A economia social: uma resposta à crise no distrito de Castelo Branco

• Autor(a) principal: Catarino, Acácio
• Data de Publicação: 2010
• Outros Autores: Pinheiro, António, Medeiros, Carlos Laranjo
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: https://doi.org/10.34632/povoseculturas.2010.8652

This study reviews the concept of social economy and its aims are to ascertain whether the current crisis is incidental or structural and clarify the social and economic situation in the Castelo Branco district in light of the effects of the current crisis. It also looks into the situation and future viability of private charitable institutions and makes proposals as to how to prevent them from being shaken by the crisis and even help to reduce it, especially in local markets. After an analysis of different statistical data, it concludes that the crisis is structural and paints a picture of the current deterioration in the social and economic situation, which coincides with the feelings of the charities contacted during the study.. The authors describe the charitable organisations in the district and the social solutions that they offer, the way in which they are organised and managed, their employees and service users, their financial sustainability and the constraints that they come up against. The study analyses their contribution to local economies and their role in boosting entrepreneurship and volunteering. A national and international social economy benchmarking exercise identifies good governance and financing practices In conclusion, the authors make a series of recommendations in the following areas: improvements in the regulatory framework and public initiatives, management for sustainability, the fight against poverty and an increase in the impacts of the social economy. They highlight the need to promote more and better cooperation between charitable institutions and between these organisations and the District Social Security Centre and local authorities, to step up the role of the civil government in this promotion and in using the potential of the social network, to create a balance between demands for quality in social facilities and the diversity and quantity of problems that they have to deal with and to foster the participation of charitable organisations in solving unemployment problems and stimulating the development of the good practices identified.