The first module of the “Academy of Social Economy ” was held

From November 18 to 20, 2022, in Vranje-Serbia, was held the first module of the Academy of Social Economy, in which participated representatives of 4 existing social enterprises and 8 new initiatives for social enterprises from our country and Serbia. Within the first module of the Academy, through the guidance of professional trainers, participants learned how to better develop their business model, marketing and financial plan, improve their services and management skills and build a more participatory culture in their enterprises. After completing the module, the teams also received practical tasks adapted to their specific needs and potentials, which they should complete by the beginning of the next module. Trainers of the first module were Vlatko Danilov, Milos Antic, and Tanja Bjelanovic.

What was most striking at this event was the special beautiful energy that constantly flowed between the participants, their activity, and their desire to learn as much as possible. In addition to all these wonderful things, a beautiful story was constantly circulating these 3 days. Namely, one of the competing teams received a symbolic, but at the same time, quite a significant award for all of us who are involved in this project and social entrepreneurship in general, and one of our primary tasks is the promotion of social enterprises from the border region in our country and Serbia. It is about the wine “ARNO”, which bears the name of our organization, produced from Macedonian grapes by three young and ambitious girls from Vranje, Serbia, with the support of their parents. The wine that these three girls managed to make is a brand of this city, which represents the south of Serbia in the best way, all over the world, and receives awards for quality all over the world.

“This story was quite interesting for all of us because the goal of the project is the development of a more inclusive society by strengthening social enterprises in the cross-border region with Serbia and encouraging their cross-border cooperation,” said project coordinator Jasmina Said from ARNO.

The project “Social Enterprises for Economic Development and Social Inclusion” is implemented in partnership with the associations “ARNO” from North Macedonia, Optimist from the Republic of Serbia, and Trag Foundation (coordinator), financed by the European Union through the Department for Contracting and Financing of EU Funded Programs within the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Serbia (IPA 2 program for cross-border cooperation Republic of Serbia-North Macedonia 2016-2020).