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PROJECT HAPPY FARM
REFERENCE NUMBER: SI/O6/B/F/PP/176015
tel. 02/320-86-52,
fax 02/320-86-58
email: /
OO Day Care and Work CentrePOLŽ Maribor
Park mladih 4, 2000 Maribor
tel. 02/320-86-50,
fax02/320-86-58

ID for VAT: SI 956 493 79
Account no.: 01100-6030307576 UJP
Slov. Bistrica

STRATEGICPLAN

Education for the start and work in a social firm/enterprise on a farm and in the countryside

In short: HAPPY FARM

Slogan:

Happy Farm – fun, learning and healthy life!

The strategicplan has been prepared by: directorof Day Care and Work Centre (VDC) Polž Sabina Petek, Andra Lujićand dr. Neva Maher.For their assistance we thank members of the internal project group, project partners and the following external advisors and experts:

- representatives of municipalities

- representatives of the Employment Service of Slovenia,regional office Maribor

- representatives of the Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Affairs,sector for social security, labour and socialfunds

- Ministry of Education and Sport,National Institute for Vocational Education and Training (CPI)

- Development fundsandUČV Maribor

- Administration andprofessional staffof Maribor High schoolof Biotechnology, MariborHigh School of Food Technology

- Faculty of Agriculture (department of organic agriculture and agricultural economics, dr. Simona Trčak Zdolšek)

- Social Work CentrePesnica, directorMsAdela Postružnik

- UP Turistica – College of TourismPortorož

- Štajerska region Tourist Association, MariborTourist Association

- Benedictine Order Austria, director in SLO Janez Flac

- Equestrian Association

- Association of Rural Women

- Organic Farmers Association ofSlovenia.

Table of contents

I.Approach, context and background of the strategic plan for ruralsocialenterprise

a.)problemsandchallenges

b.)aims, activitiesand results

II. Treatment oftarget groups

III.CONCEPT OF THE PROPOSED MODEL OF RURAL SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

a.)organisation and operation of the planned rural socialenterprise

b.)concept

c.)opportunities for investors

IV. Businessactivities and economic feasibility

a.) tea-room

b.) family hotel

c.) organic farm

d.) house (Happy Farm zoo) for exotic animals

e.) stable with domestic animals

f.) motor camp

g.) education and training

V. Quality management

a.) cooperationandlinksbetweenHappy Farms

b.) development trends and strategic opportunities

c.) expected influences

d.) target market analysis

e) competition

f.) marketing

VI.What nextI.Approach, contextandbackground of the strategic plan for rural socialenterprise

a) Problemsandchallenges

The project Education for the start and work in social enterprise – hereinafterHappy Farm – started to develop on the levels of education and content as part of the EULeonardo da Vinci programme. Outlines ofsocial enterprisemodels are an important result of the project. The concept of social enterprise is structured, realistic, feasible and likely to be very well manageable in practice. It enables the integration of disadvantagedusers(i.e. adults with intellectual disabilities, hereinafter referred to as users) into the labour market.

The employment of a person with intellectual disabilitiesin the working environment of rural social enterprise is a unique opportunity. This is firstly because of its therapeutic value, and secondly because the legal framework in Sloveniaprovides professional, financial and technical support to the person, employer and working environment. The type of financial support depends onthe legislation thatgrantsthe person –user rights. The user maybe a user of the Day Care and Work Centre, he or she mayfor instance be included into the programme on the basis of social programmes ordisability legislation. Userscan always receive financial and professional support in the form of information, advice and training whenlearning the ropes, in the workplacein general,and to encourage their integration into the working environment.Furthermore, there arethe possibilities of personal assistance, guidance in the workplace, and of developingindividual working methods and assessingworking efficiency. Technical support may be offered in adapting the workplace and financing working equipment.In accordance with the National Vocational Qualifications Act, the employer in a social enterpriseand the working environment are given professional support in the form of information, counselling, training and education.The care in social enterprise units may be day care or 24-hour care with housing (in the case of Happy Farm, in a farm or hotel unit).In line with Slovenian legislative provisions,care costs are covered by the state and municipalities. What is more, the Act Concerning Social Care of Mentally and Physically Handicapped Persons offers the possibility of an allowance which amounts to 35% of the average Slovene monthly net wageinthe past year (hereinafter: net wage).

