SEMPRE Accelerators

From initiative to real business

The project SEMPRE Accelerators aimed to improve the social service infrastructure by empowering members of disadvantaged groups such as single parents, the elderly or migrants participate in the design and delivery of social services. Institutional capacity building of social service providers was essential for this process to adapt work methods and instruments and successfully manage organisational change to involve users of social services in the co-creation process. Therefore, the project used the experiential knowledge of the members of disadtantaged groups and the professional know-how of the social workers to accelerate the transformation of eight social initiatives into fully-fledged social start-ups. The skills that the project enhanced cover entrepreneurship, management, performance improvement, leadership, marketing and financial management. Some of the social start-ups developed stable and formalised structures, while others succeeded in extending their social service portfolio. As side effects, the new businesses in rural areas paved the way for job creation, increase in social capital, inclusive growth and transfer of experiences.

Concrete examples inspire

Among the examples of how marginalised and vulnerable groups got engaged are: an inclusive stop-over coffee shop managed by disadvantaged young people in Liepa (Latvia); a regional social service for people with mental difficulties getting a voice in society and being able to express their needs, so-called “Hear Me Out” initiative in Esbjerg (Denmark); a social platform for single parents established as a non-profit organisation that offers workplaces for single parents in Jurbarkas (Lithuania); a dog care service founded and run by people in challenging life situations (e.g. difficulties in entering labor market) and with mental disabilities in Luleå (Sweden).

Training and peer learning in accelerator teams

To strengthen the empowerment process, the project gathered the participating organisations and established “accelerator teams” involving social service users on the one hand, and social services providers on the other hand. Through the exchange, co-development and peer learning, the teams addressed the jointly identified needs, obstacles and possibilities to overcome such challenges as setting up stable and efficient management and leadership structures, extending the range or improving the quality of the offered services, acquiring financing and involving more service users in operation and management of the start-up. The process was also facilitated by external experts helping to streamline the actions, initiatives and solutions. In addition, the project ensured that peer learning would also happen within a transnational framework, when accelerator teams exchanged their experiences across borders. The feedback from the exchange served as a basis for a review of the earlier publications, namely the empowerment handbook for social workers, the organisational roadmap for leaders in social services and the guidebook on empowerment training and development of recommendations for an inclusive entrepreneurship ecosystem.