If you thought that social innovation was flourishing only in the UK, you were wrong. The International Social Entrepreneurship Conference that took place in Istanbul last week proved it once more.
Organized by the British Council, TACSO (Technical Assistance for Civil Society Organisations) and TÜSEV (Third Sector Foundation of Turkey), the conference was conceptualised as part of the global Social Entrepreneurship Project carried out by the British Council. 150 participants from the Western Balkans, Turkey, Ukraine, Georgia and the United Kingdom gathered together in Istanbul to strengthen relationships between social entrepreneurs and those supporting the development of social entrepreneurship in the public and private sectors and civil society.
Derya Kaya, Communications Coordinator from Third Sector Foundation of Turkey speaks about the Conference.
1. We know that the UK is one of the leading countries in the world in the area of social entrepreneurship but what is the condition of social entrepreneurship in the other countries involved in the conference?
Social entrepreneurship is a promising concept in Eastern Europe and the Balkan as well as in Turkey. It is a new concept as social enterprises operate as cooperatives, companies or economic entities of the NGOs and many organizations are not even aware that they can also be classified as a social enterprises. On the other hand, it is a new concept as it introduces entrepreneurship and innovation principles into the social sector which changes the current paradigm and blurs the boundaries between social and economic fields.
2. What measures should be adopted at a political level in order to help the development of social entrepreneurship?
Government’s support to social entrepreneurship can be provided by developing legal and fiscal infrastructures and offering one-to-one support.
The legal and fiscal frameworks for social enterprises are obviously different from country to country; nevertheless the barriers preventing NGOs from having economic activities are mainly legal. In many Balkan countries as well as in Turkey, the main problem in legislation is a restrictive fiscal environment for NGOs. The conference participants mainly underlined the need for new fiscal regulations that will promote the development of the NGO sector.
Social enterprises need to be acknowledged as important development agents, and the governments need to support the development of social enterprises more actively.
3. What is the role that entrepreneurship can play in the global crisis?
The social enterprise model presents a change of paradigm both in civil society and in the private sector. Today’s complex economic, social and environmental problems can only be addressed by cross – sectoral and multiple bottom-line approaches. With its ability to combine social and economic benefit, social enterprise emerges as a promising model for fighting against the negative effects of the global crisis such as poverty and unemployment. It has also a huge potential to contribute to the empowerment of women, youth, disabled people and many other disadvantaged groups, and it presents a tool for sustainability of NGOs. Last but not least, social enterprises offer an alternative way to deliver and improve social services.
6. How did the conference turn out?
The Conference brought together key actors from the region for the first time to discuss common issues that concern the development of social entrepreneurship. The selection of participants helped us to discover new social entrepreneurs and new models of entrepreneurship in the Region.
The discussions around social innovation and social business at the EU level have been brought to the regional level and the connections between social entrepreneurs from the region, the EU, and particularly the UK have been strengthened. The participants had to chance to hear from each other on the current state of social entrepreneurship, to discuss the desired future state and to think about resources and actions which will enable them to get connected and to cooperate. We believe the Conference raised awareness on the issue among public and private actors as well as the media and we hope that it will serve as a catalyst to move public, private and civil society cooperation to a new level.
