Smolensko Str. 37-1
03201 Vilnius Lithuania
Lithuania
- Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Lithuanian Social Business Association (LiSVA) is a national umbrella organization uniting social enterprise organizations. It was established in 2018 to create an environment favorable for social business, increase the awareness of social business and promote the implementation of international best practices. This is achieved through advocacy, capacity building and ecosystem development activities. Organization structure: 2 employees (director and project manager), 2 contractors (communications and administration) and a board of trustees. Annual budget: 86 000 Eur Sources of funding: National and European funds, annual membership fee. Projects: national project funded by Ministry of Social Security and Labour and Lithuanian village network “Courage to Change”, European Social Fund project “Involvement of NGOs in public administration in the field of social entrepreneurship”, Nordic Council of Ministers project “Nordic-Baltic Cooperation for Green and Inclusive Societies” Main partners: Enterprise Lithuania, Geri Norai, Latvian Social Enterprise Association, Estonian Social Enterprise Network, SE Forum.
1) Advocacy activities: LiSVA represents the interests of social enterprises in state and municipal institutions, evaluates programs and measures implemented by state institutions, contributes to the formulation of public policy and makes specific proposals to municipal institutions regarding the involvement in the decision-making processes. 2) Communication activities: promotion of social entrepreneurship with the goal to raise awareness and inform stakeholders and the general public of this sector and the impact it creates. 3) Capacity building activities: events organized for social entrepreneurs and the social entrepreneurship community (workshops, seminars, conferences), creation of tools and networks.
Activities: - actively participate in the formation and implementation of social business development policy in Lithuania, - strengthen the capacity and competencies of organizations working in the field of social business, - represent its members in public institutions, - form public opinion about social business by organizing public information and education campaigns, - establish and maintain international cooperation in sharing best practices.
Social entrepreneurship is a subject that is attractive to young people in Lithuania as a way to address societal problems. LiSVA makes efforts to include and engage young people in this field directly and through it’s partners. We aim to empower young people that enter this sector and contribute to a stronger and more resilient civil society, which is in line with the ALF mission.
The Anna Lindh Foundation is an institution shared by the forty-three countries of the Union for the Mediterranean with a mandate to promote intercultural dialogue and cross-cultural understanding. Since its launch in 2005, the Foundation has led and supported activities and projects across fields impacting on mutual perceptions among people of different cultures and beliefs, as well as developing a region-wide Network of over three thousand civil society organizations. We wish to join Lithuanian network of Anna Lindh foundation, because we believe we could bring added value to the network in the form of unique expertise, contacts, and ideas. Secondly, we believe that intercultural dialogue and cross-cultural understanding is the key in promoting democracy, therefore we do not take democracy for granted and are ready to commit with our everyday actions together with like-minded people. And finally, we wish to strengthen cooperation with countries from Mediterranean region to strengthen mutual understanding of an open and tolerant society, as well as to promote social entrepreneurship.