LED Social Economy

Below you can find ongoing projects within the Social Economy LED:

• Research of quality of labourA “kringwinkel” (a second hand store) requested the LED to organize an inquiry into the quality of labour, by interviewing the employees. The results of this test will be handed over to the employers.
  Workshop on balancing care and work
  Several organizations indicated that they were struggling with the balance between care and work in their social enterprise. In social economy organizations employing underprivileged groups the supervisors on the shop floor are often confronted with the limited abilities and capabilities of their personnel.  
  The welfare and care requirements of their target group employees exceed the job content but threaten their sustainable employment. Where does (care) supervision in social economy begin and end? Where is increased alignment with the care and welfare sector possible?
  This problem was discussed during a workshop in March 2010. This workshop was  introduced by Leen Sannen of HIVA, who gave a survey  of a research they conducted in 2007, “W2, tailored work and welfare programmes”. Afterwards subthemes and good practices were discussed in separate workshops. 150 people participated in this activity and there were several debriefings. Organizations interested in this theme, can always contact us for more information.

• Social balance – Effect of employment in the social economyEffect measurement within the social economy can be set up for different reasons. Application of the SROI (Social Return On Investment) method makes social and ecological profits visible. The social added value of the social economy therefore  plays a central role. But what does the social economy yield for target group employees? In other words, what is the added value on an individual level? A good measuring instrument to map the added value of employment in the social economy for the individual employee, so as to be able to draw up a social balance,  still needs to be designed. The possibility to display results from this social balance in annual reports increases the support the government gives to a social economy project and ensures that organizations are more aware of the social effects of their activities and further develop their policy and organization on the basis thereof.  We therefore want to develop an instrument/method in consultation with the organizations in the field that allows initiators in the social economy to map the social balance together with target group employees.
  This tool is now being developed into a digital version. This will be accessible for all social economic organizations. The evaluation of the development of the tool will soon be available on this website.  

• Research into the effects of insertion recognition and the needs of insertion companies
  Incubation centres, whose main task is to support and start up insertion companies, are currently facing a tremendous challenge; they  recognise the need for a different task interpretation, for a more active role in developing insertion companies. At the request of the umbrella organization of Flemish incubation centres we are conducting research into the effects of insertion recognition on the one hand. What evolution does recognition as an insertion company cause in that company (HRM, vision, personnel policy, recruitment policy etc) ? Incubation centres can take a more active role in this respect. On the other hand, we will also inquire after the needs and requirements of the insertion companies as to support and follow-up from the incubation centre.  Research (HIVA, 2007) showed that insertion companies require further support (even after achieving insertion recognition) from the incubation centres. We want to gain more insight into the exact nature of these needs so that the incubation centres can better cater their services to the needs of the insertion companies.
  The research is completed. The results will soon be published on this website.

• Can the increase in scale with recycling centres serve as a model for a better organization of the local service economy?The local service economy is currently very fragmented. It consists of many small organizations. This has its disadvantages. Example: a specialised employee is needed to do the books, but there is not enough work per initiative to employ a full-time or even part-time employee. Cooperation in certain fields or a different form of expansion seems appropriate. Does the model of the recycling centres, where local authorities and/or independent organizations participated in one large-scale merger operation, provide inspiration? We discuss the questions: “Can the model of the recycling centres be applied to the LSE sector? What are the benefits and what are the disadvantages?” We map the model of the recycling centres in all its aspects as it applies today. We determine to what extent this model can be applied to the local service economy sector. 

• Needs survey in preparation of the expansion of the activities of the local service economy.A community and proximity service with an alteration workshop wants to broaden its activities and enter a new market niche. This requires a needs survey among the intended target groups of their new activity. The LED develops a questionnaire and the survey is conducted by approx 50 trainees at their place of work where they come in contact with the intended target groups.
On the other hand, the stitchers in the alteration workshop need training to be able to deal with these new target groups as customers. A project group of Social Work students will look into this.

• Competency profiles for social workers in a Social Economy environmentSupervisors and employees in social economy companies have a specific job profile and diverse job responsibilities.  It appears that it is not always easy for social economy companies to find employees who meet the requested profile. It often happens that social workers qualify for these positions but are not sufficiently prepared for the position for which they are recruited (this especially concerns business competencies). Or they find people who have business experience but lack social feeling.  Are the competencies of graduated social workers sufficiently attuned to the job profiles of social economy supervisors? This project compares both profiles and attempts to indentify ways to better align them with each other.

• Growth potential for the social economy in the social service sectorThe demographic evolution will lead to a significant increase in employment in the social service sector in the years to come. Does the sector also offer new employment opportunities for underprivileged groups? By means of exploratory research we want to map the nature of the jobs to be created and the related training needs. What is the growth potential for the social economy in the social service sector? How should the integration of target group employees be organised? What tasks can be carried out by target group employees? What are the preconditions? What training initiatives need to be taken? ...
  A report of this research will soon be available on this website.
  
• Stimulating parent participation in after school childcareA project group of 5 students of the department “social care” is currently working on a tailor made solution for this problem. 

• Development of a software programme for a simple borrowing service in a sheltered workshopA sheltered workshop employing people with a functional impairment needs a borrowing service where materials can be borrowed and brought back. To make this borrowing service also accessible to the employees of the sheltered workshop themselves this software needs to be made easily accessible and user-friendly.  The implementation of this project was realised by an internship of the department “multimedia and communication”. 

Voor meer informatie kan u terecht bij Rebekka Celis (rebekka.celis@howest.be of 0474 49 00 56) of Kaat Sabbe (kaat.sabbe@katho.be of 0494 52 71 58)