A MONITOR FOR THE SOCIAL ECONOMY IN FLANDERS
Author(s): Caroline Gijselinckx, Wim Van Opstal, Eva Deraedt and Gert Van den Broeck
1.
Abstract
Although ‘social economy’ is not a new concept or phenomenon, it has enjoyed considerable renewed interest in recent years, both from international sources (see for instance Defourny et al., 2009 and Defourny et al., 1999) and in Flanders, and both among academics, among practitioners and among public authorities. Several initiatives were developed in the search for solutions for old and new social and societal problems: problems concerning employment and environment, honest trade, care and welfare, sustainable mobility, sustainable energy, sustainable production and consumption, etc. The renewed interest for the social economy since the 70s of the 20th century also gave rise to new legal statutes for social economic organisations. The conceptualisation and method of defining the social economy formed the preparatory activities for the development of a monitor of the social economy in Flanders (Gijselinckx & Van den Broeck, 2008; Deraedt & Van Opstal, 2009a and b). This led to a pragmatic and dynamic delimitation of the social economy, with work integration enterprises at its core, encircled by other companies with social finality - in terms of goals and values. The next step was the development of a monitoring instrument (Deraedt & Van Opstal, 2009a and b), which was then made operational for the social integration economy. This monitoring instrument outlines the profiles of the enterprises, the (target) employees, i.e. the employees belong to the target groups of the social integration economy, which means that they have at least one of the following characteristics: age 50+, immigrant, low-skilled and/or an occupationally disabled) and the potential target group employees, i.e. the unemployed jobseekers who meet the criteria for employment in work integration enterprises. This paper gives a brief presentation of the conceptualisation and definition of the social economy and outlines the results of the monitor for the social integration economy. It draws up policy recommendations that aim at making the wealth of information available in the numerous administrative databases, accessible for a monitor for the social economy that periodically and in an improved format, can be used by the Government of Flanders.
Key words: Social economy, monitor, employee profile, social enterprise profile
2.
Objectives
The following questions were answered in view of the development of a monitor of the social economy in Flanders: ‘What is social economy?’ ‘How can this field be empirically defined and observed?’ ‘Which companies, entrepreneurs and business methods can be included in the social economy?’ ‘Which databases can be used and linked in order to generate data on this field?’ ‘Which indicators can be created and used to monitor this field?’ ‘What is the size and the nature of the social (integration) economy in Flanders in terms of numbers and profiles of companies and in terms of numbers and profiles of (target) employees?' ‘To what extent is the potential target group being reached?’
Clarification of key concepts OCMW: Openbaar Centrum voor Maatschappelijk Welzijn (Public Social Welfare Centre): Social Service Department (of a town) VDAB: the Flemish Service for Employment and Vocational Training, i.e. the Public Employment Service Sheltered workshops: - offer employment for people with disabilities who are not able to integrate in the regular labour market. Sheltered workshops receive subsidies for employees with disabilities (their target group) as well as for the coaches accompanying them. 1