When we talk about economics, we often talk about growth, profit, managers and shareholders.
In this last part of ’, we go to Gothenburg’, the second largest city in ’, Sweden, to learn more about another type of economy that keeps people at the forefront: The social economy.
Matilda Holgersson is a 31-year-old Swede with a deep love for music, art and cats. A few years ago, health problems kept him out of the job market for five years.
Real Economy reporter Bryan Carter’a “2017I was studying at university in ’, but I experienced burnout and was diagnosed with burnout syndrome and depression. It happened so fast and I got so sick, ” said.
“ I don't remember much about the first six months because I was in a very bad situation and I had serious anxiety. I was taken to a lot of hospitals and received very severe treatments.”
Matilda gradually managed to feel better and return to her social life. Part of the recovery process stems from the work he has done over the past six months at Ängås Gård’da, a food production and event cooperative that offers people facing Matilda’ya and similar challenges the opportunity to recover.
“The positive aspect of working in a cooperative is that you help each other and understand each other's needs very well, ” said.
“It was considered a little strange to have a bad day in the places where I worked before. You're not supposed to show how you feel. But you are allowed to be as you are here. Work as hard as you can. - ”
Matilda’'s workplace is part of a sales organization called Social Commerce. The company, led by CEO ’ Mari Odenbjörk, aims to overcome some of the stigma associated with cooperatives and social enterprises at ’te, Sweden, to establish business ties with more traditional types of companies.
Mari, “Sweden's ’te cooperatives are still a little unwelcome. It's not really legal, ” explained. “I work with people who want to help people, who really want to make a difference.”
Rethinking healthy work
Kajskjul46, a social enterprise in the port of Gothenburg, provides services such as furniture repair and textile printing to individuals and industries. It also serves as a work-rehabilitation cooperative.
Hanna-Sara Kristensson, manager of Kajskjul46’, “, SwedenWe have a really big problem with people with stress-related diseases in ’. We need another perspective on what healthy work is, ” said.
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All profits earned here are reinvested directly into the company, which can sometimes make it difficult to access financial support.
Maria, we can't go to “Banks and ask for loans or anything like that. So we have many different projects, EU funding and different funds that we can apply for in ’, Sweden. But I think the banks still think we're a little suspicious. They don't really understand us when the main goal isn't profit, ” added.
‘-enabling policies to help social enterprises thrive’
There are significant differences between EU countries when it comes to the social economy. Sweden’te the country's paid workforce %It represents 4.2’sini. This ratio is %6.3 below the EU average and %With a 9.9, Luxembourg is also below ’.
Italian social economics expert Giulia Galera, “What we see is that public policies do not fully recognize the social responsibility that social initiatives assume. Financial frameworks are quite lacking, ” explains.
“Public policies are absolutely crucial to creating a facilitating ecosystem, environment where social initiatives can emerge, thrive and scale, ” said.
Social economic organizations recognize that one of the most important problems they face is access to finance. But Giulia Galera says investment isn't the only way to help these businesses reach their full potential.
“I think that a lot of emphasis is placed on financing as a solution in the development of social initiatives, whereas I believe that facilitating policies are more important in creating conditions for the establishment of social initiatives.”
What is the EU doing to improve ’'s social economy?
The EU Action Plan on the social economy, “, was adopted in December 2021” with the aim of mobilizing the full potential of the social economy.
Giulia, Real Economy’ye “AB Action Plan is taking a very important step forward ” said. “First of all, because it accepts the social economy as a certain dynamic. It also clarifies the differences between social economic units and mainstream businesses. He later acknowledges that the social economy is active not only in niche sectors such as the welfare sector, but in all industrial ecosystems.”
However, the Action Plan is not binding on Member States. Success will therefore largely depend on the willingness of EU countries to implement social economy initiatives that will enable people like Matilda to imagine a brighter future.
Matilda concluded her words as follows: “I think I can work full-time in the future. I'm also planning to go back to college, and I want to work with children in the long run. And I can see that happening. So it's good to have that hope for the future and know that I'm going to succeed, ”, Matilda concluded.
