A Recipe Book for Social Finance – A Practical Guide on Designing and Implementing Initiatives to Develop Social Finance Instruments and Markets
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A Recipe Book for Social Finance – A Practical Guide on Designing and Implementing Initiatives to Develop Social Finance Instruments and Markets

European Commission prepared a guide that is intended to facilitate access to social finance by encouraging investors to provide suitable supply or build capacity for sound demand. While respecting the various organisational models and social missions of social enterprises, we want to see how external social finance can help implement their business models, especially as they grow, without resulting in mission drift.

Simple intuition teaches us how to invest, but we also need to learn how to take into account the special nature of social finance. Social finance is not merely the financing of enterprises and initiatives with social and environmental benefits, a service that is already provided to larger social enterprises and other third-sector organisations by mainstream financial institutions; we see it as sustainable finance by society for society. We would like to invite investors and supporters, big or small, to engage and have a stake in the impactful businesses of the future. Social finance markets have been developing dynamically in many European countries, resulting in innovation and experimentation. Ingredients from third sector finance, as well as from classical mainstream finance and public sources, have been adapted to design financing products that seek to meet the needs of social enterprises. Some markets are very advanced; others are waiting to see the birth of the first loan fund or impact-oriented investment; others are still waiting for the pioneers that will set them up. There have been numerous projects on the demand side as well, set up with the aim of generating a constant flow of quality social enterprises that are ready for investment. Many experiments have been documented, and some authors have shared their recommendations with the next generation. While we cannot describe all experiments in detail here, we would like to guide current and future actors through the thinking and decision-making process to help them to take and mix the ingredients, to ultimately ensure that the outcome meets the demand by their customers.

 

Designed for practitioners such as social enterprises, investors, social finance intermediaries, market builders and social enterprise support organisations, this publication will guide you step by step through the process of designing and implementing initiatives to develop social finance instruments and markets. You will discover that there is no tried-and-tested formula or recipe and that there are challenges at whatever level you operate. This practical guide provides good examples and practices that you can learn from and adapt to help you avoid possible pitfalls. Checklists and key questions at the end of each chapter will help you summarise what you have learned and move to the next step.

 

Read more about the EC’s support for social entrepreneurs here: https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=952&intPageId=2914&langId=en

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This publication has been prepared within INDIGISE project. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of the project coordinator and may not always reflect the views of the European Commission or the National Agency.

 

What’s the relation between entrepreneurship education and innovation?
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What’s the relation between entrepreneurship education and innovation?

As part of the InDigiSE Erasmus+ project we would like to recommend you this hypothesis and theory article exploring the relationship between entrepreneurship education and innovation.

‘How Does the Entrepreneurship Education Influence the Students’ Innovation? Testing on the Multiple Mediation Model’

by Xingjian Wei, Xiaolang Liu and Jian Sha
INTRODUCTION:

Entrepreneurship education cultivates innovative talents, which are an important driving force for future development. At present, innovation-driven development strategies place new demands on entrepreneurship education. However, most of the current research and discussion in this field focuses on the construction of teaching staff in the entrepreneurial education ecosystem (Ruskovaara and Pihkala, 2015), curriculum development (Falck et al., 2016), and whether entrepreneurship education can influence the Intention of entrepreneurship (Martin et al., 2013; Pittaway and Cope, 2016). Based on the theory of social cognitive, the individual traits and environmental of learners greatly influence the realization of entrepreneurship education. In-depth study of the mechanism of entrepreneurship education, which drives innovation and development, can further improve the research on entrepreneurship education (Baum et al., 2001; Morris et al., 2013).

Innovation is seen as an internal driver; innovation relates to an entrepreneurial mindset; thus, development of new products or entrance to new markets is the result of entrepreneurship (Miller, 1983; Covin and Slevin, 1989). Entrepreneurship education is an important way for entrepreneurs to acquire resources, enhance innovative ability and innovative personality, and build multi-level learning channels for entrepreneurs by integrating various knowledge and value systems. From knowledge learning to skills improvement, entrepreneurship education includes general ability development and improvement of professional ability. Entrepreneurial competence, which is important for success, mainly refers to the ability to identify opportunities and develop the necessary resources and capital (Arthurs and Busenitz, 2006; Kettunen et al., 2013), in addition to technical, financial, and legal knowledge (Kuratko, 2005). Considering that entrepreneurship ability is diversified, Bacigalupo et al. (2016) build an entrepreneurial competency framework that includes opportunity identification, entrepreneurial skills that represent “resources,” action areas, and 15 competency lists. Gianesini et al. (2018) compared models and classifications of entrepreneurial abilities, arguing that entrepreneurial abilities consist of personality traits, entrepreneurial knowledge, and skills. The research on entrepreneurial ability is increasingly concerned with relevant knowledge and experience to improve skills and develop potential resources to enhance the innovation.

