L'impresa sociale al servizio della buona occupazione: una biodiversità da tutelare

The impact of the crisis on employment levels and on welfare policies in recent years focused the attention on the creation of decent and quality employment – as opposed to bad jobs which have few protections and opportunities in terms of earnings and career growth – according to ILO definition of decent work and according to EU employment strategies. Communitarian and national policies consider social enterprise as an organisational form that is “functional” to the promotion of “good” employment; its characteristic features (organizational model, work culture etc.) help to define its uniqueness compared to other forms of entrepreneurship. This essay fits in this field, with particular reference to the link with the territory, as an integral part of the intervention model of “good” employment policies. In the first part, the topic is theoretically contextualised in the wider debate on the welfare systems reform, inclined towards the perspectives of social investment and generative welfare. Secondly, the paper presents some innovation experience of social enterprises supporting the employment, promoted by international networks of social innovators in cooperation with networks of local actors (this is especially true in Southern Europe). The final reflections, while showing some aspect critically, argue the importance of defining a “European model” of social enterprise (attempt underway for years in the Community institutions) and of protecting “biodiversity”.