A total of 25 people from Suara Cooperativa recently traveled to the United Kingdom, where they were able to learn about 14 experiences of social economy projects in London, Bristol, Manchester, Liverpool and Belfast.
This meeting took place with member entities of E3M, an initiative that supports 25 social enterprises working mainly in the public sector. Specifically, the Suara Cooperativa delegation met from October 22 to 27 with different initiatives in areas as diverse as care, health, home care, migration, homelessness, childhood, support for victims of gender violence, job placement or schools for adults. During their trip, the Suara Cooperativa delegation met with these companies or foundations:Big Life, Bryson Group, Career Connect, Catch 22, Cranstoun, Locala, London Early Years Foundation (LEYF), Midcounties Co-operative, Childcare, P3, PossAbilities, Provide, Quo Vadis, Sirona i Staywell.
"The trip has allowed us to learn about other realities, experiences, ways of working or how they implement innovation and technology to offer better support," says Jordi Picas, director of Innovation at Suara Cooperativa, which in his case went to London.
In this context, Picas explains that in the United Kingdom, which ceased to be a member state of the European Union on 31 January 2020, these services are managed by private companies or foundations, financed by large companies in the country through public contracts. Furthermore, it also specifies that, unlike in Spain, where public tenders are put out to tender every four years, they are of long duration.
Another difference is that the United Kingdom only contemplates the model of consumer cooperatives, i.e., those in which different people join together as partners to jointly acquire a service such as, for example, electricity. On the other hand, there is no model like Suara Cooperativa, in which the workers are partners and owners of the company. For this reason, Picas assures, both the different companies or foundations with which they met were very interested in the cooperative model of Suara Cooperativa.
A form of organization and management that these companies and foundations will be able to learn about first-hand from November 21 to 23, when they will visit Suara Cooperativa's facilities in Barcelona.
This alliance is not new. E3M and Suara Cooperativa have been exchanging experiences and knowledge since 2021. In detail, in 2021 they exchanged innovative responses and initiatives to the challenges that arose from the covid-19 pandemic in the support of the elderly and children