Entrepreneurship education is concerned with fostering creative skills that can be applied in practices, education, and environments supporting innovation (Binks et al., 2006; Gundry et al., 2014). Student entrepreneurs use multi-party interaction to achieve knowledge iteraction in the learning network; the innovation process is the result of interactions among the environment, organization, and entrepreneurs (Anderson et al., 2014). Entrepreneurial ability involves adaptive behaviors and strategies to influence others’ actions in relational contexts (Ferris et al., 2005; Tocher et al., 2012), thereby driving innovation and bringing high returns. The entrepreneurship framework by Bacigalupo et al. (2016) considers opportunity identification, entrepreneurial skills, and action as three key areas of entrepreneurial competence. Studies have shown that political skills can help entrepreneurs feel a sense of confidence and control over their work environment. They are likely to be engaged confidently in the dynamics of the environment, and effectively alter attitudes and behaviors to adapt to uncertain conditions (Ferris et al., 2005), with political skills said to explain how individuals recognize opportunities (McAllister et al., 2016). Student entrepreneurs with highly developed political skills can effectively integrate existing resources, accurately identify and interpret social cues from the environment, and gradually become a major force in technology and product innovation. This study selects political skills and entrepreneurial opportunities as mediators to explore how perceived entrepreneurial education influences innovation.

Full article can be found here: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01557/full

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This publication has been prepared within INDIGISE project. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of the project coordinator and may not always reflect the views of the European Commission or the National Agency.

Service Design Tools: for your design workshops
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Service Design Tools: for your design workshops

Whenever you need to develop a solution to some problem – let’s say public service, product, or experience for your customers, you may need to ask your co-workers and potential customers for help. Service Design Tools is developed to support you in this innovation journey.

Founded as a research activity, Service Design Tools platform has been developed to a helpful repository of methods and tools for learning and teaching activities. In the result of a collaboration between POLI.design, Master in Service Design and the Service Innovation Academy of POLI.design – Politecnico di Milano, the interactive platform was designed for the users.

The platform of Service Design Tools offers resources and tutorials explaining how to approach a specific design challenges:

  • How to find new promising opportunities?

  • How to improve an existing service experience?

  • How to make a digital service real?

  • How to validate a service concept?

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There you can find the tools, that are the most appropriate for your audience, service characteristics and the stage of design. For Issue cards, Business Model Canvas, Interview Guides, Journey Maps, Evaluation Matrix, Synthesis Wall, Role Playing, Service Prototype, Value Proposition Canvas, Service Blueprint, User Stories and many more – BROWSE HERE.

Source: https://servicedesigntools.org

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This publication has been prepared within INDIGISE project. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of the project coordinator and may not always reflect the views of the European Commission or the National Agency.

Milanote: for Brainstorming and Ideation
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Milanote: for Brainstorming and Ideation

You know that the most inspiring ideas come to your mind when working with like-minded, trustful teammates in a light room with the walls full of colorful stickers, painted arrows, inspiring pictures and a buzzy atmosphere. Working from home cannot substitute this climate, however…

there is one idea of how to organize (or disorganize) your ideation in a different manner!

Milanote is a tool for organizing creative projects into beautiful visual boards. By design, it feels a lot like working on the wall in a creative studio – visual, tactile and sometimes a bit messy. Milanote is a great fit for designers who work in teams remotely. The key features of Milanote include:
– writing notes & to-do lists, uploading images & files and saving things found on the web;
– organizing visually using flexible drag and drop interface;
– boards that by default are private places to think, but with a single click can be created into a shared workspace for collaboration with your team;
– hundreds of built-in templates to get started with a variety of different projects, from creating a mood board to writing that perfect creative brief.

Pricing:
Free version available with no time limit, PRO version – $9.99 per month (monthly and annual plans)

More info and inspirations on https://milanote.com/.

Reviews and comparisons with other brands can be found here.

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This publication has been prepared within INDIGISE project. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of the project coordinator and may not always reflect the views of the European Commission or the National Agency.

“Hidden aspects of social entrepreneurship’s life: a content analysis”
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“Hidden aspects of social entrepreneurship’s life: a content analysis”

What defines and motivates a social entrepreneur? As part of the InDigiSE Erasmus+ project we would like to draw your attention to this scholarly article by Ruchita Pangriya, who aims at explaining social entrepreneur’s profile and his/her motivation to run a social business.

