ViSENet - Village Social Enterprise learning material, guidance and networking

THE RURAL SOCIAL ENTERPRISE GUIDEBOOK OF GOOD PRACTICE: Experience from Estonia, Finland, Germany, Romania and Scotland

Authors:
Clark, Ailsa
Evans, Roger
Fetzer, Ellen
Higgins, Ailsa
Lähdesmäki, Merja
Linno, Kaisa
Matilainen, Anne
Păunescu, Carmen
Rinne-Koski, Katja
Staicu, Daniela
Sudakova, Lea
Sumsion, Rosie

Bringing communities together: closing event of ViSEnet-project November 30th, 2021

• TIME: 15:00 EET, 14:00 CET, 13:00 UK
• Please register for the seminar by 26th November 2021
• Program PDF

ViSEnet Rural Rep Meeting October 26th, 2021

iNNoHUB – Business Incubator for  Sustainable Development  

• TIME: Romania, Estonia and Finland: 14:00-15:00, Scotland: 12:00-13:00
• Please register for the seminar by 25th October 2021 
• Guest speaker: Ms. Mátyus Enikő, Romania

ViSEnet Virtual Round Table discussion:
Sept 14th, 2021

The Future of Rural Social Enterprises in Europe

• Program PDF
• Research needs and future co-operation
  Lucas Olmedo and Mary O’Shaughnessy (CUBS - UCC)
• Rural social enterprises, benefits and experiences
  Roger Evans, Eesti Maaülikool

ViSEnet Rural Community online seminar and talk: June 22nd, 2021

Partnership table as a tool for rural development: practises and experiences from Finland

A partnership table is a collective and goal-oriented discussion forum that gathers different sectors (e.g. public,business and the third sector) together to solve wicked problems that have no easy solutions. The advantage is that the goal is common to all parties: when the resources, skills and knowledge of all participants are combined and shared, even surprising results can be achieved. At its best, by sharing responsibilities and combining different knowhow, it is possible to create and find new ways of providing services, make savings, share costs or utilize funding sources from outside the municipality. The partner table can be used as a one-time method or as a continuous development tool.

The Finnish Local Action Group Mansikka ry is a pioneer in using a partnership table as a development tool in the rural development. In this seminar, they will share some of their experiences, challenges, and the achievements they have gained using a partnership table. These include for example developing services and activities for the elderly, developing the former municipal hall into a shared space and creating leisure trails, mobile app and web pages, to mention a few.

The speakers, Seija Korhonen and Elina Huerta, are currently involved in a project aiming to improve the welfare and services of rural residents by strengthening the participation of local people.

All interested in rural community development are welcome to join this seminar!

Rural Community online seminar and talk: June 22nd, 2021

ViSEnet (Village Social Enterprise learning material, guidance and networking) supports the resilience of rural communities by providing ideas, tools and methods of promoting and developing social entrepreneurship in rural areas, and by enhancing the networking and exchange of knowledge of rural social enterprises.

Visit the Learning material prepared in the project and join in the international network of rural social enterprises: Rural SE Hub! ViSEnet is funded by the EU Erasmus+ Strategic partnership for adult education.

Website: http://www.visenet.net
PDF

Date: June 22nd 2021
Time: 16:00–17:00 EET, 15:00–16:00 CET and
14.00–15.00 UK
Please register for the seminar by 21st June 2021 at the following link:

https://elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/112287/lomake

ViSEnet Junior - Get Inspired

Get inspired, develop new skills, and create change.

Join us on Saturday 19th June for an exciting, tailor-made event for young people aged 12-25 who are interested in social entrepreneurship in rural communities.  Hosted by European partners from the Village Social Enterprise Network (ViSENet) this online event is a one-of-a-kind opportunity to meet new people, develop your skills and confidence, and get inspired to continue creating positive change in your communities.

Meet young people from across Europe and participate in training workshops to develop your skills and confidence. Ask questions of young social entrepreneurs, learn from their experience and advice, and share your own opinions on how social enterprise can support young people to broaden their horizons and create positive change in their communities and across the world.

