Activities of social economy entities for local communities in the area of green innovations. Case study

Abstract

The sphere of the social economy includes “borderline” organisations pursuing economic and social goals. The association analysed by the authors is such a case. Its mission assumes the implementation of goals consistent with social goals in the field of sustainable development. The Association undertakes initiatives focused on “green politics”. The aim of the article is to identify the areas of effective operation and sources of problems of the association in the implementation of green innovations. For the purposes of this text, theses have been adopted according to which the organisation reacts flexibly and efficiently to changes in the environment, and the greatest difficulty is to engage the unconvinced. The text was based on the analysis of literature and a study of a selected social economy organisation. Selected scientific sources, reports and statistics, as well as earlier research of one of the authors were used for the literature research. A case study was used to study the organisation, where internal sources of the organisation, participant observation and an in-depth interview with a board member were used. According to the authors, an important ability of an organisation is quick adaptation to the changing socio-economic and political situation, the use of new business models, creating a network of cooperation, also with the local government, learning from each other, being present in the life of the local community, responding to its needs and for innovation, cohesion and the environment.