HERE - Social Economy of Proximity

“Shelter “Safe House” association implementing the Erasmus + Project “HERE – Social Economy of Proximity” on 10 March invites you to the final seminar.

Erasmus + “HERE – Social Economy of Proximity” was launched successfully in November 2020. At the beginning of the project, target groups such as youngsters, women, elderly people, migrants, refugees etc. have been identified. In total 6 areas were identified and selected for project implementation in 3 different countries (Spain, Italy and Latvia). The selected areas vary by size, location (suburban or rural areas) and population.

During the project partners have developed a Business Manual for daily use, “MOOC” online training platform. Selected Participants had a chance to take part in Business Incubator where support was provided for more than 30 applicants for the implementation and launch of their business ideas over 12 week period.

As part of the closing seminar, project promoters and participants will share the experience gained during the implementation of the project and further use of developed materials for general public.

Venue: Agenskalna Market, “Youth Station” (Nometņu iela 64, Zemgales priekšpilsēta, Riga, LV-1002)

Time: 10 March 2023, from 11:00 to 15:45.

Language of progress: English with Russian translation.

Agenda: see below.

A coffee break and lunch will be available.

Limited number of participants. Sign in to https://forms.gle/fnESiNwqrdmAJdcv6

THE “HERE - SOCIAL ECONOMY OF PROXIMITY” project is implemented by the “Shelter” Safe House” Society and partners. The project is co-financed by the European Union. Grant Agreement No 020-1-LV01-KA204-077456

The first phase of the incubation process consists of identifying business ideas that allow us to incubate our entrepreneurs to create a livelihood.

These ideas are identified either by the entrepreneurs themselves who already have their own entrepreneurial idea, or through contact with business organisations or business professionals who can help us identify entrepreneurial opportunities in those sectors in which they specialise.

Once these venture ideas have been identified, the incubation process begins. This process is based on agile methodologies, working mainly on the canvas business model.

The incubator of the identified neighbourhood ideas will consist of the following structure:

- 4h of training per week
- 2h of mentoring per week
- 2h of coaching per week
- 1 monthly follow-up session during the 4 months following the incubation of the project.

Partners in Spain (ACV), Latvia (SHELTER) and Italy (ANZIANI) have already started their incubation processes. The organisations are incubating a variety of projects identified in their respective neighbourhood mappings. The projects being incubated in each country are as follows:

SPAIN:

- HOLISTIC THERAPIES: There is a mix of services within this project. Holistic therapies as a global concept: from clown services for events to therapeutic tattoos or self-knowledge and coaching sessions.

- TEXTILE AND SEWING: Bikinis and tailor made clothes

- ARBITRATION FOR SCHOOLS: Introducing arbitration services in schools, complementing them with other services such as cleaning, help in the dining room, etc. The project is also involving women who are historically outside of this area in refereeing.

LATVIA:

- A farming project (vegetable production)

- A car repair shop

- Several beauty salon ideas

- A virtual reality platform for group works.

ITALY: In the city of Padova, ANS is cooperating with IRECOOP, a cooperative supporting disadvantaged groups to access the labour market, as well as the local organisation of traders and artisans. Through these local partnerships, ANS aims to incubate ideas covering the commercial and the craft sectors.

The project “HERE - SOCIAL ECONOMY OF PROXIMITY” is coordinated by the organisation "Shelter "Safe house"" and project partners in Austria, Belgium, Italy, Spain and Turkey. The project is co-financed by the European Union. Grant agreement No. 020-1-LV01-KA204-077456

On Tuesday, April 5, a meeting of the business incubator participants of the "HERE - Erasmus+" project took place.

For several weeks before, the training took place online, but this time the mentors and participants were pleased to meet in person.

During the meeting, participants worked on generating, analyzing and improving their business ideas.

A photo giving an insight into the event:

THE “HERE - SOCIAL ECONOMY OF PROXIMITY” project is implemented by the Shelter “Safe House” association and partners. The project is co-financed by the European Union. Grant Agreement No 020-1-LV01-KA204-077456

As part of the activities of Erasmus + Project HERE – Social Economy of proximity, we invite you to complete a questionnaire and apply for the business incubator program. Business incubator is for people who want to start their own business (including people without their own business ideas), to continue to develop their enterpreneural skills or those who want to expand their business by creating new jobs.