Saturday 19th June, Tickets are free
11:00 - 16:30 (EST), 09:00 - 14:30 (BST)
Register here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/151792396143

For more information, contact Rosie Sumsion: rsumsion@inspiralba.org.uk or Ailsa Higgins: ahiggins@inspiralba.org.uk

ViSEnet Rural Community online
seminar and talk:  May 4th, 2021

On the topic of: Renovating the community shop and post office in Leesi Village, Estonia.

The speaker at May’s seminar will be Artur Talvik, a well-known in Estonian filmmaker, community activist and politician (a former Member of Parliament). He has a summer house in Lahemaa National Park, on the Juminda peninsula which, due very much to his efforts has become one of the most active communities in Estonia.

Their community has started a community radio, a voluntary law enforcement and sea rescue units. Their latest achievement is creating a cooperative of 70 families to renovate and run a 100-year-old community shop and post office at Leesi (https://www.facebook.com/LeesiKauplus/). For this work they received much attention and an award from the national heritage board.

All interested in rural community development are welcome to join this seminar!

Program PDF

Please register for the seminar at the following link:
https://elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/111300/lomake.html

Material developed with four rural communities from Estonia, Finland, Romania and Scotland is now available for feedback
 

The objective to create learning materials adapted to rural community context was the starting point for the five partners engaged in the ViSEnet project. The content has been created based on a shared understanding of the strategic key points of rural development and has been tested and reviewed in the past 24 months with rural communities that acted as local pilots.

The three-module material is located in the Rural Social Enterprise Hub: https://www.ruralsehub.net/visenet-overview/

Check also the interational network for rural social enterprises (Rural SE Hub): https://www.ruralsehub.net/

Rural communities from all over Europe are invited
to learn about managing social enterprises (Press release 1/2021)

Material developed with four rural communities from Estonia, Finland, Romania and
Scotland now available in the ViSEnet project

In the past two years, an international group of university professors, rural communities representatives, social entrepreneurs and researchers have developed three-modules of learning material about community and social enterprise, adapted to rural needs and opportunities.

One way to tackle the challenges of dimishing local services, encountered in many rural communities is to provide the services locally by community-run enterprises or social enterprises. Online, there are many learning resources about social entrepreneurship, but these resources seldom take into account the rural context and are not adapted to the realities of living in a rural area.

The objective to create learning materials adapted to rural community context was the starting point for the five partners engaged in the ViSEnet project. The content has been created based on a shared understanding of the strategic key points of rural development and has been tested and reviewed in the past 24 months with rural communities that acted as local pilots.

The material consists of three main modules: Community Involvement, Networking and Partnerships and Social Enterprise Solutions:

• Module 1 takes a look at the local community and its needs, and formulates an essential background to the successful social enterprise.

• Module 2 concentrates on the importance of networking and partnerships: in rural areas it can be advantageous to collaborate with others to pool resources and increase impact.
• Module 3 discusses social enterprise solutions - giving rural businesses practical guidance on how to run their enterprise succesfully and add value at a local community level. This module also highlights the importance of measuring social impact rural social enterprises make in their area.

The three-module material is located in the Rural Social Enterprise Hub: https://www.ruralsehub.net/visenet-overview/.

Read morePress release, March 2021 (PDF)

The target groups of the project are individuals who are interested in developing and sustaining their rural communities, who are willing to consider socially enterprising solutions to assist their rural areas or individuals who already have an idea for social enterprise in rural areas, as well as individuals already engaged in social enterprise activity but wish to gain new skills, knowledge and expertise to assist them in their venture. Nearly 300 participants will be engaged in learning while participating in the actions of the project.

The project aims to enhance the ideas and methods to promote and support social entrepreneurship in rural areas by

• creating an open access digital learning material and opportunities for rural communities and people to foster the knowledge and awareness of the social enterprises
• supporting online learning experience of the development of social enterprises in rural environments with evaluated and piloted methods addressing local needs
• enhancing the rural communities to better interact and exchange experiences and good practices with other communitiesregionally , nationally and internationally by a digital networking platform as well as by establishing an international network of rural social enterprises to exchange experiences, good practices and disseminate learning material created.

Project partners:

University of Helsinki Ruralia Institute (coordinator), Finland
The Bucharest University of Economic Studies (ASE), Romania
Estonian University of Life Sciences (EMU), Estonia
Nürtingen-Geislingen University (NGU), Germany
Inspiralba, Scotland

The objective to create learning materials adapted to rural community context was the starting point for the five partners engaged in the ViSEnet project. The content has been created based on a shared understanding of the strategic key points of rural development and has been tested and reviewed in the past 24 months with rural communities that acted as local pilots.

