The "FER-MENTI LEONTINE Community Cooperative Society" is configured as a new cooperative capable of creating innovation among the people who make it up, providing support to citizens, whenever the opportunity arises to generate community and economic values capable of to promote local development.
Community for the community: We are a group of citizens, a community that has brought together their dreams and skills in order to give new life to the place where it is and lives
Local
Italy
San Leo, a municipality in the Province of Rimini, in the Emilia Romagna region
Mainly rural
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
No
No
Yes
2021-04-30
As a representative of an organisation
Name of the organisation(s): community cooperative Fer-Menti Leontine Type of organisation: For-profit company First name of representative: Andrea Massimo Last name of representative: Murari Gender: Male Nationality: Italy Function: Board of Directors Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Via Giacomo Leopardi 17 Town: San Leo (Rimini) Postal code: 47865 Country: Italy Direct Tel:+39 333 380 6639 E-mail:coopfermentileontine@gmail.com Website:https://www.fermentileontine.it/la-cooperativa/
Founded in 2019, FER-MENTI Leontine community cooperative is a social innovation in the Romagna Apennines (Italy) that seeks to foster a socio-economic regeneration in the municipality of San Leo. Activities for the revitalisation of the territory are defined and developed by citizens, and they pursue
the long-term interest of the local mountain community.
FER-MENTI Leontine promotes and manages personal services as well as productive and commercial activities which are beneficial to the long-term well-being of the entire mountain community. In the Municipality of San Leo, FER-MENTI Leontine oversees different activities from the reopening and management of the local bakery, the promotion of sustainable local tourism, but also the care of the common goods of the village, and the enhancement of zero-mileage products along with the home delivery of basic necessities, promoted during the COVID-19 times.
The Valmarecchia territory in the Romagna’s Appenines (Italy), where the Municipality of San Leo is located, is affected both by a strong depopulation
and seasonal mass tourism (approximately 75,000 visits and about 2,800 inhabitants in 2016). Touristic incomes strongly vary according to the season and do not benefit all local businesses. These factors have led to the progressive impoverishment of the territory and the closing of several traditional businesses, including its central bakery: “Il forno di San Leo”
Community
internal areas
social innovation
local products
sustainability
The community cooperative applies the principles of circular economy, urban regeneration and social sustainability integral parts of the European Green Deal,
The cooperative is a non-profit and its purpose is the promotion and development of the community of San Leo and neighboring areas, aiming to promote housing, work, economic, social and cultural opportunities locally usable by those who work or live there, with the production and/or the enhancement of common goods and services. The cooperative is inspired by the principles that are at the basis of the worldwide cooperative movement and in relation to these it acts. These principles are: mutuality, solidarity, democracy, commitment, the balance of responsibilities with respect to roles, the community spirit, the link with the territory, a balanced relationship with the State and public institutions.
The cooperative, in order to best look after the interests of the members and the socio-economic and cultural development of the communities, intends to actively cooperate with other public and private entities.
The cooperative intends to achieve its social goals through the involvement of community resources through relations of social and economic integration and reciprocity with its inhabitants, thus implementing the responsible self-management of the company and simultaneously satisfying the various mutual interests expressed by cooperating members.
The community cooperative has as its objective the regeneration of a community and the territory on which it stands; this can only happen through a large number of investments. The conversion of old buildings, the construction of new plants and the reactivation of places of social relations require a high use of resources from these companies. The cooperative is based on two fundamental elements: – integration with the community fabric: without the support of the community and local administrations, the cooperative cannot legitimize itself and obtain the spaces and places in which to invest; – the ability to develop an integrated supply chain of services: the possibility of developing a production chain or a series of integrated services allows the cooperative to implement economies of scale and to better rationalize resources.
A central aspect of the community cooperative is linked to the reopening of the town's historic bakery. "One of the most painful "wounds" of the community was the closure of the village oven which took place a few months ago. Partly because an important service for families who still live in the upper part of the country has disappeared, partly because it was a place of identity where, over the years, relationships have been built and even conflicts resolved.Once we understood the emotional bond with this activity, we decided together with the people of the town and the surrounding area to set up the community cooperative starting from the recovery of the oven , despite the awareness that this would have been only the first step.
