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Co-operatives Research Unit

Social Enterprise Projects

  • Roger Spear has been involved in a European network for social enterprise: EMES established in 1996.
  • A subsequent project was a comparative study of social enterprises in Europe, via EC funding FW4, 1997/8/9. This multi-partnered project led to a book published in June 2001, by Routledge: Social Enterprise in Europe, by Defourny and Borzaga.
  • This builds on the much earlier study on: Prospects for Co-operatives in the Social Care area, funding from D.T.I. (Small Firms Division), 1992-93, resulting in a publication on social co-ops in the UK - 'Third Sector Care' by Spear, Leonetti & Thomas which continues to be in demand.
  • The work of this network continues in a project funded under Framework 5 by the EC: the Perse Project, on the Socio-Economic Performance of Social Enterprises in the Field of Work-Integration (2001-2004); 10 country study, funded by FW5, EC, 2001-3.
  • And the Elexies project: on Social Integration Enterprises in Europe (2002-2003). See: http://www.emes.net