Developped by L’ESPER, “My SSE at school” consists in the setting up, in class, of a social and co-operative economy enterprise by pupils in secondary schools.
The aim of “my SSE at school” is to empower young people by making them fully involved in an entrepreneurial, co-operative and socially-useful project. In addition to the many skills that they will develop through this experience, they are both putting into practice and also giving meaning to the values of equality, cooperation and solidarity that is the basis of the social economy.
Pupils will experience in class the setting up of a Social Enterprise, whether it be an association, a cooperative or a mutual organisation. It’s a civic and entrepreneurial project:
- To promote the social economy, its values and methods through collective action: cooperation, commitment, taking initiatives, solidarity, equality, limited profits and democracy.
- To discover the diversity of the professional, economic, and social environment of the SSE’s local actors.
- To encourage intuitive taking and commitment of young people through the setting up and implementation of a collective project that produces socially useful goods or services.
- To reinforce both class and school dynamics: opening to the surrounding area, improving the school atmosphere and image, and for pupils to exercise responsible participation.
The 11 essential steps for a collective project: the “educational book” offers tools for each step:
- analyse the needs, bring socially useful ideas to the surface
- discover and choose the democratic way of making decisions
- define the responsibilities of everyone together
- establish the projected budget
- develop communication tools
- present the project to partners and meet with the SSE actors
- define the tasks of each pupil
sto implement the project - carry out the community project
- Finalise a budget and establish a balance sheet
- carry out the assessment of the project and the skills acquired
- organise a closing event to highlight the work done
The ESPER, a social economy partner of the Republic’s schools », is an association bringing together 44 social economy organizations (associations, friendly societies, cooperatives, unions) working in both School and education community fields.
Its members carry out activities in the following fields: health, insurance, banking, medico-social, training, accompaniment of educational professions, holiday and leisure centres, post and extracurricular activities, popular education…
L’ESPER is a space for dialogue between its members. Its very nature and that of its members make it the perfect tool to promote Social enterprises to young people.
