Back in 2017, when the City of Zagreb announced a tender for the procurement of city, national, and EU flags, hardly anyone expected that it would change perceptions of what social enterprises could achieve. Humana Nova, in partnership with URIHO, secured a contract worth over €500,000, marking the first reserved contract of that scale in the history of Croatian public procurement.
At the time, reserved contracts for social enterprises in Croatia were still uncharted territory. Public authorities were uncertain whether a social enterprise could deliver goods in such quantities, while we had to prove our readiness and capacity.
The process was complex and long. It takes nearly nine months from application to first order. That kind of timeframe tests financial resilience of any organization, especially a social cooperative like ours that employs people with disabilities and socially excluded individuals.
This contract proves that social enterprises in Croatia have expertise and capacity to take on major public tenders and execute them successfully. It is also a practical example of how public procurement can be a tool for social inclusion rather than just an administrative procedure. Still, the mechanism for reserved public procurement in Croatia remains underdeveloped. The public sector has yet to recognize and harness the strength of social enterprises to create a broader social impact.
We are proud that the RREUSE network, which has been working to develop social entrepreneurship in Europe for 25 years, has recognized our 2017 Zagreb agreement as a pivotal moment that changed perceptions about the strength of social entrepreneurship.
