Welcome to CO&SO

CITIZENS BY NATURE.
RESPONSIBLE BY CHOICE

Co&So is an active citizenship project.

Together we answer more effectively to the needs of our communities, territories and country.

ABOUT US

Co&So places at the centre of its action the precious value of the people engaged in the Third Sector. In this context, it is essential to promote an inclusive and collaborative working environment, where the skills and perspectives of each member are enhanced for the achievement of common objectives and the creation of added value

We operate in the fields of education, social inclusion, care, active labour policies, culture and tourism promoting accessibility, quality and innovation.
Our mission is to invest in the future of communities, together with our member companies.

BACKGROUND

For more than 25 years, we have been actively engaged in many fields, including education, social inclusion, care, active employment policies, culture and tourism, promoting fundamental principles such as accessibility, community belonging, quality and innovation.

VISION AND MISSION

  • We design and manage social innovation processes to meet the needs of communities in the area;
  • We promote the wellbeing of individuals and communities through innovative and quality welfare solutions and educational, training, social, care and social-health services;
  • We support fragile people in accessing job opportunities and housing;
  • We promote a local cultural offer, accessible to all and spread throughout the territory.

AREAS

We are dedicated to empowering people through a wide range of educational, training, social, health, cultural and tourism services. Our aim is to provide targeted support to vulnerable individuals, ensuring their access to opportunities, training, employment and housing. We place great emphasis on promoting an educational and cultural offer that is inclusive, accessible to all and spread throughout the territory, thus putting people at the centre of our activities.

  • 5 intervention areas: Culture and Tourism, Care, Education, Social Inclusion, Job placement
  • 1 transversal area: European projects

Culture and Tourism

The Culture and Tourism area works every day to foster the well-being of people and communities by designing and promoting an offer of inclusive, accessible, innovative and quality cultural and tourist services and solutions. The area supports the design and provision of tourist and cultural services in Tuscany and outside the region, managing, through its Co&So cooperatives.

  • TOURIST SERVICES: tourist information and reception services, destination management company and product manager activities, tourism communication and promotion
  • LIBRARY SERVICES
  • MUSEUM SERVICES

Education

The Education area has been active since the foundation of Co&So and has achieved, step by step, important results, both in terms of public tenders and private investments (such as the 0-11 years project in Poggio a Caiano). The area supports the planning and provision of social welfare and educational services for children, young people and families in 8 Tuscan provinces by managing, through Co&So’s member cooperatives

  • SERVICES FOR CHILDREN
  • SERVICES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
  • SERVICES FOR SOCIAL INCLUSION

Social inclusion

Social inclusion is an area of Co&Sothat was created to provide answers to citizens on issues related to:

  • SOCIAL IMPACT
  • DESIGN OF INVERVENTION TO IMPROVE LIFE
  • ACCESS TO SERVICES
  • SUPPORT FOR AUTONOMY AND PROMOTION OF EQUALITY
  • JUSTICE AND SOCIAL COHESION

The area’s specific fields of intervention are immigration, social-employment-housing inclusion and social reception with a focus on people in fragile and vulnerable situations.

Care

The Care area is concerned with responding to social and health needs, offering effective answers to the demand for support from family caregivers and the growing contraction of public expenditure available for personal services. Each intervention is focused on improving the person’s quality of life, enhancing and supporting their skills and desires, and the relationship with the community to ensure an active and as autonomous life as possible.

The experience of Co&So and its members in the management of services dedicated to the elderly offers a clear added value. Co&So pursues the objective of raising the quality of the RSAs it manages, guaranteeing the development of more effective and appropriate care actions.

Job placement

The Job placement area is made up of type B and A+B italian co-operatives, which develop, due to their specific legal mandate, activities and services aimed at the employment of disadvantaged persons, as per italian Law 381/1991. Over the years, the type B cooperatives in Co&So have created the conditions for the realisation of pathways also in alliance with non-profit companies, and diversified their activities according to the labour market: from workshops for the most disadvantaged people to orders for companies, passing through services and production, type B cooperatives express at the same time the characteristics of the Third Sector and of the company.

European project and funding area

Since 2001 Co&So has started a process of innovation in a European perspective, which over time has become structured and has become a development engine for the whole group.

The European Project Department now employs 6 people specialised in the search for funding opportunities at European level and in project design and management. To date, it has managed and taken part in about 80 projects in cooperation with more than 65 partners at international level.

For Co&So, European project planning is the most direct and effective way to get to know and stay in touch with other European realities, to start collaborations and to develop highly innovative services and projects.

Our area is active in the following financing field:

  • Erasmus+ Key Actions 2 – Strategic Partnership
  • AMIF – Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund
  • HORIZON EUROPE – The EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation
  • LIFE – Financial Tool for the Environment
  • CERV – Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme
  • Creative Europe