The Generalitat, through the Ministry for Business and Labour, has allocated almost a million euros to the second edition of the Aracoop programme in order to foster the creation and growth of social and cooperative economy companies.

 

Specifically, this funding will be issued for the 2014-2015 period through the following subsidies:

 

-        “Line 1”. A sum of 340,000 euros to be allocated to social and cooperative economy assessment projects. This equates to an increase over last year in the amount allocated to expert assessment and viability support projects. The amount is intended to be used for the growth and/or internationalisation of these companies.

-        Line 2. A total of 356,975 euros aimed at projects for learning, training and the improvement of professional abilities in the social and cooperative economy.

-        Line 3. A sum of 192,875 euros aimed at social and cooperative economy dissemination projects. Support will be offered to diverse social and cooperative economy dissemination projects through new interactive applications to improve cooperative governance and management, the creation of new ICT tools and initiatives.

 

These subsidies account for 100% of the total cost of the projects in the Aracoop programme which includes more than 6,500 participants.

In the previous edition of the programme, the Government of Catalonia allocated a total of 900,000 euros within a framework in which 361 activities were organised and 68 products were developed in the whole country.

 

Catalonia currently has 4,175 cooperatives and around a thousand employee-owned companies generating more than 48,000 jobs.

 

 

Aracoop is a programme promoted by the Ministry for Business and Labour and counts with the participation of Cooperative Confederation and Federations, and collaborates with more than 80 public and private institutions implicated in the creation and growth of a social and cooperative economy. It values the social and cooperative economy as a strategic business model for social realities. The programme aims to reinforce, promote and broaden social and cooperative economic businesses through activities, positioning itself as a key business model in the 21^st century.