Starting from the territory of San Leo and then going up the whole Valmarecchia, we want to understand how to revalue some services with the aim of "repopulating" the territories and enhancing tourism, in particular tourism accessible to all. It is necessary to strengthen some places that are present in the area and are now disappearing to ensure a greater capacity to attract new families and tourists. An attempt will be made to redevelop some places that are no longer inhabited, to use them as residential spaces, especially for tourists: farm holidays and bed and breakfasts. Therefore, the type of cooperative (work, user, social, mixed, etc.) or the type of activities carried out do not count, but rather the aim of enhancing the community of reference. It is clear that community cooperatives value the centrality of human capital, which means setting up organizational and management models that favor participation and involvement. These are experiences that combine the themes and values of active citizenship, subsidiarity, the management of common goods and solidarity.
The community cooperative was set up through a participatory process, carried out with the inhabitants of the village of San Leo. it was established thanks to the will and support of about thirty citizens aged between 24 and 80 years. The reactivation of some projects, such as that of the oven or housing units for tourists or residents, has the aim of improving the quality of life and a consequent repopulation of the citizens of San Leo.
Every member or citizen of San Leo/ Valmarecchia benefits from some goods and services produced by the cooperative at a sustainable cost. Consequence a saving in one's budget and greater employment in the territory.
Community enterprises represent a recent phenomenon also in the literature, i.e. enterprises whose objective is the creation of economic and social value, which reinvest the profit for the strengthening and expansion of the activities and are only partially guided in their choices by the logic market. They also have a very broad mission: they tend to maximize the collective benefit and are oriented towards responding to the needs of a plurality of subjects. In these organizations, not only the shareholders (shareholders), but all or the majority of the stakeholders (interest holders) find a response to their needs. The direct participation of users (local community) in the production process recalls the typical contributions of the theme of co-production, while the participation of different subjects with sometimes conflicting interests, poses the need to deal with the themes of multistakeholdership.
The atypical role of the community highlights the theme of co-production, in fact the members of these companies participate in the production of the same services or goods which they then purchase from the community.
The collaborations of "FER-MENTI LEONTINE" ensure that the cooperative is able to grow, innovate and integrate into the Valmarecchia area in the most constructive way. The cooperative itself was born thanks to a partnership between:
1. AICCON (Italian Association for the Promotion of Cooperation and Non-Profit Culture), i.e. a Study Center promoted by the University of Bologna which operates in the field of social economy. In the case of "FER-MENTI LEONTINE", having a partnership with AICCON allows the cooperative to experiment with new models of sustainability, which starting from purely academic knowledge can materialize up to their transformation into processes of social innovation aimed at producing value.
2. Confcooperative Romagna, i.e. an association of cooperative enterprises, promotes and protects the entrepreneurial development of member cooperatives. Cooperatives are the main organizations representing, assisting and protecting the cooperative movement. Establishing a stable and long-lasting relationship can be useful for ensuring continuous and effective legal, employment, tax, accounting and training assistance.
3. Figli del Mondo Association, which was created to support non-profit initiatives and is promoted by a group of entrepreneurs, business executives and professionals who work in the province of Rimini. The aim is to start a relationship that is mutually beneficial, through the integration of resources and skills, stimulating companies to activate concrete actions of social responsibility.
4. Municipality of San Leo, i.e., the local body to which the citizenry refers, has granted its patronage to the initiative to set up the Community Cooperative. Patronage represents for the cooperative the attestation of appreciation, the support for initiatives deemed worthy for their social, cultural, artistic, historical, institutional, sporting, scientific and humanitarian purposes.
FER-MENTI Leontine relies on a model of social innovation called the community cooperative (“cooperative di comunità)” governance model where citizens are both producers and users of the products and services they support. Local citizens can actively decide to take part to the FER-MENTI Leontine’s activities or suggest new ones based on the needs and obstacles faced by the community. Moreover, the community cooperative’s model encourages adhesions, collaborations and partnerships from local actors ranging across citizens, enterprises, associations and institutions. As reported by a feasibility study conducted by the Italian Ministry of Economic Development (2016), cooperative communities are not new in the Italian mountains and comparable forms also exist in other European countries, such as: the “Société Coopérative d’Intérêt Collectif” in France, the “Gesellschaft bürgerlichen Rechts” or “Gesellschaft mit beschränkter
Haftung” in Germany and the “community enterprises” in the United Kingdom. However, according to the same study, this type of social innovation is quite new or inexistent in other European mountain areas.