 

‘Hidden aspects of social entrepreneurs’ life: a content analysis’

by Ruchita Pangriya , Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research  volume 9, Article number: 66 (2019)

Abstract: Social entrepreneurship has been defined as entrepreneurship with a social goal; social entrepreneur is a change agent. Literature shows that social entrepreneurship is treated as a youthful field of study and needs thorough observational appraisals to develop, which proposes a plenitude of research openings (Hoogendoorn, Pennings, & Thurik, ERIM Report Series Reference No. ERS-2009-044-ORG, 2010; Hand & Lewis, Stanford Social Innovation Review, 2016). The work on social entrepreneurship is on the rise; however, little attention was given to the traits and motivational factors for social entrepreneurs. To fill this gap, this study explores the traits and motivations of social entrepreneurs. A content analysis technique has been used to analyse the data. The interviews, speeches and articles on nine social entrepreneurs were analysed. The results indicate education, global exposure, prior work experience, creativity, empathy, community roots and contentment were the main characteristics of a social entrepreneur. Self-transcendence, unique ideas and innovation to solve pain points, inspiration and personal experience motivate an individual to become a social entrepreneur. Findings of this study will contribute to the practical and research in the area of social entrepreneurship. The present research will contribute to the growing literature that attempts to explain the profile of a social entrepreneur and motivational factors.

Full article can be found here: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40497-019-0199-6

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How to be a social entrepreneur?
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How to be a social entrepreneur?

For all those of you who think about becomming a social entrepreneur , we highly recommend watching a very inspiring speach by Andy Stoll at TEDx UIowa:

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N8LVa9pb-n8[/embedyt]

Andy Stoll –  a Senior Program Officer at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which is one of the largest entrepeneurship & education – support foundations in the world. A storyteller and connector-at-heart. He committed to social entrepreneurial work  where his main focus is innovation, creativity, community-building, cities and most of all turning ideas into reality. He is a co-founder of a community-building creativity- and social entrepreneurial-incubator  The James Gang and Seed Here Studio.

During his 4 year long trip around the world he explored entrepreneurial opportunities and had a chance to study communities, economies, different education systems, cultures, media industries and of course people.

For his public service and social entrepreneurial work Stoll has been nationally recognized  by such organizations as Rotary International, The American Institute of Public Service and The Harry S. Truman Foundation.

Stoll is also a global facilitator for an initiative called Startup Weekend, which is a 54-hour event organized in more than 500+ cities worldwide, to give anyone that chance to try entrepreneurship.

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How does emotion influence the creativity evaluation of exogenous alternative ideas?
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How does emotion influence the creativity evaluation of exogenous alternative ideas?

The interaction of emotions with creative cognition is one of the most intriguing topics in the creativity research. The study of Serena Mastria, Sergio Agnoli and Giovanni Emanuele Corazza has investigated the extent to which various emotional states influence the evaluation of ideas, which is a crucial component of the creative thinking process. To this end, emotional (both positive and negative) and neutral pictures were used to induce emotional states and then asked participants to evaluate the creativity of exogenous ideas (i.e., those generated by other people) as part of an alternative use evaluation task. As the results of previous studies suggest the existence of a negative bias when judging highly creative ideas, the participants with non-creative, moderately creative, and highly creative uses for everyday objects were presented. Overall, the participants gave higher creativity ratings when under positive emotional engagement than when in negative or neutral conditions. Moreover, neutral and emotional context differently moderated the creativity evaluation of the three object use categories. Specifically, participants gave higher ratings for non-creative uses, and (to a lesser extent) for highly creative uses when in a positive emotional state, than they did when in the neutral condition. On the other hand, when in a negative emotional state, the participants gave lower ratings for moderately creative uses than they did in either the positive or neutral conditions. These data provide initial evidence that emotional states can influence the creativity evaluation of exogenous alternative ideas that are generated through divergent thinking.

Download the full article or read it here.

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Reference: Mastria S., Agnoli S., Corazza G.E.,  How does emotion influence the creativity evaluation of exogenous alternative ideas?, 2019.

Photo by Patrick Aere: https://dribbble.com/PatrickAere

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This publication has been prepared within INDIGISE project. The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of the project coordinator and may not always reflect the views of the European Commission or the National Agency.

Are you thinking about becoming a young social entrepreneur? Find the inspiration and best practices from Pomorskie region SE entities.
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Are you thinking about becoming a young social entrepreneur? Find the inspiration and best practices from Pomorskie region SE entities.

