A Successful Social Enterprise in Hungary

Abstract

Subject and purpose of work: The aim of the study is to describe the development of the social economy sector, the emergence of social enterprises and the rationale for their establishment. Materials and methods: It is through social enterprises, that the social economy can provide solutions to existing social and economic problems that the profit-oriented sector cannot always solve. We interviewed Szimbiózis Foundation, a social enterprise that has been thriving in Northern Hungary for decades as one of the building blocks of the social economy. Results: The example of the foundation is used to illustrate positive social benefits of social entrepreneurship in general. The Szimbiózis Foundation has been operating as a social enterprise for 15 years and has intentionally become one. A fundamental problem for people with disabilities is that they do not have marketable occupations and their educational attainment is mostly low. Appropriate quality training is needed to ensure that they learn the most relevant skills for their abilities. Having identified this problem, the Szimbiózis Foundation set out to provide training courses for people with disabilities. This improved the number of skilled workers with a disability. Conclusions: The identified outputs have a number of measurable effects, such as a reduction in local unemployment, cost savings to society, and the improved quality of life for people with disabilities.