Category Archives: Politics

Wakefield caviar and caffeine fuel

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It’s not often that social enterprise is mentioned in parliamentary questions so it seems only fair to mention it when it does. Here Ed Miliband responds to some questions from MPs, referring to the social enterprise action plan, Scaling New Heights. The reference to Wakefield caviar (which was surely a googlewhack till very recently) emerges because one of the MPs refers to a local environmental project in her area, with the Minister going on to say that

“She is right about the great work that social enterprises do in
reaching out to the most excluded people in our society. The key is
that the state should replique montre continue to fund public services adequately, and
not use social enterprises as an excuse to abdicate its responsibility
in that regard.”

And this is followed by:

“Much of the income for the third sector comes from local government. The key thing is culture change on the ground, so that commissioners understand the role that social enterprises can play”

Which all seemed very relevant, having been beavering away on an Office of the Third Sector application which focused on diversity and change at the grassroots. This explains the reference to ‘caffeine fuel’, on which all those writing funding application survive till the deadline, and also explains why this blog has been deathly silent for most of the week….

 

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Yunus for President!

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Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Prize winner and Grameen micro-credit legend, has announced that he will enter politics….with a new party entitled "Nagorik Shakti" which means, appropriately enough, Citizen Power. Read the Bangladesh Daily Star’s take on the announcement. It has long been speculated that he would eventually make the move from social entrepreneur to politician, particularly given the problems of corruption in the country and his own credibility and strong reputation. It will be interesting to see if the impact of his work at the grassroots can translate into a successful political movement….

It is interesting to see these stars of social entrepreneurship seek bigger challenges, and more direct ways to change things for the better (see John Bird as London Mayor also, and, as mentioned a few posts ago, Andrew Mawson going to the House of Lords); it will be interesting to see if it is a trend that continues as people seek figures from outside the mainstream political world who are perceived to have more credibility, more principles and have been seen to ‘do the job’. Or is it a reflection of the frustration of these individuals that they have been unable to make real systemic change from outside that same system?

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Arise Lord Mawson: real peer learning

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Somehow in the post-Valentine’s haze, I managed to miss the fact that Andrew Mawson founder of the Bromley by Bow Centre and co-founder of the Community Action Network is one of six new non-party-political peers to be announced by the House of Lords Appointments Commission. Read the announcement here.

Presumably it’s faux-ermine for social entrepreneurs…. ;0)

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Global Cool…but not in school

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Steve Bridger heralds the arrival of Global-Cool over on his nfp2.0 blog. I’m not sure how to describe it really. The website is kind of celebrity offsets meets change-the-world-in-simple-ways meets ecotainment. Or something. Here’s the (very well-designed) site for you to make up your own mind. It’s a pretty clear and good addition to what’s out there already, although nothing groundbreaking as far as I can make out. There may be those who want the Scissor Sisters to tell them to turn their lights off, and if it reaches more people in a clear and entertaining way, then all power to them. Of course, there may also be those who question why, from a £20 donation, £3 goes to Global Cool Productions Ltd and £1 on administration. That’s 20% of your donation not going to alternative energy/energy-reducing projects…..(the admin’s fair enough, and the production company will “put on more carbon-neutral shows and make more programmes to create a bigger noise to turn more people into planet-savers”).

[Incidentally, it’s founded by the guy who founded Future Forests as it was then called….]

I’m not going to bang on about whether it’s ethical to offset or not; you can read plenty of stuff about that in every paper under the sun. But it also seems to me to be connected to something else Steve mentions in his article: that the UK government are going to distribute a copy of Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth documentary to every school in the country. Now, of course it is important that children are educated about the challenge of global warming and climate change; and of course it is important that this is communicated in effective ways. But is this really necessary? Aren’t kids, in fact, the one group of society that DO fully understand, having had it drilled into them consistently at school in geography, science etc….? Several articles recently have detailed how children have started campaigning at home, prompting one parent to write in to a school saying, “Can you please inform Paul that it is allowed to have the light on to read at home?” Does that child really need to watch Al Gore?

The fact is that sending out DVDs is just information provision; but the point has already tipped: you can’t move for environmental debate, recycling schemes, offsetting of flights, healthy organic food, and so on. It’s not information and promotion of the cause that is needed, surely; it is action and, probably, legislation. How about ministers committing to a set (collective) number of flights per year? How many ministers rent a plane everyday around the States? How about taxing companies who won’t match M&S zero carbon initiative? What about the Global Cool people giving £19 of the £20 to carbon reduction, instead of more publicity and programmes? What a better example it might set for them to walk the walk, rather than talk the talk. The point is that it is not easy (we have these debates in this organisation as well), but has to be addressed. David Miliband is strong in the department, communicates and debates well, and has a lot of good ideas (individual carbon quotas etc.) but it would be great to see some of them, challenging as they are, put into action.

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International events: Canada, Harvard, Davos (again), and London

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A few links to some international events, lest we get too parochial:

– Peter Rees says the 2nd Canadian Conference on Social Enterprise has been "nice". Kind of praising with faint damn, I think. He then goes on to mention what’s happening at the Harvard conference, and gives a pretty complete listing of that March event….

– Meanwhile, at Davos, an article in the NYtimes (subscription needed, but here’s a link to a place where it’s not) looks at some social entrepreneurs who are there. Interesting, if patronising new strapline: "Do-Gooders with spreadsheets". Obviously the old do-gooders were using abacuses. Anyway, it gets better from there and ends with:

"It’s one of the most hopeful and helpful trends around. These folks
aren’t famous, and they didn’t fly to Davos in first-class cabins or
private jets, but they are showing that what it really takes to change
the world isn’t so much wealth or power as creativity, determination
and passion."

Which is all good.

– Ok, not so international, but couldn’t help but pick up on John Bird, the founder of the Big Issue/social entrepreneur, putting himself forward to be London mayor; I heard that rumour at the conference in Manchester, but didn’t really give it too much credence….but turns out to be true. I read it in the Evening Standard the other evening, and you can see some of the discussion in the blogs here (check the comments!) and here. It is unclear whether he will be the Tory candidate, or go as an independent; suffice to say that, if he does enter the race, it won’t be dull. He’s far from a spin doctor’s on-message dream, and I mean that as a hearty compliment.

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