The three-module material is located in the Rural Social Enterprise Hub. Visit the SE learning material prepared by the ViSEnet-project and give your feedback: https://www.ruralsehub.net/visenet-overview/

Check also the interational network for rural social enterprises (Rural SE Hub): https://www.ruralsehub.net/

The project outcomes will include

a) Open access learning material

The learning material is created in cooperation between strategic partnership of consortium based on the common consistency of good practices and experiences; and is divided to three thematic learning modules based on the practical needs of rural actors aiming to support the development of the rural social enterprises.

The learning modules are

1) Community Activation and Participation Methods in Rural Areas

2) Partnerships and Networking of Social Entrepreneurs

3) Social Enterprise Solutions for Sustaining Rural Communities and Measuring Social Impact.

Each module is based on good practices and experiences identified by consortium and will be tested in national pilot groups. [description of your national pilot group, if you like]

b) International Network of Rural Social Enterprises

In addition to support the future work of rural social entrepreneurs the project will establish an international network (Rural Social Enterprises) to give the members peer support, advice and a platform to exchange information and good practices to keep the process ongoing. The membership will be open to everyone interested in the topic.

c) Practical Guidebook of Good Practices for supporting the development of social entrepreneurship (SE) in rural areas

The experiences gained through the project will be written into an e-guidebook of good practices for further use targeted at both learners and educators as well as policy makers.

Results of the project will be shared through disseminating outputs in the open access format. All products and materials will be available and accessible online to all who are interested in social entrepreneurship and community development.

As an outcome the skills of the rural communities to establish SEs will increase and are likely to have a positive influence on their effectiveness in community development, social entrepreneurship and/or employability and finally the potential longer-term benefits. Supporting the development of SE's in rural areas will enhance active citizenship and helps better to address the future challenges (e.g. lack of skills, jobs, services and social exclusion in rural context). Learning material and piloted methods suitable for rural areas encourage communities to develop SE's and share their experiences with others.

The project duration time is 03.12.2018–02.12.2021
The project is funded by EU Erasmus+ Strategic partnership for adult education.
The Finnish National Agency for Education is hosting the national agency for the European Union’s education and youth programmes.

The capacity to identify needs, assets and opportunities in the local rural communities and collaboration are critical for rural communities in Estonia, Finland, Romania, and Scotland.

The data was collected during the first phase of the VISEnet Erasmus + project for social entrepreneurship in rural communities

The rural communities must be able to meet their basic needs, such as clean water, health, education and employment and paraprofessionals already exist in villages and their wisdom, traditional knowledge and practical skills are not identified, mobilized or applied*. Through Erasmus + program "Village Social Enterprise learning material guidance and networking” (VISEnet), the international team composed of experts and professors from the academia and rural communities representatives, aims to develop various skills in rural communities to fit their needs for development of social enterprises.

During August - November 2019, 64 people from rural communities in Estonia, Finland, Scotland and Romania participated in local workshops focused on "Methods of community activation and participation in rural areas" divided into five subjects of analysis (figure 1), to stimulate the development of social enterprises in their communities.

Figure 1. Subjects addressed during the local workshops

A variety of teaching methods were employed: community mapping in terms of needs, assets and opportunities (the Enterprise Assessment Tool), brainstorming, the empathy map.

In Estonia, NGO Ökokuller coordinated the workshop which included two communities, one from North-Estonia - Lahemaa and one from South-Estonia - Haanja. The facilitator, with the help of the VISEnet learning material aimed to bring the communities closer together in tourism development and as a result, this workshop helped to strengthen a group of locals to make them ready for further tourism development activities.

In Finland, the activities were coordinated and developed by the University of Helsinki Ruralia Institute. The two villages participating in the project are at different stages of developing social enterprises. Together with the three facilitators, the participants assessed the resources and opportunities available in their own context by community mapping. The workshop gave the participants the confidence that there is available assistance for business development and that other rural areas have done such social enterprises. The main lesson drawn from this workshop was that “there are assets and potential in the village, it just has to be seen and turned into a business opportunity.”