According to the strategic plan,users of Happy Farm services are the following highly marginalized groups:

  • employeeswith disabilitiesdefined asableto work and receiving subsidies;
  • persons with disabilities defined as non-employable and being eligible for programmes of social integration;
  • employees from other groups disadvantaged in the labour market havingan employment relationship;
  • users of the Day Care and Work Centre – persons with physical or intellectual disabilities – forliving on the farm and for integrated employment on the farm;
  • young people without formal education undergoing vocational or practical training for innovative occupational profiles, first-job seekers aged up to 25 and older women.

The concept of social entrepreneurship ideally involves diversity and offers a variety of possibilities and opportunities.

It was a challenge to connect the potentials and possibilities mentioned into a model.

The strategic plan suggests a concept of establishing and developing rural social enterprise units based on tourist and recreational activities, organic production and processing, education, training and certification. Itoffers an innovative approach to social entrepreneurshipbringinglong-term effects of social inclusion.The plan gives a concrete proposal on how ideas can be carried out, whilesocial entrepreneurs and financiers (budget, loans, equity capital) will furtherelaborate the individual segments of the plan. Settingupa social enterprise will lastthree years (2008-2011),from the start of the first activities (provision of funds and obtaining additional financial sources) up to final independent functioning of the units.

Due to different regulations, social enterprises have developed differently in every EU country. In Slovenia there are regulative solutions that enable financing of various rights of disadvantaged persons – grants and subsidies, as well as subsidies to social entrepreneurs due to loss of income. In EU countries,social economy systems are in development,and therefore depend on support and financial incentives.

In terms of its goals and orientation, the programme followsorientations of the EU. Intoa concept designed this way, Happy Farm will incorporate activitiesand programmes proposed in what follows, as well as other ones, tailored to different categories of target groups disadvantaged in the labour market.

The definition of social entrepreneurship (as understood in the project) originates in the opinion that social economy is a system of social firms whose core activityis connected with social aims, and the income is being reinvested. Social enterprises have various forms (co-operatives, foundations, associations etc.).“Social enterprise is the work of a social entrepreneur. A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change. Whereas a business entrepreneur typically measures performance in profit and return, a social entrepreneur assesses success in terms of the impact s/he has on society. While social entrepreneurs often work through nonprofits and citizen groups, many work in the private and governmental sectors”(definition from Wikipedia).

In the EU there are roughly 300,000 co-operatives providing 4.8 million jobs. Someof them pursue social objectives and act in wider community interest, while all of them act in economic interest (source: Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament, The European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of Regions, On the promotion of co-operative societies in Europe, COM (2004)18, page 3). Further details can be found in the Council Regulation (EC) N° 1435/2003 on the Statute for a European Co-operative Society and in the Council Directive 2003/72/EC supplementing the Statute with regard to the involvement of employees.

The EU has not yet provided a common definition of social entrepreneurship.In the context of current developments and policies, the Wikipedia definition seems fairly complete and adequate.The EU has, however, defined thesocial co-operative as the most common form of social entrepreneurship. According to the EU definition the co-operative is a form of enterprisethat allows the company“to acquire advantages of size, such as scale economies, access to markets (including participation in larger public tenders), purchasing power, marketing power, management-development, training and research capacity” (ibid., page 5).For the EU, co-operatives are an important form of social economy because they effectively promote“balanced and solidarity-basedgrowth.”The Commission will therefore seekto ensure that the “contribution of cooperatives to create jobscontinues to be recognised and is further exploited” (ibid., pages 15-16). The Commission emphasizes that a social enterprise directs activities and reinvests surpluses in a wider good, and that there is a major difference between the economic and social nature of a business. It is important to integrate the unemployed and at the same time to provide training and to develop a variety of services, including market services. The Commission committed itself to encouraging social entrepreneurship also in the European Agenda for Entrepreneurship (COM 2004). In the Communication on the promotion of co-operative societies in Europe (COM 2004) the Commissionrecommends that,due to the importance of the role of social entrepreneurship,countries shall adopt legal measures supporting activities of this kind. Various studies are currently being conductedin this field (the project “Promoting social entrepreneurship in Europe” and a study of national policies and good practices of social entrepreneurship). The EU divides social entrepreneurshipinto three areas:

  1. Integration in the workplace (training and inclusion of the unemployed);
  2. Personal services (e.g. services for children, services for the elderly, help forhandicapped persons) and
  3. Local development of underdeveloped regions(e.g. social enterprises in far-away rural areas, rehabilitation schemes in urban areas).

