Social economy and workplace inclusion of people with disabilities: Insubria’s CreaRes Center presents research with the Varese Chamber of Commerce

The University of Insubria, through the CreaRes Center, contributed to the research project “Social economy and collaboration between for-profit and non-profit enterprises. Evidence and opportunities for the workplace inclusion of people with disabilities”, presented at the Ville Ponti Congress Center. Below is the press release issued by the Varese Chamber of Commerce on the initiative.

The Ville Ponti Congress Center hosted the presentation of the research project “Social economy and collaboration between for-profit and non-profit enterprises. Evidence and opportunities for the workplace inclusion of people with disabilities”, promoted by the Varese Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with the CreaRes Center of the University of Insubria. The meeting took the form of an open planning workshop aimed at consolidating synergies between the local for-profit and non-profit sectors, translating scientific evidence into tangible interventions, including in the field of targeted job placement. At the heart of the highly operational discussion was the need to launch a shared path capable of generating new project ideas. The research describes the evolution of the Third Sector towards the European model of the “Social Economy”: organisations are no longer seen merely as welfare providers, but as key players in sustainability and active inclusion. This evolution is reflected in ISTAT data on the Varese area from 2018 to 2022, which show a solid, resilient local cooperative sector undergoing strong dimensional growth, capable on its own of generating almost 70% of the added value of the entire provincial cooperative world, with a focus on welfare, healthcare and education services. This framework of economic stability provides a valuable foundation for encouraging greater convergence and overcoming the issues that remain unresolved in relations between the for-profit and non-profit sectors.

In this regard, President Mauro Vitiello stated: “As the Chamber of Commerce, we want to act as facilitators of ethical capitalism, in which collaboration between the for-profit and non-profit sectors becomes a driver of innovation for the entire Varese area. Today, on paper, we are at the forefront: regulations make it possible to design tailor-made job placements, modifying workstations and offices. But reality clashes with the evolution of the market. Our technology and service companies do not produce physical goods and struggle to find practical activities to outsource. This is precisely where we must move beyond old approaches in order to build a strategic partnership: by helping these two worlds engage in dialogue, we can bridge the gap between theory and practice, transforming it into an opportunity for genuine co-design.”

“The research has shown that the workplace inclusion of people with disabilities is now a crucial challenge, but also a concrete opportunity for innovation for the economic and social system,” commented Professors Rossella Locatelli and Andrea Uselli, who curated the research, “in a context marked by profound transformation, including in terms of identity, of the Third Sector and by the strategic challenges facing for-profit enterprises. The mapping exercise highlighted that, alongside virtuous experiences, cultural barriers and room for improvement remain in the application of the legislation. In this context, strengthening collaboration between for-profit enterprises, cooperatives and institutions is essential in order to build more effective and lasting inclusive pathways, moving towards replicable models capable of generating value for the entire area.”

To overcome these rigidities, the study mapped a range of national good practices, such as social activation pathways in Piedmont, the public-private funding model in Veneto, reserved procurement contracts in Umbria, and remote work adoption schemes in Lecco and Bergamo. One of the objectives of the meeting was to set out and gather input on a clear action agenda for the coming months, structured around four operational pillars designed to further transform individual experiments into a structured system. First, the proposal is for joint governance through a single public coordination body, bringing together employment offices, businesses and social cooperatives within a territorial working group. The second objective is the institutionalisation of good practices, in order to provide regional regulatory stability to examples of excellence that originated in the province of Varese itself, such as “Progetto Sociale al Quadrato” — the public sponsorship model active since 2019 — and the historic “Isole Formative”, launched in 1981. The third line of action focuses on a cultural evolution that encourages for-profit companies to view workplace inclusion not as a bureaucratic obligation, but as a strategic lever linked to ESG criteria, while at the same time encouraging the non-profit sector to present itself as a competent entrepreneurial partner. Finally, the fourth direction focuses on innovation and the centrality of the person, promoting investment in artificial intelligence, enabling technologies and digital aids in order to open up complex, high-added-value roles to people with disabilities, while ensuring their direct involvement in decision-making processes.

The second part of the meeting saw Varese’s economic and social stakeholders engage in direct discussion precisely in order to translate these guidelines into practice. Through a round table involving technical dialogue among representatives of Confcooperative, Confindustria, Confartigianato and Confapi, the event marked the first step in a shared pathway. The aim is to make dialogue between trade associations, businesses and Third Sector organisations stable and continuous, enabling them to act as genuine co-designers of corporate welfare solutions through network contracts useful for the exchange of services, as well as instruments such as co-employment and secondment. With the conclusion of the day’s proceedings, the Chamber of Commerce, the University of Insubria and the members of the social economy working group operating at the initiative of the Chamber officially launched the operational phase, defining the guidelines for the next territorial technical working groups, which will be tasked with giving shape and substance to the actions outlined. The discussion also highlighted that workplace inclusion can no longer be interpreted solely as a response to a regulatory obligation or a social need, but as a strategic lever for generating innovation, sustainability and competitiveness. From this perspective, the social economy is emerging as an increasingly important component of territorial development, capable of connecting businesses, cooperatives, institutions and local communities in the creation of new forms of shared value. The research presented at Ville Ponti therefore offers the Varese area not only a snapshot of the current situation, but also a shared working perspective: to systematise the initiatives already in place so that workplace inclusion becomes an ordinary practice, capable of generating both economic and social value. The challenge now is therefore to ensure continuity for the research and dialogue process that has been launched, translating it into a shared commitment capable of having a lasting impact on the economic and social future of the area.