In Romania, 19 members of a rural community composed of seven villages, were guided by the Bucharest University of Economics professors in a process of mapping the local needs and untapped resources. The participants worked around the concepts of "community activation” and “community participation" and collaboratively identified both the critical needs for the school community, the assets of their school community and potential connections between the needs in the community and the assets available. However, there is a need for continuous assistance and training regarding the use of different tools to turn opportunities into business models. At the end of the activity, a group of four participants declared that they want to “voluntarily work on the activities resulting from the workshop”.

In Scotland, the activities were coordinated by Inspiralba and the focus was on identifying assets in the community, in particular in relation to human assets. Moreover, the team identified a range of physical and natural assets within thevillage. The group also recognized that whilst there were a range of potential skills available in the village, people’s availability and time was a factor. Future plans of the group of participants imply that “there is a need for a second session to identify the range of skills available in particular areas of work”.

Figure 2. Main priorities of local communities resulted from the four local workshops

The main priorities of local rural communities resulting from the local workshops (figure 2) are related to mapping local opportunities which have potential to be turned into business opportunities with a high impact on the social context of each particular community, and to identifying rural human, infrastructure and natural assets.
Moreover, the facilitator teams in all the countries-partners concluded that paying particular attention to community activation and participation in rural areas helps foster local social entrepreneurship in many ways. In conclusion, the content about community activation and participation developed by the VISEnet team may be a means to strengthen the communities (Estonia), to foster the potential of the community (Finland), encourage local activation and initiative (Romania) and enhance continuation of local development processes (Scotland).

The premise of the VISEnet Erasmus + project is that in rural communities there is a lot of local potential, knowledg and skills needed to improve the provision of local services and employment, but people do not know how to use the resources of the local community or the region. A possible solution for the development of the local economy is social entrepreneurship, a sustainable initiative for which the social purpose prevails and where the profit is reinvested in the local community, however, relatively new in rural development in Europe. Therefore, it is necessary to develop the capacity of the locals to identify and use the potential of the community, by developing the skills of community activation, of creating partnerships and networks for the recognition and support of social entrepreneurship. The next workshop scheduled for 2020 will focus on “Creating partnerships and networks for community development”.

The ViSEnet project is funded by the EU Erasmus+ Strategic partnership for adult education.
Website: http://www.visenet.net
***
Source: *The Power of Unreasonable People: How Social Entrepreneurs Create Markets That Change the World
Hardcover by John Elkington (Author), Pamela Hartigan (Author), Klaus Schwab (Foreword).
Available at: https://www.amazon.com/Power-Unreasonable-People-Entrepreneurs-Markets/dp/1422104060

The resources related to “community activation” and “community participation” developed during the first phase of the project and piloted with the rural communities partners during the workshops are available for examination online: https://ilias.hfwu.de/ilias.php?ref_id=24071

A video about the workshop held in Romania: https://youtu.be/l0Vibs9CJ3g

The European Commission is not responsible for the content of this press release.

Partners:
University of Helsinki Ruralia Institute, Finland (coordinator): Website
Contact: Katja Rinne-Koski, katja.rinne-koski@helsinki.fi

Estonian University of Life Sciences, Estonia: Website
Contact: Roger Evans, evanter.ou@gmail.com and Lea Sudakova, lea.sudakova@emu.ee

Nürtingen-Geislingen University, Germany: Website
Contact: Roman Lenz, roman.lenz@hfwu.de

Bucharest University of Economic Studies, Romania: Website
Contact: Carmen Paunescu, carmen.paunescu@ase.ro

Inspiralba, Scotland: Website
Contact: Ailsa Clark, aclark@inspiralba.org.uk

Finland: Katja Rinne-Koski, katja.rinne-koski@helsinki.fi
ASE, Romania: Carmen Paunescu, carmen.paunescu@ase.ro
EMU, Estonia: Roger Evans, evanter.ou@gmail.com and Lea Sudakova, lea.sudakova@emu.ee
NGU, Germany: Roman Lenz, roman.lenz@hfwu.de
Inspiralba, Scotland: Ailsa Clark, aclark@inspiralba.org.uk 

Remark: The European Commission accepts no responsibility for the contents of this website.