Study Visits to Social Economy enterprises in accessible & sustainable tourism, culture & leisure

Context

In March 2021, the European Commission presented an ambitious Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2021-2030 to ensure their full participation in society, on an equal basis with others in the EU and beyond, in line with the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, which establish equality and non-discrimination as cornerstones of EU policies.

Persons with disabilities have the right to take part in all areas of life, just like everyone else. Additionally, with the recent introduction of the EU Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan and the upcoming Action Plan for the Social Economy, the role the social economy plays in awarding the inclusion of people with disabilities is impressive. In order to facilitate businesses to work towards inclusion; Social Economy Europe, along with several partners published a guide in December 2020 on Social Economy for the Inclusion of People with Disabilities.

In a world where public and political attention increasingly puts the rights of people with disabilities high on the agenda (progress still needs to be made), it is important that businesses react to this important discourse and adapt to both the needs of customers, through improving accessibility of their infrastructure and services, as well as improve inclusiveness in terms of employment and governance of their organisations. This is increasingly relevant as Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) indicators gain momentum and visibility. Social Economy Europe are cooperating with SZOWES (West Pomeranian Network of Social Economy Support Centres in Poland), to write a guide on accessible tourism, using good practices from within the social economy.

Colleagues from SZOWES recently visited Belgium in order to complete in person study visits and a thematic workshop to finalise coordination of the guide. Here we describe the impressive organisations that were encountered. The guide is set to be released at an important conference in Poland, towards the end of September.

About SZOWES

SZOWES is a West Pomeranian Network of Social Economy Support Centres promoting and strengthening the potential of local communities and social economy actors. They help through training, advisory support system combined with on-premises animation support based on the diagnosis of the local environment and the actors themselves and tailored to specific needs, on the basis of an individualised support plan. 

Study Visits

Five study visits were conducted, each comprising a variety of activities which fit the criteria of being a social economy entity, focussed on the employment of people with disabilities and some on the accessibility of people with disabilities. The organisations visited included : Ferme Nos Pilifs (Brussels), Créahm (Liège), Trinkhall museum (Liège) and café and Ilunion hotels (virtual visit, Spain).

We were graciously given a tour by Director, Mr Benoît Ceysens. This fantastic organisation is a social economy farm, which also contains within the compound a gardening store, a supermarket, a bakery (boulangerie),  a restaurant, cookie production factory as well as providing professional gardening services. The organisation works on three pillars of:

Green inclusive Jobs.

Sustainable food production – All water is recycled, composting, renewable energy production, sustainable heating system, all products are “Bio”.

Education for environmental protection.

The grounds, which are scattered with impressive greenhouses, animals and even a giant compost are accessible to people for free at all times and have helped to revitalise the community. Informative posters demonstrate the circular economy principles of reusing wood in a reuse workshop and the sustainable heating system which uses wood chippings in a furnace to heat all parts of the compound. Additionally, much of their own electricity is generated from impressive solar panels.

The organisation employs 200 people, 140 of which are people with disabilities. The largest source of income is from the economic activities of the organisation, mostly through selling products and produce. The organic growth of the organisation comes from humble beginnings where the farm began with only a handful of employees. They had an ambitious approach where growth is the only way to maintain inspiration, and they are part of a cluster of 8 associations of non-for-profit, adapted work enterprises (Entreprises de Travail Adapté, a belgian legal category); containing a youth centre, leisure centre, creche (kindergarden), accompanying services, a day care centre for people with disabilities and a primary and secondary school.

Employees of the farm are highly associated with the accompanying services which help them during their personal life.

Employees are trained from a network of professionals, meaning that they learn from specialists, guaranteeing quality services. The employees are often well suited to specific roles, which they become very skilled in and enjoy, while being empowered. The social aspect of the farm attracts a wider empathetic audience and serves as an added economic advantage of the organisation.

We were welcomed by the director Ms Cecile Schumacher, who introduced us to this impressively fast growing, but historic artistic, societal and political project, which has been at the heart of fulfilling the lives of people with disabilities that are unable to join the work register. The centre provides a range of activities including Art, Music, Dance, Theatre and Circus Skills, which work for the empowerment and fulfilment of individuals. We saw a fascinating display of tai chi, with movements created by the performers, with displays of incredible teamwork and leadership. The centre is serious about developing the skills of the attendants and some go on to classical artistic training outside of the centre, sell their artwork and a few, notably, gain relatively high levels of recognition in the art world. Regularly the centre will have an open day sale of the products produced, often with generating an income of thousands of euros.

