Cork City Council taking part on EU project supporting social enterprise

16th April 2021

Cork City Council is spearheading a new year-long EU-funded project focused at better supporting social entrepreneurship, particularly in a post-Covid world.

Social enterprises are businesses that trade to intentionally tackle social problems, improve communities, provide people access to employment and training or help the environment. Examples of social enterprises in Cork include Cork Deaf Enterprise and Churchfield Community Trust, pictured above at the Hydro Farm Allotment in Tower.

As part of the FOSO POCO project, Cork City Council will be working with relevant support services and stakeholders to create a better understanding of the current local environment and potential of social enterprise, to identify and address existing gaps in supports and to highlight best practice. The project also seeks to assist promising social enterprises to pilot, pitch and internationalise their product or services through the networks of the EU project partners and to establish local supports to assist social enterprises in a post-Covid economy.  Particular attention will be given to those social enterprises providing a service or product aimed at supporting those in greater need because of the pandemic. 

Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr Joe Kavanagh said: “There is phenomenal work being done by social enterprises in this city who are providing employment and training to people while  addressing social, community and environmental challenges. It is a wonderful sector to engage with as there is such a sense of purpose in what they do: that real sense of making a difference”.

Cork City Council’s partners in this project are Tartu City Government and Malta Enterprise, who will act as lead partner. 

The project runs from February 2021 until February 2022 and is co-funded by the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME) under the COSME programme.