Daniele Farfus August, 2007

1. Changing ideas into business plans: the experience of SESI’s Social Entrepreneurism Program in the Parana state. Daniele Farfus August, 2007

2. SESI PARANÁ Creation: on July 1st, 1946 - it has national headquarter in Brasilia and regional locations in the Brazilian states. SESI Parana: national department located in Curitiba, Parana state, it counts with 28 units in different municipal districts from Parana state. Mission: to promote the worker’s life quality and of their dependents, with focus in education, health and leisure, and to stimulate the responsible socially management of the industrial company. Vision: to be the national leader in the promotion of the worker’s life quality improvement and of their dependents, and the responsible socially management of the industrial company. Slogan: “We help the industry to grow and to make to grow”

3. SOCIAL INNOVATION To remake the history is co-responsability of those that are committed with the re-creation of a society with more justice and equality, assured by the solidary process among the individuals. Social Innovation is understood as the application of technologies that allow promoting the social inclusion, work and income generation and life’s conditions improvements. The innovation, according to Dosi (1988), is a searching process, discovery, experimentation, development, imitation, and, effective adoption of new products, of the new production process or new organizational arrangements.

4. SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURISM For Fillion (1991) “the entrepreneur is someone that imagines develop and accomplish visions”. Hartigan (2006) define social entrepreneur as “a different social leader type that, among other things, apply practical solutions to social problems through the joining of innovation, resources availability and opportunities. The social entrepreneur’s innovation can be in a new product, service or approaching to a social problem.” The social entrepreneur thinks about the collective. He produces goods and services for the community. He has the focus in searching of solutions to the social problems. His measure of acting is the social impact. He seeks to rescue people from social risk situation and to promote them.

5. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY The techological innovation take the significant changes in the organizations and society and finishing for also pressuring changes in the education. The EAD is result of technological evolution applied to education, making easy the access, reducing the physical distance between the trainers and participants, arranging the innovative tools for the learning process and evaluation. And this is possible only through the mesh of the technological information and communication infrastructure. To know how to work with new technologies can be the differential in the learning process in a world where information and knowledge are more and more demanded.

6. CONCEPTION OF THE PROGRAM SESI Social Entrepreneurism comes up in 2005 starting from a Call of Incentive Guidelines of the National Department for Strategic Programs. After scenery analysis, the focus in the social entrepreneurism was defined, with the need of the concept spreading and training of social entrepreneurs for the Parana state. It has as a central point the technical and human competences development in the social entrepreneurs. Systemization of the project optimizing the FIEP System’s collaborators internal competences.

7. SYSTEMATIZED METHODOLOGY Definition of a proposal to education half-presential. Using presential meetings and EAD’s tool. Assistance to whole municipal districts from Parana state, with logistics drawing and infrastructure for assistance to the social entrepreneurs. Program composed of four modules: the individual, business plan, the social entrepreneur, financing sources and finances. Specific module for presentation of the business plans developed by the social entrepreneurs in the Program.

8. EAD’S TOOL The use of Eureka platform makes possible synchronous &assynchronous moments, for the instroduction of contents, respecting the process of adult apprentice's autonomy, integral of a heterogeneous group, with several occupations, experiences and aspirations. Students’ spontaneous motivation for the learning and respect to the communication process that differs in the time and space, encouraging the strengthening of communication between the presential periods. Definition of the aims to be reached with the use of the tool and valorization of the learning deepening exercises, with contents jointed with the printed material. Valorization of the information brought by the social entrepreneurs who supplied the tool.

9. OVERCOME CHALLENGES Logistics for spreading of the Program in whole Parana state, using the SESI units for spreading of the rule. Utilization of the distance education tool is also a challenge, since, to learn using the information and communication technologies is not usual practice in the Brazilian culture yet. Conquest of the group’s cohesion, that presented a peculiar diversity and that became in a community practice in the social entrepreneurism area. Consolidation of relationships net with mutual stimulus, change of information and perceptions. Search of business plans implantation, with the definition of the monthly follow-up during the consecutive year.

10. ACHIEVED BENEFITS Conquest of the space in the organizational culture. Contribution for the spreading of the social entrepreneurism term, to stakeholders, in Parana state. Recognition, by the community, of the issued certificate and of the certifying institutions credibility makes possible a differential in the entrepreneurs’ Curriculums. Significant enlargement in the relationships net, which is being moved to the spreading of the Program’s second edition, with several positive returns.

11. EVALUATION PROCESS Process evaluation: to monitor the constructed methodology, its characteristics and the way it developed, searching to identify the factors that during the implantation make easy or hindered its accomplishment, allowing to assure the project’s fulfillment and the execution of defined purposes, within the periods and budget agreed. Results evaluation: to identify quantitative indicators to close the accounts rendered report and the indicators that made possible to replenish the proposal. In this way it was possible to prove that the Program accomplished the proposed target, the aimed public was considered, and in which measure the goals were reached. Impact evaluation: to follow-up the implantation of the business plans developed in the program, through the presential meetings realized in the year of 2007.

12. QUANTITATIVE INDICATORS At the end of the pilot Program’s implantation, some quantitative indicators reflect the lived reality: 1 systematized methodoly, using printed material and communication & information technology - EAD platform. 62.47% of the enrolled projects were selected to participate of the Program. 29 people concluded the training, making 75% of the participants that began the tanning process. From the selected people that began the training, 75% concluded the challenge to change ideas into business plans. 100% of the business plans were presented finished in the last Program module.

13. NECESSARY ADJUSTMENTS Starting from the indicators the methodology was replenished. Identified strong points remained unchanged, as for instance, the presential meetings happened on Saturdays. The 2nd Edition of the Program will be composed by seven modules: Program’s presentation and EAD’s tool, the individual and the social entrepreneur, business plans, financing sources and working out of social projects, finances for business plans and social projects, legal aspects for third sector’s institutions, presentation of business plans. The monthly meetings for the consecutive year to the Program’s accomplishment, with follow-up for support to the business plans implantation are now scheduled in the rule.

14. LEARNINGS Understand one another that is necessary to construct a new society, a renewed community and one civilized city; for so much, it is necessary to reconstruct the daily, not more base in hypothetical models, but in models that make possible real and concrete changes, that respect the differences and promote the fairness. The social entrepreneurs are wonderful people that take over their citizenship and respect their homeland, aiming at the collective benefit. Commitment is the key word for the social entrepreneur. The whole logistics drawing, construction of methodology, studies about social innovation, evaluation process, made possible to understand that with the SESI’s Social Entrepreneurism Program is learned more than can be taught.

15. CONTACT DANIELE FARFUS E-mail: daniele.farfus@sesipr.org.br Tel.: (41) 3271-9226