EU funding for mentoring schemes in social enterprises

Ljubljana, 9 August 2018 – Government Office for Development and European Cohesion Policy, the Managing Authority for ERDF, ESF and Cohesion Fund, issued a grant decision for the call for proposals ‘’Mentoring schemes for social enterprises’’. The call for proposals makes a total of EUR 3.2 million available. European Social Fund will contribute EUR 2.5 million, of which EUR 1.4 million will go to cohesion region Vzhodna Slovenija and EUR 1.1 million to Zahodna Slovenija.

The call for proposals, which should be published tomorrow, aims to contribute to the development and professionalisation of the social enterprise sector through inclusion of individuals in mentoring programmes and ‘’train the trainer’’ programmes. The call for proposals consists of two separate strands.

Strand A aims at supporting, mobilising, motivating and encouraging social enterprise employees, especially vulnerable individuals and groups, to be proactive at work and, in general, to become more proactive in their lives. Mentors, an important element of supportive environment for social enterprises in Slovenia, will thus have an important role by contributing to fostering the social inclusion and labour market participation of vulnerable groups. The transfer of knowledge from mentors to employees in social enterprises, and strengthening of their competences will, in turn, support the flourishing and continuous work of the social enterprise sector.

Strand B of the call for proposals aims to improve the knowledge, skills and competences of mentors in the area of social entrepreneurship through educational or ‘’train the trainer’’ programmes.

For more information, please refer to the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology