Entrepreneurship
Theme: Social Enterprise
Cross-cutting themes covered:Governance and strategy
Name of project: Citizenship Agency
City: Milan
What is it? The Citizenship Agency (CA) supports the development of social enterprises in Milan, through a consultancy and training service. The CA also works to promote the social economy across the Milan region, and provides a forum for networking between social enterprises, local authorities and other social economy actors.
Who is it? The CA is an association of 90 partners, including public, voluntary and private sectors. Banca Popolare Etica, which is also a member of the CA, provides social enterprises (particularly co-operatives) with consultancy services, in order to improve their access to credit and grants.,
Where is it? The project operates inside and around the city of Milan, and has a particular focus on areas of deprivation.
Who funds it? Most of the funding comes from the public sector, such as national and regional agencies and grants from the European Union (EQUAL).
The initiative aims to be self-sufficient, though currently the CA does not charge consultancy fees for the support it provides.
How does it work? Promoting good governance for the social economy: The CA works to promote the social economy across the Milan region, and provides a forum for networking between social enterprises, local authorities and other social economy actors. Six ‘social enterprise hubs’ have been set up in the region, one for each local authority area, for this purpose. These hubs, co-ordinated by an expert practitioner, provide an arena for local stakeholders to share good practices from the social economy sector, identify needs, and experiment with possible solutions.
Raising awareness: The CA works with the private sector to raise awareness about Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and social accounting. In Italy, the CSR agenda has proved vital in supporting the third sector, as private companies are usually among the most important clients for businesses in the social economy.
Anything else? Tailored business support: The Citizenship Agency supports the development of social enterprises in Milan, through a consultancy and training service that helps social enterprises with issues such as access to finance, marketing and business planning.
What are the results?
Is the model transferable? The Citizen Agency has contributed to increasing the role of social enterprises and the third sector in the definition of local development strategies and policies in Milan. The model on which CA operates, with a focus on promoting dialogue, is generally transferable to other areas.
Building on local competitive advantages? The project builds on several local competitive advantages, for example the fact that there is a rich social economy sector to provide a demand for CA services. The CA also benefited from the recognition among public sector agencies of the importance of the third sector, and the willingness of a range of stakeholders to engage with it. These competitive advantages may not be available elsewhere.
What are the barriers to transferability? The project was made possible by the availability of large amounts of co-financing from the EU (EQUAL). Access to finance could pose a barrier to transferability.
