Social entrepreneurship week takes place in Latvia

Latvia currently has 226 social enterprises, but the number varies, with some companies going out of business and others starting up. Social enterprises are active in a wide range of sectors.

"Well, a social enterprise operates based on the Commercial Law, like any other enterprise, and the difference is that the enterprise has set itself as a goal.

For a normal company, the aim is to make a profit for the owner, for a social enterprise the aim is to do good for society, to improve the quality of life for some people. Juris Cebulis from the Ministry of Welfare says that since 2013, Latvia has developed a legal framework for social entrepreneurship, an association has been established and social enterprises can also receive grants.

"Education is a big sector, healthcare, then there is building an inclusive civil society, cultural diversity, sport, recreation, all those different sectors, it's not just social services, because people's quality of life can be improved by enterprises in different sectors. And, of course, we have work integration companies that improve the living conditions of their employees, that employ people either with disabilities or with mental disabilities."

Musician Agnese Rakovska represents the social enterprise "Zvaigznāja komanda", which will take part this week in the online event for young people "Let's explore social entrepreneurship together!". Their focus is on music education in schools, so that students from all target groups, including disadvantaged ones, have access to digital tools - computers with the right software - during music lessons.

"A program that can process different sound signals, and then there was a set-up - a microphone, an analogue synthesizer made in Latvia, different headphone equipment and amplifiers. Rather than focusing on what year a composer died or was born, a person can work with that composer's work as an audio file, they can create MIDI sections and create rhythm parts, they can work with an analogue synthesizer and look at sound as a physics parameter. And here we are talking about a STEM approach, where mathematics, physics, and literature meet in the subject of music. As digital technology is being introduced in absolutely all segments, we believe that grade 7 and up would be the right time that we can introduce these children to these technologies, which by the way are very understandable to them."

Laura Buharina is the CEO and owner of Dekolserviss. The company has been printing tableware for 25 years.

"We print dishes using the Deco printing technology and in a way, we are also a continuation of the Deco workshop of the Riga Porcelain Factory. We have been a social entrepreneur for about 7 years, because most of our employees are people who are pre-retirement, and formerly unemployed.

"We are, first of all, creating jobs, we are helping them with social inclusion, it is also an economic benefit for the country as a whole, if, say, when these workers can continue working. It is very encouraging that the Ministry of Welfare is also organizing a week to promote social entrepreneurship. I think that is the most important thing - to talk about the fact that there are more and more social entrepreneurs in Latvia."

Between 2016 and 2023, the state invested almost €17 million in social entrepreneurship, during which time the financial institution Altum signed 204 grant agreements for a total of €12.6 million. The average grant per company is €62,000. But, as the representatives of the social enterprises themselves say, for them the main thing in business is not profit, but the satisfaction of having done something good for others through their work.