Social Business Academy

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Unlike traditional businesses, social economy enterprises aim to solve social and environmental problems while generating revenue. They are not driven solely by profit maximization, but are committed to making positive change through their work.

In the European Union, there are 2.8 million social economy enterprises, representing 10% of all businesses in the EU. Nearly 13.6 million people – about 6.2% of EU employees – work for social economy enterprises. In Romania, we have 2,924 social enterprises, of which 1,967 have a valid certificate recognizing their status (according to RUEIS, July 2024).

More social enterprises mean more jobs for people from disadvantaged groups and more actors contributing to the development of a more cohesive and equitable society. The establishment of such enterprises can be an important part of the answer to Romania’s high rate of poverty and social exclusion, which reached 34.4% of the population in 2022.

What do we aim to achieve?

Social Business Academy is a project through which we want to train future social entrepreneurs in rural areas and to support the establishment of 34 social businesses in 3 regions of the country in order to accelerate the positive impact of the social economy in rural Romania.

The main goal of the project is to increase the level of socio-economic development in the North-West, Center and North-East regions in order to integrate vulnerable people from rural areas into the labor market, by setting up social enterprises and creating new jobs within them.

In the Social Business Academy, 132 people from rural areas (including 27 people from vulnerable groups and 21 Roma) will follow a training program to become entrepreneurs in social economy. At the end of the training, 34 of them will set up their own social business and bring positive change in their communities.

What’s next?

By January 2027, the Social Business Academy will support the establishment and operation of 34 social businesses in 3 regions, creating 136 jobs in rural Romania. The project will include:

All activities are offered free of charge to the 132 participants. The call for applications for the program is open and all the details can be accessed online at: www.civitas.ro/academia-de-afaceri-sociale.

Keep an eye on the “News” section of our website and follow us on social media to stay up to date with program news!

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The project (Code MySMIS: 305395) is co-funded by the European Social Fund, through the Inclusion and Social Dignity Operational Programm 2021-2027. For detailed information about the other programs co-funded by the European Union, please visit www.mfe.gov.ro!