Social entrepreneurship in Slovenia

Development of Slovenian social entrepreneurship is governed and monitored primarily by adopted Act on Social Entrepreneurship in 2011 (SEA, 2011). In October 2018, 259 organizations were officially registered as social enterprises in the register, fulfilling all required law criteria. However, the current register is comprising of those holding the statues of social enterprises according to Social Entrepreneurship Act (SEA, 2011) and it is not representative of the actual number of social enterprises by EU operational definition in Slovenia. Data on how many of the 27,772 NGOs (source: CNVOS, 2018) fall under the EU or Slovenian definition of a social enterprise are not available. The concept of social entrepreneurship in Slovenia is still new and therefore, statistics are scarce. However, experts estimate that Slovenia has around 900 organisations, which potentially fulfil the criteria laid out by the EU definition of social enterprise.

Social innovation in Slovenia is still in its early stages and remains largely underdeveloped without proper supporting environment for social innovators. Although mentioned, there are some examples of best practices, like for example Organic-social farm Korenika. Farm is located in Šalovci, in the heart of the Goričko Nature Park. Korenika employs disabled persons and other vulnerable groups in society. It has its own organic production and food processing, developed its own brand and sells herbal teas, cold-pressed oils, dried and preserved fruits and vegetables, home canning, juices and syrups that are sold in selected shops in Slovenia and in an online store. It also has a spacious herb garden and home to many animals, which are very popular among the youngest visitors. The number of visitors is constantly growing, as well as the increasing number of activities and education, which are hosted in a pleasant and calming rural environment (https://www.korenika.si/korenika-en).

More insights about social Entrepreneurship in Slovenia can be found in the study:

https://zavod14.si/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Social-Entrepreneurship_Case-of-Slovenia.pdf


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