Upon entering this exceptional building, once named the MAD museum, you are struck by a large model of a ship, intricately designed and tinkered to produce a truly intricate piece or artwork. Awe increases upon reading the trilingual displayed notes, which explain how the artist is a person with disabilities, and you can learn all of the processes that he went through when creating the piece. The piece sets the scene for the rest of the museum tour, which blends art from famous artists with art pieces from the CREAHM association as well as similar associations worldwide.

All art here is given an equal footing, where the piece is of importance, rather than the status of the artist. However, information on the artists is available for those who are interested. The exhibition gives honour and prestige that these artists deserve, and an interesting aspect is the detail one can learn about the curious artistic processes that some artists have and their particular needs, requirements or demands. This is perfectly exampled by an entire recreated version of the workshop of one of the artists, who incidentally raises awareness of the circular economy through only using recycled objects. There is also a pedagogical space for education purposes on the premises. The site is 100% accessible to people with mobility issues. Additionally, audio guides for people with visual impairment are coming soon.

Physically attached to the Museum is the Trinkhall Café, however, a spin off of the Créahm association, which works as a Work Integration Social Enterprise, helping to reintegrate people far from the job market back into the workplace. They have a 100% success rate so far, in employees finding work. The service and quality of the food is excellent. 

The final visit was a virtual workshop with Ilunion Hotels, which is part of the ONCE Social Group. We were joined by Mr Ignacio Velo, Ms Sonia García-Fraile Cámara and Mr Oliver Benalal, who explained about the business structure, key principles for accessible hotels, and current projects.

We were told about a current project regarding an accessible tourist route called the “Way of St James”. The ONCE Social Group is working with the cities in the way of St James, working with Microsoft for accessible APPs and they are making accessible webpages.

They are also working on an International Congress on Tourism and Technology, which will showcase new ideas in accessible tourism.

Ilunion Hotels are top quality hotels offering the same or better-quality services, at the same or a lower price than their competitors, which are leading global hotel chains. They are currently in Spain and are a top leader in the social economy. As a whole, ILUNION group employs 38,000 professionals of which 15,000 (40.5%) are indidividuals with different forms and degrees of disability.  In addition to hotels, the Ilunion have ten outsourcing factories and work with Ford, DHL, L’oreal and others. They also have facilitating services, health and social care, Business Support, a technology and accesibility division, retail, circular economy, education, building maintenance, 100 convenience stores (usually situated in hospitals or metro stations), insurance, residences, physiotherapy centres, industrial laundry facilities etc. A huge range of different types of business adding to the inclusion of people with disabilities. Ilunion also has joint ventures with companies as REPSOL (REPSOL foundation) to create the company Recycling4all. It specializes in the circular economy through large-scale industrial recycling of electric and electronic equipment, which also generates employment for close to one hundred persons with disabilities. 

Ilunion are world leaders in accessibility, with all hotels having 100% accessibility. They also form several “special employment centres” (Centros Especiales de Empleo de Iniciativa Social) where over 70% of employees are people with disabilities. The sustainable and social aspects of Ilunion are well known and this strong reputation has added economic value. Legal and policy conditions in Spain allow this to occur, where for “Centros Especiales de Empleo” social security costs are covered by the government as well a 50% of the salaries of employees with disabilities. It is key that all Member States work towards achieving a similar “ecosystem” conducive to allowing similar business structures to be replicated.

Something to convince policy makers in MS that are behind, is to explain that a study from KPMG demonstrated that each euro invested in supporting the employability of people with disabilities shows a financial return of 1.4 Euros. 

We are extremely grateful to all of the organisations that gave us their time, for the incredible tours and knowledge they have imparted. It will go a long way to ensuring the accessible tourism guide is highly relevant and informative. Once published, the guide will be followed by evaluation and training phase. 

The key lesson learned here, was that quality of service must come first. In the social economy, people are always put before profit; however, it is important that the business is successful and competitive if more people are to be helped. To reduce costs, all accessibility measures should be considered from the conception of a project. Accessibility is linked to quality. Normally, when so much consideration has gone into making something accessible, it is of better quality. Additionally, the increased accessibility does not end at people with disabilities, the elderly will also hugely benefit from larger, more accessible spaces, with clearer guidance. Moreover, people with disabilities tend to spend more while travelling, therefore it is savvy business to be more accessible. To ensure success, it is important to know your market and do the research, making a service attractive for them, to create a product or service above the local standars. 

To be continued!

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