International Conference Social Economy - Kreta/Greece

by Renate Goergen

www.lemat.it

Who and what is Le Mat?

• A brand standing for social entrepreneurs in tourism• A assembled know how how to become and to be

social entrepreneurs in tourism• A group of social entrepreneurs and experts working

as consultants• A way to replicate well functioning practices• A way to transfer experiences and to share marketing

strategies• A growing European Network• A SOCIAL FRANCHISING SYSTEM

Many years ago in Italy we startedWe decided to become social entrepreneurs

• To invent some interesting work for a more sustainable and inclusive work in our communities

• To battle against unemployment and social exclusion by self-help and self-employment

• To feel socially useful and EMPOWEREDAnd so we developed social co-operatives!!

After many years, a law and several experiences…

We convinced • that social entrepreneurs are really useful and that many other people

wanted to start a social co-operative• that nevertheless money still went to the traditional economy and

training organizations• that social economy was considered a kind of second or third sector too

often dependent from public money

We thought • to help social entrepreneurs to develop, to analyse and organize

and than replicate our know how and to become stronger on the European level by developing a social franchise system

TOURISM had become our entrepreneurial passion

Because• Since 1985 in TRIESTE we started to manage a small

Hotel• Travellers are curious clients and interested in our

stories about becoming more inclusive and sustainable • It’s a work where you meet many different people and

so you don’t feel so different • Tourism is storytelling and we have many stories to tell

So we developed To teach ourselves and the franchisees how to be

successful• We developed Manuals• We developed training methodologies• We developed the LE MAT MANIFESTO• We developed blogs and social networks activities• We developed touristic products• We developed local sustainable and community touristic

systems• And we developed TERESA, the Le Mat traveller, as a

innovative storytelling marketing strategyhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIBsSVp6xwM

We started to work as Social franchisors

• First step: a group of experts had to be set up able to act as consultants and to replicate the main elements of the good practice

• Second step: experimentation of the replication process in Italy for start-up of new social entrepreneurs but also to raise the quality of already existing practices

• Third Step: the replication outside Italy. Could our know-how be useful and transferred also in other countries?

• Le MAT SWEDEN, LE MAT POLAND, LE MAT UK…

We learned that branding is a difficult job

• All our franchisees want to reach better economic and social results by using the Le Mat know-how and marketing/branding strategy

• We have to strengthen the brand and we need all the franchise network members to contribute on this

• We need to find common and shared languages, our clients have to understand where and why Le Mat is different from other touristic facilities…

• We have to learn to tell our stories, places, values

Our Swedish colleagues use to say: “Do not offer square solutions to all, because some people are round. We have got bats in the belfry, drug abuse in our baggage, criminal thoughts, disabilities, stress symptoms and 11 social enterprises with a turnover of SEK 39 million a year”

Le Mat’s social franchising seems to be an interesting opportunity for youth employment!

WHY?

• Tourism offers interesting career opportunities for young people on local and international level;

• Tourism is passing through very strong changes: the WorldWideWeb is completely changing the marketing strategies and the behaviour of travellers;

• Travellers are more and more interested in community and sustainable tourism;

• The branding and marketing of small local tourism systems need high expertise in the use of social networks and young people are excellent on this;

• To act locally and to think globally is a way of thinking of young people and the Le Mat social franchising strategy needs this capacities!!!!

Le Mat’s social franchise seems to attractivefor young people

• Innovative Touristic products have to be developed by a community together with intelligent touroperators from the bottom up

• Young people like travellers coming to there local communities because they are interesting and different from the local people

• Le Mat’s social franchising helps young people to develop the products; we use a development strategy called “mapping your meaningful relations in the community” which helps young people to develop a self-employment strategy in their comunity;

• Than we use TERESA the LE MAT TRAVELLER to produce video story telling which is an important issue also to recruit young people https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIBsSVp6xwM ;

LE MAT on EURONEWS/BUSINESS PLANET http://gr.euronews.com/2014/05/30/italian-dolomites-not-just-for-profit/

Today there are more than 18 Special Places Le Mat in Italy, 3 in Sweden, 1 in Poland!

We are waiting for GREECE!Come in touch with us: [email protected] tel: +39 335 7780682