On Tuesday, June 13, the "SPoint - Gateway to the world of social entrepreneurship" consultancy was ceremoniously opened at ICUK Space Hradební, in the premises of the Innovation Center of the Ústí Region. This is the second advisory and consultation center for social entrepreneurship in the Czech Republic; the first was created just a few days ago for Prague and the Central Bohemian Region.
He took over the patronage of the grand opening Deputy Governor of the Ústí Region Jiří Kulhánek. On behalf of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, Šárka Vokálová, the main guarantor of the RESP project (Social Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Development), and other representatives of the Ministry participated in the opening ceremony.
"SPoint represents a key step in the support and promotion of social entrepreneurship in our region. A place where entrepreneurs and citizens can get not only advice and consultation, but also education and enlightenment in the field of social entrepreneurship. I believe that this initiative will contribute to the spread of awareness of social entrepreneurship, support existing social enterprises and help new enterprises to emerge." said Jiří Kulhánek, 1st Deputy Governor of the Ústí Region, on the occasion of the opening ceremony.
The SPoint of the Ústí Region will provide free advice and consultation, education and training, and will also offer the possibility of cooperation in the promotion of social entrepreneurship, provide information on financial resources, bring the possibility of networking and sharing experiences, and support the incubation of ideas for social entrepreneurship.
"By opening the center, we want to show that the social economy is not only a matter of business, but also represents a unique connection of economic efficiency and social impact. It is about a business that brings a concrete benefit to the community and to specific people in the disadvantaged market. SPoint is proof that we want to actively support and promote social entrepreneurship, because this is also a way to develop the region," stated Martin Mata, director of the Innovation Center of the Ústí Region, which SPoint will operate.
For those interested, SPoint will be open every Thursday from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. directly in the ICUK Space Hradební building in Ústí nad Labem. "SPoint's subtitle The Gateway to the World of Social Entrepreneurship nicely captures the main idea behind the creation of this consultancy. Our mission is to provide comprehensive consulting and advisory services for those interested in social entrepreneurship as well as for already established social enterprises. We want to create an environment where entrepreneurs in this area will learn, grow and inspire each other," she shared Lenka Macková, coordinator of SPoint of the Ústí Region.
Additional consulting locations in Prague and Ústí nad Labem are to be opened in July this year in the Olomouc, Moravian-Silesian, South Bohemian and Pardubice regions, and are being prepared in other regions as well. In addition to SPoints, the creation of the Institute of Social Entrepreneurship is being prepared, the task of which will be to create a system solution for education in the field of social entrepreneurship.
You can find more information about social entrepreneurship on our SPoint subpage
Funded by the EU, the Development of the Social Entrepreneurship Ecosystem (RESP) project, registration number – CZ.03.02.02/00/22_004/0001397.