The incubator will start in March 2022. 10 people will be selected and supported by more than 120 professionals from the business world, experts in marketing, finance, business strategy, etc.... The program will last 12 weeks.

These 12 weeks, a group of professionals will train and drive you so you can start your own business. In addition to the support of professionals, a business manual will be issued which will allow for follow-up to the objectives to be achieved and the tasks to be carried out in order to achieve these objectives.

The incubator is scheduled to be eye-to-eye, so you should be able to join in either face-to-face in Riga or via online meetings, as it will require a weekly visit (although it may ultimately be available online depending on THE development OF COVID).

During these 12 weeks, you`ll have to invest about 10 hours a week in the program (4 hours of self-learning, 2 hours from training, 1 hour of group work, and about 3 hours from practical work). This is a practical program in which we will try to create a livelihood that will generate income.

You`ll be given 2 mentors and a coach and the sessions will take place in the afternoons.

We encourage everyone to apply for the incubator – people with only an idea, people who are already doing business and want to expand their knowledge or people who have no ideas but want to try something new.

To assess your knowledge of business and compliance with the incubator program, please complete the questionnaire. Completing the questionnaire takes about 20 minutes.

The questionnaire is available here: https://forms.gle/rBqwQocqPKjXGSQ86

THE “HERE - SOCIAL ECONOMY OF PROXIMITY” project is implemented by the Shelter “Safe House” association and partners. The project is co-financed by the European Union. Grant Agreement No 020-1-LV01-KA204-077456

The project “HERE - SOCIAL ECONOMY OF PROXIMITY” is implemented by the organization "Shelter "Safe house"" and partners. Project is co-financed by the European Union. Grant agreement No. 020-1-LV01-KA204-077456

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the project is being implemented remotely and the on-site seminar of “HERE - Social Economy of Proximity” in Spain has been cancelled.The next seminar of the project is scheduled for june 2021 in Belgium. Despite the impact of the pandemic, in the first quarter of the project, the work is successfully ongoing in the fields of identifying, researching and selecting  the underdeveloped regions for implementation of the project.

In the first phase of the project, a team of professionals has developed  interviews that will facilitate the work of exploring the region.Individuals, entrepreneurs, non-governmental organizations, municipalities and state institutions are being interviewed in the selected implementation regions of the project in order to find out the business potential of the selected regions and start working on the next steps of the project.The data obtained from the interviews will be collected and analyzed in order to identify the potential kind of business to be launched in the region.

By understanding the missing business potential in the region, industry specialists will select the best applicable business development methodology that meets the needs of the region and will start work on the next stage of the project - the establishment of a business incubator. The start of a business incubator is planned for November 2021. At this stage, finances will be raised to help persons who due to the lack of know-how have a hard time integrating into business environment. With the help of professionals and mentors - who are active in the business field or have a vast knowledge of it - these persons will be granted an opportunity to start and develop their business idea.

The project “HERE - SOCIAL ECONOMY OF PROXIMITY” is implemented by the organization "Shelter "Safe house"" and partners. Project is co-financed by the European Union. Grant agreement No. 020-1-LV01-KA204-077456

HERE aims to design a business incubation methodology for people at risk of exclusion in their own neighbourhood. Special attention will be given to degraded neighborhoods. The aim of the project is to promote the social economy of proximity. Primarily a map of the needs of the neighborhood will be created and the inhabitants of degraded neighbourhoods will be trained, so they can be the ones creating companies and jobs and become competitive in a labour market. All the gathered information during the project will be later placed on MOOC (massive open online courses).

The project will last from 01.11.2020. to 30.04.2023.

The project “HERE - SOCIAL ECONOMY OF PROXIMITY” is implemented by the organization "Shelter "Safe house"" and partners. Project is co-financed by the European Union. Grant agreement No. 020-1-LV01-KA204-077456