Since then, the FER-MENTI Leontine cooperative reopened the historic bakery of the village, created 4 new jobs, and received 200,000 Euros via: share capital (from the financing members), ordinary financial instruments, and financial instruments reserved to the cooperation domain. The cooperative
now consists of 60 members, including several companies and associations from Valmarecchia. The reactivation of some projects, such as that of the oven or of the housing units for tourists or residents, has the objective of improving the quality of life and a consequent repopulation of the citizens of San Leo.
The community cooperative is a model of social innovation where citizens are producers and users of goods and services, it is a model that creates synergy and unity in a community, systematizing the activities of individual citizens, businesses, associations and the cooperative of community, to be considered as such, must have the explicit objective of producing benefits in favor of a community and a territory. This objective must be pursued through the production of goods and services that have a stable and lasting impact on the quality of social and economic life of the community. FER-MENTI Leontine relies on a model of social innovation called the community cooperative(“cooperative di comunità)” governance model where citizens are both producers and users of the
products and services they support. Local citizens can actively decide to take part to the FER-MENTI Leontine’s activities or suggest new ones based on the needs and obstacles faced by the community. Moreover, the community cooperative’s model encourages adhesions, collaborations and partnerships from local actors ranging across citizens, enterprises, associations and institutions.
The community cooperative is a model of social innovation where citizens are producers and users of goods and services, it is a model that creates synergy and cohesion in a community, systematizing the activities of individual citizens, businesses, associations and community, to be considered as such, must have the explicit objective of producing benefits in favor of a community. This objective must be pursued through the production of goods and services that have a stable and lasting impact on the quality of social and economic life of the community.
In our case, by community we mean the territory of Valmarecchia, starting from San Leo. Therefore, the type of cooperative does not count (work, user, social, mixed, etc.) or the type of activities carried out, but rather the purpose of enhancing the community of reference.
It is clear that community cooperatives value the centrality of human capital, which means setting up organizational and management models that favor participation and involvement. These are experiences that combine the themes and values of active citizenship, subsidiarity, the management of common goods and solidarity.
Each cooperative is unique and inimitable of its kind, in terms of size, objectives and activities, because the peculiarities of the community are different and unique, the needs and response methods are different, sinking their roots into the history and ways of being of that specific community.
There is no specific type of "community cooperative" and as such it is not yet legally recognized. There is no national regulatory framework while some Regions have already regulated community cooperation.
Community cooperatives, a bottom-up and multi-stakeholder network, are particularly present in vulnerable
and fragile areas. Their innovative aspect stands in the capacity to empower citizens in identifying their longterm needs and actively work for the amelioration of their own mountain community, developing a sense of social cohesion and innovative entrepreneurship.
The economic crisis and the technological transformations that characterized the 2000s are bringing out, in an increasingly clear and evident way, the need to change the economic, social and environmental paradigm. In the process of building a new development paradigm, cooperatives and social enterprises can play a significant role.
Historically, cooperatives, since their inception, have been a tool available to the weakest sections of the population (workers, farm labourers, etc.) to improve their living conditions and transform the economic and social system, increasing the level of social justice and equity. The first cooperatives arose in the mid-nineteenth century in response to the terrible conditions imposed on the working proletariat by the industrial revolution and by the migrations that brought millions of people from the countryside to the city very quickly. In those years, following the industrial revolution, many areas of human life changed: work, food, home and education are just a few examples. In the face of these transformations, numerous mutualistic experiences developed in Europe
In recent years, attention to this economic model has grown dramatically. This is demonstrated by the fact that in 2013 the United Nations created a task force dedicated precisely to "increasing the visibility of the social and solidarity economy": the UNTFSSE.
In a global context characterized by complex and pressing challenges (from the increase in inequalities to the climate crisis, from the job crisis to the aging of the population), the fundamental role of the social and solidarity economy (ESS) has emerged , whose protagonists work to satisfy people's needs and not to make a profit. As an alternative to the dominant economic system.
