Ecouri - Case studies

1 INTRODUCTION These case studies have been compiled as part of the Ecouri project carried out in 2015.

Ecouri means “Echoes”.

The project set up six social enterprises in the North West and North East regions of Romania, to focus on the integration and reintegration into the labour market of people at risk of social exclusion. These include Roma, people with disabilities and women. The social enterprises were set up in Maramures and in Bucovina.

The Ecouri project was co-ordinated by the Kelsen Association. The partners include the Centre of Excellence for Community Resources SRL, POL Succes SRL, the Association for Community Development Consultants (ACDC), the Institute for Social Partnership Bucovina, and the KULT-ART Association.

A transnational aspect to the project was brought by the sixth partner, the Confederation of European Firms, Employment Initiatives and Cooperatives (CEFEC).

This transnational partnership enabled the Ecouri project to compile these comparative case studies from Austria, Slovenia, the United Kingdom as well as Romania.

The social enterprises were chosen for the case studies to provide a range of age and size of enterprise, as well a variety of commercial activities.

At the time of writing, the oldest social enterprise has been in existence for 96 years, and the two youngest were started six years ago. Four enterprises have been established for 6-7 years, two for 11-13 years. A further two have been operating for 23-24 years.

The enterprises range in size, with three earning under €150,000 and one earning almost €10m. In total 5 were earning up to €500,000 and four over €1m.

Some of the social enterprises offer services which are common in the work integration social enterprise sector. These include recycling and upcycling, cleaning, grounds maintenance, and facilities management. Other less common