The Happy Farm project covers all three areas.Users in cases described hereinafterbecome socially integrated as well as integrated into the labour market. The start-up of Happy Farm programmes will contribute to increasing opportunities of employing people most disadvantaged in the labour market, the unemployed elderly,disabled persons and other target groups. It will contribute to employment on farms and in the countryside, to regional development and the equalisation of opportunities in the labour market, not only locally but also transnationally.

Context and background of the Happy Farm strategic plan

In Slovenia the status and inclusion of persons with special needs is particularly emphasized in the guidelines of the National programme of social security development (until the year 2005)and in the Resolution on the national programme of social security development (2006-2010). These two documents provide guidelines for:

  • support networks of services for overcomingdifficulties and distress, and for the introduction of new programmes
  • equalizing opportunities in employment,integration into the labour market and living
  • new forms of employment
  • a bettertransfer betweenprogrammes
  • introducingintegrated forms of employment for the users of day care and work centres.

In Sloveniaenterprises can easily become engaged in social entrepreneurship due to incentivespromoting the employmentof marginalized groups. The legal basis for setting upenterprises for the disabled is found in theVocational Rehabilitation and Employment of Disabled Persons Act,which details the operating conditions, procedure for obtaining the status of a disabled person, type of management, type of profit sharing, and influence of the state on the ownership.Social entrepreneurship, however, exceeds this framework and looks for new ways of obtaining financial resources while at the same time exercisingrights under existing laws (Appendix 1).

Companiesfor the disabled can be established by legal or natural persons. In Slovenia there exists a register of companies employing the disabled; in 2004 companies for the disabled employed 13,580 people, of which 6,348 were disabled. In line with the Rules on measures and procedures for determiningthe amount of subsidy to wages of disabled persons, social enterprises receive a monthly subsidy for each disabled person employed.Article 226 of the Pension and Disability Insurance Act specifies that contributions of insured persons and employers,obliged to pay contributions under Article 204 of this Act, towards pension and disability insurance in companies, institutions and other organisations employing the disabledgo to a special account of the employer and are used for the material development of these companies or in compliancewith the Act Regulating the Training and Employment of Disabled Persons. Ifinsured persons are exempt from paying contributions, these are financedfrom the national budget of the Republic of Slovenia (Article 232 of the Pension and Disability Insurance Act). The Health Insurance Institute of Slovenia waives contributionsin accordance with Article 60 of the Health Care and Health Insurance Act. Companies employing disabled persons are exempt from paying the payroll tax (Payroll Tax Act, Article 2). The monthly wage subsidy to a disabled person amounts to 10% of the minimal wage if the disabled person in the company for the disabled or in a supporting employment is assessed as achieving 90-95% of working results (20% for 80-90% of working results, 30% for 70-80%, 40% for 60-70%, 50% for 50-60%, and 70% if the working results achieved amount to 30-50%).

The Active Employment Policy Programme for the period 2007-2013 (adopted by the Slovenian Government at its 98th session on 23 November 2006), the Implementation Plan of Active Employment Policy Programme for the years 2007 and 2008 and the Catalogue of Measures for Active Employment Policy for the years 2007 and 2008 (from 27 July 2007) highlight target groups disadvantaged in the labour market[1] and propose measures to reduce unemployment.

Measures of the active employment policy respond to:

- thehighpercentage of long-term unemployed

- structural unemployment and low educational levels among the unemployed

- thevery high rate of the unemployed elderly (45-64), which is the highest in the EU

- thehigh rate of unemployed young people (aged between 18-24, without vocational education – 35% of the unemployed young people)

- the high percentageof unemployed women.

