"It is our aspiration that all people of Amsterdam with disabilities have an opportunity to become participants in our city"
international Conference Ljubljana
Multiple purposes were served during the conference in Ljubljana in October, 2014. Foremost, the conference Europe4all. This conference’s main goal was to discuss and share the good practices of the Work Integration Social Enterprises (WISEs) in Europe.
Additionally, the yearly assembly of members was held by ENSIE. During this meeting the future course of ENSIE was chartered.
Europe4all
On the first day, the European visitors were received warmly by the responsible politicians there. We were introduced to the regulations and initiatives surrounding social enterprise in Slovenia.
On day two, presentations and discussions covering several themes were given, including guideline forming examples from Great Britain, Belgium, Slovenia and Italy. Upcoming social enterprises are greatly supported in Great Britain and Italy and there is a lengthy tradition of social entrepreneurship and community that even Belgium and Slovenia take inspiration from.
Impact
In relation to the situation in Amsterdam, we learned a lot regarding the importance of a healthy entrepreneurs climate. We also noticed that with a decrease of regulation, the finest initiatives arose. When there is a lack of entrepreneurship those not independently taking part in the community in Amsterdam have little to no support to do so. In Slovenia, this leads to not just the traditional WISE tasks of recycling or waste disposal. It is evidently also possible to capitalize on specialized labour such as land surveying by recruiting those with employment disabilities. Policy and regulation in Slovenia allow for employer taxes being reinvested in the enterprise directly instead of going to the state. Now this is an idea.