The third and final transnational meeting of the Erasmus+ project ELCSEE – Empowering Local Communities through Social Economy Education took place in Gotse Delchev, in south-western Bulgaria, in June 2026. The teams of Visit Agiasos and Social Cooperative Enterprise Kalotropio travelled from Lesvos to take part in a two-day programme on social entrepreneurship, innovation and digital skills, organised by Business Incubator – Gotse Delchev (BI-GD), a non-governmental organisation that has supported entrepreneurship and local development in the area since 1999.
The programme brought together local organisations and authorities, educators, social enterprises and the project partners, with a shared goal: to exchange experience, knowledge and good practice on how an idea can develop into a sustainable social initiative.
Key facts
Project activity: Partner Training and Digital Experience Exchange (Bulgaria)
Dates: June 2026 (two days)
Place: Gotse Delchev and Banichan, Blagoevgrad Province, Bulgaria
Host: Business Incubator – Gotse Delchev (BI-GD)
Partners: Visit Agiasos (Greece), Social Cooperative Enterprise Kalotropio (Greece), ViModo Research & Education Hub (Cyprus), Business Incubator – Gotse Delchev (Bulgaria)
Participants: Staff of the partner organisations, with local organisations and authorities, educators and social enterprises from the Gotse Delchev area
Programme: Erasmus+ Small-scale partnerships in vocational education and training (KA210-VET)
Project: ELCSEE – Empowering Local Communities through Social Economy Education
Project number: 2025-1-EL01-KA210-VET-000356255
Day 1 – examples from three countries and group workshops
The first day presented successful social enterprises from Bulgaria, Lesvos, the rest of Greece and Cyprus. Participants then worked in small groups to develop and structure their own ideas for social enterprises.
Day 1: presentations of social enterprises from three countries and workshops in small groups.
Day 2 – digital skills for social entrepreneurship
The second day focused on the digital skills that social enterprises need. ViModo Research & Education Hub gave a presentation with practical examples of how technology can help small communities, organisations and social enterprises become more effective and reach wider audiences.
Study visits
The partners visited Green City, a social enterprise of the Municipality of Gotse Delchev that grows its own trees and plants and uses them to green the town and the surrounding villages. As presented during the visit, the enterprise employs 31 people: around half of them are older workers approaching retirement age who find it difficult to secure employment elsewhere, and seven are people with disabilities. Employees are also trained to act as mentors for children and schools, teaching environmental protection and respect for the natural wealth of the area.
The nurseries and greenhouse of Green City, the social enterprise of the Municipality of Gotse Delchev.
The programme concluded with a visit to the digital hub of the community and cultural centre of the village of Banichan, an example of how a local cultural venue can become a place of learning, cooperation, culture and digital skills in a rural community.
The visit to the community cultural centre in the village of Banichan.
The Visit Agiasos team returned to Agiasos with new knowledge, ideas and partnerships, and with a stronger conviction that the social economy can support the development, cooperation and active participation of local communities.
Within the ELCSEE work plan
The meeting delivered the project’s Partner Training and Digital Experience Exchange in Bulgaria, organised by Business Incubator – Gotse Delchev as foreseen in the approved plan. Its two days combined an exchange of social enterprise practice across the three partner countries, group work on participants’ own ideas and a day dedicated to digital skills, which formed the digital experience exchange foreseen for this activity. The participation of local organisations, educators and social enterprises extended the exchange beyond the partnership. With this meeting, the project completed its series of three transnational meetings, in Agiasos, Nicosia and Gotse Delchev, and moved on to the local training phase.
Erasmus+ priorities
Green City shows how a municipal social enterprise can create employment for older workers and people with disabilities and involve them in environmental education for schools, a clear example of inclusion in practice. The combination of case presentations, small-group idea development and a dedicated session on digital skills, together with the visit to a village digital hub, reflects the project’s contribution to innovation in vocational education and training. Local organisations, educators and social enterprises took part alongside the partners, strengthening cross-border cooperation and civic engagement.
Media coverage
The meeting was reported in the Lesvos press, including stonisi.gr (25 June 2026) and Politika Lesvou (26 June 2026).
</w:pBdr><w:spacing w:after=”120″ w:before=”280″ w:line=”264″/></w:pPr><w:r><w:rPr><w:rFonts w:ascii=”Calibri” w:cs=”Calibri” w:eastAsia=”Calibri” w:hAnsi=”Calibri”/><w:sz w:val=”18″/><w:szCs w:val=”18″/></w:rPr><w:t xml:space=”preserve”>ELCSEE – Empowering Local Communities through Social Economy Education (2025-1-EL01-KA210-VET-000356255) is implemented under the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, with the support of the State Scholarships Foundation (IKY), the Greek National Agency.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the State Scholarships Foundation (IKY). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
