1st STAKEHOLDER GROUP MEETING HELD IN ITALY
The first local stakeholder meeting of the Metropolitan City of Bologna was held on 31st May. The relationship between social economy, financial and lending institutions was chosen as the core theme of this first roundtable discussion among stakeholders, representatives of different departments of the Metropolitan City of Bologna and interested attendees.
The social economy is the main topic that the Metropolitan City of Bologna will work on within the Microfuture project, starting with its own "Social Economy Plan," which is being developed through a participatory process. And undoubtedly lending institutions are a key player in providing financial support to organizations that often have little financial backing and no capital behind them.
However, it is necessary to go beyond the standard ways of analyzing third sector enterprises, no longer just through financial statements. For this reason, the meeting began by questioning what projects are developing that involve the social economy.
All the stakeholders present, 7 representatives of the major banking and lending institutions in the Emilia-Romagna region, stressed that the starting point must be the identification of a common lexicon. In fact, in order to understand each other and study customized forms of support, it is necessary to bridge the communication gap: using the same terms, having the same units of measurement, and understanding the topic.
It is therefore crucial that third sector organizations improve their financial skills through training and capacity building courses. On the other hand, there is a need for traditional lending institutions to give more attention to those organizations that can effectively impact the system by placing greater emphasis on social impact. For this reason, the only way is to build an alliance in which public authorities must play a key role, and the Microfuture project can promote and lead this path.