Today we would like to present you the catalogue of products and services of social economy entities operating in the Pomorskie region area in northern Poland. It was prepared bu the Social Economy Support Centre from Gdansk – OWES Dobra Robota www.dobrarobota.org. The user-friendly material contains offers from fifty local entities cooperating with the Social Economy Support Center – non-governmental organizations and social cooperatives,  which through their activities, not only achieve economic goals but often solve significant social issues.

Catalogues are available for download here:

https://dobrarobota.org/baza-wiedzy/katalogi/

or you can do it directly from our website too:

Pomorskie SE entities catalogue in Polish

The range of offers contained in the catalogue is extensive – from gastronomy to tourism offers, arts and creative sector, as well as marketing service providers who often unique products, as per example of advertising signs or promotional gadgets. We strongly recommend the offers of social economy entities. Sector social economy in the Pomorskie Region is still developing, the same as in other Baltic Sea Region countries. Nevertheless, we think that support entities like OWES Dobra Robota are vital partners in creating social changes and their work – like promotion of the products via this catalogue is extremely important to raise awareness on social economy and social entrepreneurs among the public. We especially hope to attract the youth and younger customers to social economy products. We know that youngsters are becoming more and more conscious customers who genuinely care for the positive social impact of the products their purchase. They are often interested in the history behind it. Social enterprises don’t just offer full-value services and products, but also give a chance for stable employment to excluded people. In Pomorskie, we see also rising interest of young people towards establishing social economy entities. We hope that the presented social businesses, often run by young entrepreneurs, will encourage you to start your social economy-related activity. If you wish to know more, you can always take part in our InDigiSE Erasmus+ project innovation camps for youth (planned for 2021) or in any other project-related activities. Just contact BISER team or any other IndigiSe partner in your area. You can read more about the project here:

https://biser-en.org.pl/indigise-project-adjusting-to-and-supporting-youth-on-socialenterprisebsr-net/

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Calling all youth – Buy Social!
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Calling all youth – Buy Social!

Buy Social for a Better World is a campaign which draws attention to social enterprises, highlighting their incredible impact. We encourage youth all around the Baltic Sea Region to engage and take part, learn more about the concept and help to build a better world by Buying Social in their area.  

Social enterprises are organisations that create social or environmental impact through innovative products and services. They often employ people who have significant barriers to mainstream employment. The campaign that was launched in October 2019 in the UK by the Social Enterprise UK https://www.socialenterprise.org.uk/campaigns/buy-social-for-a-better-world/ is a great example that can be spread to other regions. Their message was short, simple and straightforward – when you Buy Social, it creates a positive impact.

 

Check the promo clip:

https://youtu.be/fSDL1reAvd4

The campaign lasted for a week and proposed the 5-steps approach, including awareness-raising, social media buzz and attention and presenting the local social economy entities offering their goods and products that make a positive social impact. We often see that young consumers are especially interested in buying social goods. They have a greater awareness of their rights and more rational attitude to the market offers. What they would need, is clear info on which product deserves their attention. That is why the campaign proposed also the “Buy Social” badge to be used by the producers and service providers who wish to draw attention to their positive social impact.

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We all know, that one of the ways to attract youth is to engage the celebrities. Buy Social campaign is no different! They were supported by Hollywood star, Michael Sheen, author and activist Caitlin Moran, actor and comedian Chris Addison and writer Sali Hughes, who has released a series of films as part of an augmented reality experience tied into the broader campaign.

 

See how Michael Sheen, Chris Addison, Caitlin Moran and Sali Hughes explain ‘Social Enterprise’

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1O5sXL_WeU

 

And here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ly1xnf6Kx_s

What can I do? Buy Social!

You can also show your support for your local social enterprises by buying from them! I.e. in Poland, in the Pomorskie region where BISER operates as the InDigiSE Erasmus+ project partner, we have a tool helping you find the products coming from the social enterprises. Social Economy Support Centre OWES „Dobra Robota” prepared two catalogues filled with info on local SE companies and service providers, who make a positive impact while running their business. You can find it here: https://dobrarobota.org/baza-wiedzy/katalogi/. So far its in Polish only. So if you are from Poland, we encourage you to get to know more about the local SE products and services that you can use at home or in your business.

 

We also recommend another exciting initiative – SPOKO gift boxes. SPOKO is a new project on the social and business market created out of the need to help others and support the activities of non-governmental organisations that engage in the creation of the social economy sector. The gift sets we offer are minimalistic and ecological boxes. In each of them, we have packed the highest quality products manufactured by local suppliers and artisans. We already presented their offer here:

https://socialenterprisebsr.net/2019/10/spoko-original-gift-sets-for-your-company-to-support-the-social-economy-in-poland/

 

If you wish to find out more about our newest youth-oriented InDigiSE project click here:

https://biser-en.org.pl/indigise-project-adjusting-to-and-supporting-youth-on-socialenterprisebsr-net/


The content of this publication is the sole responsibility of the project coordinator and may not always reflect the views of the European Commission or the National Agency.