Through the activities of its programmes,adapted to the countryside,Happy Farm caninclude all the above mentioned disadvantaged groups into the labour market, and then offer the results of their work on the market. Slovenia, like other EU countries,is developing mechanisms and incentives for an easier integrationof disadvantaged persons into employment, grants and subsidies can thus substantially contribute to the economics of a unit of social enterprise. Unemployed persons owning a farm or farmersundergoing restructuringwill be able to receive further agricultural subsidies. Aside from the help from the Employment Agency of Slovenia, newmeasures are expected on the part of the EU.

Measures to reduce unemployment of particularly vulnerable target groups in Slovenia as well as in the EU suggest activities which are summarisedand developed in the strategic plan for the Happy Farm social enterprise. When establishing a social enterprise unit, the social entrepreneur will of course be required to take into account provisions of the Rules on minimum technical requirements for social service providers, the Rules on the engagement in the provision of social services on the basis of a work permit and entry into the register, and the Rules on methodology for social service price formation.

Persons with mental disabilities have a number of possibilities for social inclusion: depending on the level of disability and their individual needs, they can either recourse to one of theforms of employment, receive day care and work centre services in regular employment programmesunder specialworking conditions, engage in integrated employment programmes (in this project they are defined as a complementary form of employment in an individual economic unit of social enterprise)or they can participatein social inclusion programmes. The establishment of social integration centres could also be an important and necessary gap filler between training and employment among companies for the disabled, employment centres and day care and work centres.The Happy Farm strategic project encompasses forms of employment for other groups disadvantaged in the labour market (youth and the elderly) as well as employment possibilities for persons with physical and intellectual disabilities –social entrepreneurs and investors will themselves decide which option to choose.

Unlike the system of employingthe disabled and integration of persons with intellectual disabilities into employment, permanent subsidisation of the employment of target groups disadvantaged in the labour market who are not disabled has not yet been defined by Slovenian law. In the transitional period, solutions concerning their integration can be sought on the basis of the Lisbon Strategy and the Nice Treaty (European social model), which make it possible to pursue new forms of state aid on the basis of EU legislation, which is directly used in the member states. That is to say that, when an initiative is launched, competent authorities can put into effectvarious schemes of state aid. The EU proposes the following aid measures, which are constantly being developed: grants, loan write-offs, direct interest subsidies, deferred payment of taxes and contributions, tax exemptions, exceptions and reliefs, reduced social security contributions, capital investments, debt-to-equity swaps, loans on privileged terms and guarantees. The European perspective lies in implementingthese measures and making the best use of them,[2]while at the same time drawing fromdevelopment resources, the most important being structural funds. In line with the chief EU instruments (the Acquis – total body of EU law, structural funds and open coordination method) and existing social enterprise models in some EU member states, Slovenia as well as other countries will have to look at problems and challenges in the context of encouragement, support and subsidisation of the employment of all population groups disadvantaged in the labour market. It would also be sensible to provide a comprehensive legislative support system that is in line with the already established model of employing the disabled.

The countryside has already become a living and working place for people performing different farming and non-farming economic activities. It is becoming a more and more attractive environment for life, work and relaxation, which is why the EU places particular importance onthe development potential of the countryside.In order to increase its contribution to social integration, the EU has established a platform promoting and accelerating such measures in the member states. The Happy Farm strategic plan is ahead of the ideas of the EU platform.It already offers a concepton tackling good solutions for a greater social integration and integration into the labour market. It offers a variety of possible activities of social entrepreneurship, and connects them with existing aid resources, and the legal framework of the EU and Slovenia (sources: Lisbon Strategy 2000 and Renewed Lisbon Strategy 2005, Rural Development Programme 2007-2013, EU platform, National Strategic Reference Framework 2007-2013, Long-term Development Programme of the Republic of Slovenia until 2023). The proposed measures aim to enable and enhance the social integration of individuals as well as the cohesion of Slovenian society, and to create an environment, in which people will more easily and quickly be able to find employment, while at the same time being able to enjoythe benefitsof a necessary level of social security.