Youth unemployment is a big social issue in countries of the European South and the Mediterranean region. The EYES project has been formed to help overcome youth unemployment in these areas and other societal problems by utilizing youth work and social entrepreneurship.

The project’s main objective is to empower young people to create, manage, and run successful social businesses. By doing so, they can foster social cohesion and inclusive growth within their communities and provide employment opportunities for disadvantaged groups.

The basis of EYES is the Entrecomp model, and we hope to contribute to a brighter future for youth and society. To achieve this, together with our partners, we have researched the state of social entrepreneurship in the Mediterranean and developed a “Training manual” to inform everyone of our findings.

So, what is the state of the art of social entrepreneurship in the Mediterranean region, and what was the process we followed to find out? Keep on reading to find out.

Our Findings on Social Entrepreneurship in the Mediterranean

• The gender gap in social entrepreneurship is smaller than in traditional entrepreneurship, but women tend to be involved in social entrepreneurship with a more pronounced social orientation.
• Social entrepreneurship is associated with young people, and those aged 20 to 34 are found to have a greater representation of social entrepreneurs.
• Social entrepreneurs want to create social value, and their dominant objectives are social.
• Measuring the impact of social entrepreneurship is an unresolved issue.
• Social entrepreneurship faces challenges of regulation, access to resources, and the tension between creating social value and capturing value.
• The lack of institutional support is seen as a limitation but also as a potential.
• There is a need to consolidate a practice based on evidence in training and support in social entrepreneurship.

How We Came Up With Those Results

1. Conducted Desk research on Existing Tools

All project partners from the Mediterranean conducted independent desk research on existing best practices and tools related to social entrepreneurship in their respective countries.

The aim of this research was to collect a minimum of 30 best practices, with each country contributing at least 5. This research was an important first step in our efforts to gather information on the current state of social entrepreneurship in the Mediterranean and EU countries.

By pooling our findings, we hoped to identify common trends and best practices that could later be shared with youth workers and NGOs across the region through our training manual.

2. Delivered Questionnaires

Delivering questionnaires was a big chunk of the work we had to do at this stage.

Each partner had to fulfil at least 20 questionnaires to assess the needs of potential participants, specifically young people, in their respective countries.

The design of the questionnaires used was made by our project partner XUL. Then, each partner had to translate it and deliver it on paper and online. The total number of questionnaires collected and analyzed was over 120.

Each partner had to create a report for their findings after collecting the responses. This process was critical to understand better the true needs of young people in the Mediterranean and help us create effective training material for social entrepreneurship tailored to their needs.

3. Participated in Focus groups

As part of the research process, each partner conducted two focus groups, each involving four individuals representing different sectors – a young person, a social entrepreneur, a policy maker, and a youth worker.

The discussions in these focus groups centred around social entrepreneurship, covering topics such as its impact on society, what is needed to create a successful social enterprise, and how to support it using known practices.

XUL provided a reporting model to guide partners in documenting and summarizing their findings from the focus groups.

The insights gathered from these focus groups were valuable in shaping the content of the training manual and identifying areas of focus for the project.

4. International seminar

We held an international seminar in Cairo, Egypt, from January 27 – February 2, 2023. This seminar was useful in compiling all of our research findings and preparing our next work package related to the development of training tools.

In this seminar participated, 20 young people from all partner countries. They were entrepreneurs, youth workers, volunteers, trainers, or simply people interested in social entrepreneurship.

Conclusion

Social entrepreneurship is found to have a positive effect on gender equality, provide significant social value, and be appealing to young people. However, issues still need to be resolved, like the difficulty in measuring social impact, lack of regulatory framework, institutional support, and access to resources.

This first part of the training manual is important because it gives more context to social entrepreneurship in the Mediterranean region. When the second and final part is finalized, then it will be a comprehensive guide for youth workers and NGOs to provide skills and knowledge relevant to social entrepreneurship.

Stay tuned for more updates and progress on our project as we continue to work towards our goal of empowering and educating young people on social entrepreneurship.

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