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Where is entrepreneurship education heading?
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Where is entrepreneurship education heading?

What challenges of today’s world is the social entrepreneurship education facing? Should its’ content be reshaped and if so – how it should be done to make it effective?

As one of our main objectives at the social-impact-oriented Erasmus+ project – IndigiSE is to promote the concept of social entrepreneurship among youth and shape youth entrepreneurial mindset.  Thus we encourage you to read the article ‘Entrepreneurship education not enough?’ by Antonis Polydorou – Educator from Pool of Experts at the Out of the Box International, where the author explains why the one-dimensional approach to social entrepreneurship education needs to be changed.

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‘Entrepreneurship education is very important today not only because it promises long-term socio-economic benefits but also because young people benefit from entrepreneurial learning regardless of whether they are to set up companies or social enterprises. Through entrepreneurship they develop knowledge and basic skills, but also the required business mentality that helps them to turn their ideas into practice. It provides students with the tools they need to analyze and solve problems, to become familiar with uncertainty and risk taking, identify and create opportunities, make decisions, be able to communicate clearly and effectively and be able to innovate.

At the same time, however, entrepreneurship education as a child of the capitalist system focuses unilaterally on the pursuit of profit as the ultimate measure of the success of an entrepreneur and a business, ignoring the changes and the current needs of the modern world reality.

The results of this one-dimensional approach are more than visible today as for the sake of profit we witness social inequalities widening, the gap between rich and poor rising, the earth’s natural resources depleting, forests declining and climate change already showing its teeth.

  • Is it time to reshape the content of entrepreneurship education?

We are seeing a significant shift in the world today and new forms of action are emerging alongside traditional entrepreneurship, such as social and green entrepreneurship.

Social entrepreneurship emerges from the need to provide answers to the social problems of today’s world and to introduce the concept of sustainability and social justice alongside economic growth. Green entrepreneurship, which is essentially a form of social entrepreneurship, aims to develop business ideas that address specific environmental problems and needs that are at the same time economically viable.

Social entrepreneurship is a necessity of our time that must be incorporated into school curricula for entrepreneurship, but in order to do so, a set of challenges that accompany this endeavor must be addressed.

Firstly, the skills and expertise in social entrepreneurship lie with those who are setting up and running social enterprises and these people are not part of the educational system. Social entrepreneurs can undoubtedly provide considerable value and inspiration as role models but not all of them can or have the time or interest to teach. So, social entrepreneurs could substantially influence the quality of social entrepreneurship education by actively engaging in the design of educational curricula and in the design and delivery of professional training for educators.

Teachers on the other hand are more or less a group of people who are not characterised by a passion for entrepreneurship otherwise they wouldn’t be in the classroom. Often, talking about entrepreneurship in a school setting and focusing on economic value, profit and creation of companies can trigger resistance among teachers as it is connected with commercialism and consumerism, notions that oppose the traditional values of education. Social entrepreneurship as directed towards the concept of doing good to the society and the environment is more appealing in that sense so teachers can be more easily persuaded to be engaged. Investment is also needed in social entrepreneurship experience and development for teachers as part of teacher training programmes as well as to create opportunities for collaboration between them and social entrepreneurs.

Although there are similarities among educational systems globally, there are also differences and particularities influenced by the local context. So, a single model of social entrepreneurship education could not be implemented universally as every program should adapt to the local situation. Therefore social entrepreneurship education should align with national educational policies that should leave room to each school for flexible adaptations to the local conditions.

Another challenge is the risk of social entrepreneurship becoming just another subject within the curriculum, a danger that could undermine the potential and the essence of the concept. If social entrepreneurship is to create an impact for children and teachers as well, it should be based on a hands-on approach with authentic and real opportunities to experience the process of solving problems and creating value for others through creativity and collaboration. This could be more effective if social entrepreneurship was embedded into the life of the school as a cross-curriculum subject.

Overcoming the challenges towards effective social entrepreneurship education integration to the school system is yet another big challenge, yet a necessary one. Social entrepreneurship education is vital not only for creating new value in the education process, but also because our world today more than ever before needs people who will have the skills, the persistence and the creativity to develop innovative solutions to social and environmental problems.’

Source: http://outofthebox-international.org/