KPRES
Poland’s KPRES sharpens its focus
by Toby Johnson
The latest version of the Polish National Programme for the Development of Social Economy (Krajowy Program Rozwoju Ekonomii Społecznej – KPRES) has been released. It was prepared by the Strategic Group for Systemic Solutions in the Social Economy and, following public consultation, discussed at a seminar on 4th February. This featured a presentation by Cezary Miżejewski, chair of the Strategic Group. This article summarises the report published by ekonomiaspoleczna.pl
The two main changes are a new role of Social Economy Support Centres and a broader definition of social economy, not a narrower one of social enterprise. The main benefits expected are activation of vulnerable people, the creation of 170,000 jobs and the delivery of socially useful services. The scale of public contracts with the social economy is expected to double, from 1.4 billion złotys to 3 billion złotys (€750 million) a year.
The revised version has four objectives:
- a responsible community;
- a supportive environment: amendments to laws on social enterprise, rehabilitation and public procurement, and the redesign of the support system. The intention is to funnel start-up grants through the District Labour Offices, and to ensure that beneficiaries receive adequate business training, so that the co-operatives that are set up are more resilient;
- the sustainable integration of social economy in public policy, via the National Social Economy Development Committee;
- raise awareness of the social economy
Cezary Miżejewski’s presentation: http://www.ekonomiaspoleczna.pl/files/wiadomosci.ngo.pl/public/filespublic/2013/20130215112720_KPRES_ISP.pdf
Source: ekonomiaspoleczna.pl, 15 Feb 13 (with help from Google Translate)
