authority of Kwilcz, the Association for People and Environment, and the Diakonia from Germany. In the statute of the Diakonina company, the profit is not shared among the owners but is fully reinvested for the support of the vulnerable workers and for the sake of the local community. The next the delegation has moved to the Chudobczyce Barka community, Centre for Social Integration (CIS) and the ecological farm.
During the third day of the study visit, the delegation visited social enterprises which cooperate closely with local municipalities located in Sroda, Szamotuly, Rogozno were visited. Macedonian delegation visited the social enterprises/cooperatives Taroka, Opus, CIS, Rogozno, Museum of Rogozno, had meetings with mayors and other institutional and CSO representatives.
The fourth and last day of the study visit was in Warsaw, and was dedicated to meetings with Ministries, department of social economy development, signing the Memorandum of cooperation; meeting in the National Development Bank.
The Minister of Labor and Social Policy, Jovanka Trenchevska had a bilateral meeting with the Minister of Family and Social Policy of the Republic of Poland, Marlena Malag. During the official visit of the Macedonian delegation a Memorandum of Cooperation between the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy of the Republic of North Macedonia and the Ministry of Family and Social Policy was signed by the two ministers.
The aim of the study visit was multi-layered in its nature, namely, to inform, educate, inspire and motivate Macedonian relevant Ministries, institutions, social enterprises and the regional support centres for social enterprise development, to bring theory and practice in so they can learn more about laws and regulations, public procurement procedures, management of social enterprises, to discover the potential of developing financial instruments on one side and motivating local authorities, social services centres, employment agencies, companies and other local stakeholders to use social entrepreneurship as an effective tool for social integration of the vulnerable groups.
The study visit thus was a great opportunity for project stakeholders to bring a good practice in one place when it comes to social entrepreneurship, whereby the SE concept practiced in Poland as a host country is a source of inspiration, motivation and self-reflection on what needs to be done in N. Macedonia and what opportunities can be created with social entrepreneurship as a tool for the social integration of the needy groups.
The study visit was organized with the aim of signing a Memorandum of cooperation between the Macedonian Ministry of Labour and Social Policy and the Polish Ministry of Family and Social Policy which should officially mark the start of the cooperation between the two countries. In the MLSP the Polish legal system was presented while in the national development Bank (Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego) the financial instruments for social enterprises were presented.
According to the assumptions, the experiences from the study visit should serve to fight poverty, unemployment, local development and contribute to restoring dignity and self-respect to own citizens. It can be done through creating the legal and financial framework for SE development in N. Macedonia.
