Social Economy, An Important Source For Local Development

The economic crisis of recent years has put intense pressure on companies, especially in the private sector, which has often led to layoffs among staff. The question constantly arises: What happens to these employees, what protection measures does the state offer? One answer to this question may be related to obtaining European funding through the social economy. Unfortunately, in Romania, the concept of the social economy was practically limited to social inclusion, social protection, unlike countries such as Canada or Latvia, where the concept is based on local development, the contribution of enterprises to local development. To support the local development, it’s necessary to create a legislative framework that will allow the revitalization of the social economy in our country. Entities belonging to the social economy, be they non-governmental organizations, landowners’ associations, or unions, are important actors in the process of social innovation. In order to meet the needs of these participants in the social economy, we aim to identify innovative financing instruments for the social economy as well as the role of and implications for the local development.