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The MoreThanAJob project wishes to bring a change in the way that Social and Solidarity Economy Actors (SSE) actors and public institutions collaborate for services provided to the unemployed, focusing on vulnerable groups (uneducated and newly arrived migrants/refugees). During the project implementation, the SSE actors and public institutions are trained in the application of a framework of best practices. In this context, cross-border training workshops were organized in partner countries for transferring knowledge to SSE Actors. Here there is an overview of the SSE Training Seminar that has been organized by the EUROTraining Educational Organization in Greece. This first public training workshop in Greece had a focus on the Social and Solidarity Economy and the related actors and stakeholders.

The training seminar for SSE actors took place from the 8th until the 12th of March 2021. The 5-day sessions included theoretical and practical training in thematic that focused on Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE), Entrepreneurship, Social Inclusion and Multicultural Communication among other selected topics. The selected training modules aimed in:

• Establishing and Strengthening the Capacity of Social Enterprises
• Supporting Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Before conducting the seminar, diverse communication channels were selected in order to reach the targeted audience via various means (personal invitations, website advertisement, social media posts). The outcome has been that during the seminar implementation more than the targeted 100 participants have had the chance to attend the training sessions. More specifically, it came out that over 200 participants (including the training team) joined the activities and 211 of them evaluated the seminar. According to the zoom records an approximate number of around 170-180 participants per day has participated actively. 

The 101 participants included representatives from the following categories:

• Social Enterprises (SSE Actors)
• Non-Profit Organisations (SSE Actors)
• Noncommercial Associations (SSE Actors)
• Private non-for-profit Initiatives (SSE Actors)
• Non-Governmental Organisations (SSE Actors)
• SSE Consultants and Trainers (SSE Actors)

Plus:

• 110 Targeted end-beneficiaries (unemployed youth or adults as additional participants, that expressed their ambition to be involved in SSE initiatives)

The above types of stakeholders have been mapped as Social and Solidarity Economy Actors. Their activities included among others specific actions related to:

• Social inclusion of vulnerable groups (including migrants and refugees)
• Employment inclusion and enhancement of skills and knowledge
• Local development activities (creation of employment)
• Community well-being services

The inclusion of extra participants provided the ground not only for disseminating the activity but also for multiplying the effect. The latter was quite important not only for introducing these participants to the MoreThanAJob framework but for also providing them the necessary skills and tools to act as knowledge transfer catalysts.

Moreover, among the participants, there were individuals like unemployed youth and adults. These selected additional attendants through their application form have expressed their motivation to set up a related SSE initiative in the near future, as they have had the related skills and education. It deserves noting that some of the participants were of a migrant or background and that has been quite important in terms of the targeted group.

Finally, the implementation of the activities in the framework of the SSE training seminar has been conducted successfully despite the practical challenges raised due to the pandemic. As a result, the seminar could be seen as a chance of an enhanced learning activity for all the participants. The online implementation despite the constraints that it had, created the opportunity to expand the participants in terms of number, geographical area, and social characteristics and this is an element that contributed to transforming the training seminar into a real-time idea “factory”, where SSE stakeholders, SSE consultants, training experts along with actual end beneficiaries had the chance to interact, enhance their knowledge and skills and last participate in mutual learning activities.

For more information on the project and its activities, visit the MoreThanAJob webpage on the ENI CBC Med website and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.