Vocational Education and Training as a Support Mechanism and Policy Instrument for the European Social and Solidarity Economy

Abstract

The chapter discusses the preliminary evidence for the state of Vocational Education and Training (hereafter VET) for social entrepreneurship and organizations and especially for European Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE). Drawing upon a European project, and gathering information from five countries; Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Greece and Italy, this study aims to demonstrate that educational programmes are encompassed among the necessary SSE support mechanisms in the EU's socio-economic framework. Moreover, this chapter shows that this connection between SSE and adult education is not coincidental, but is founded on the converging principles of these fields, as well as in their common belief in society's transformational potential. This evidence tends to fill a gap in the literature of European SSE given that it is a recent, under-researched subject in general and especially in linking it to VET. This is all the more important in view of ongoing crises (e.g. financial, COVID-19, environmental), which highlight that social economy perspectives can no longer abstain from the political agendas across the world.

Citation

Apostolopoulos, N., Goulas, C., Kakouris, A. and Papageorgiou, I. (2021), "Vocational Education and Training as a Support Mechanism and Policy Instrument for the European Social and Solidarity Economy", Apostolopoulos, N., Chalvatzis, K. and Liargovas, P. (Ed.) Entrepreneurship, Institutional Framework and Support Mechanisms in the EU, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 85-99. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-83909-982-320211009