About the Project
GOALS AND PRIORITIES
By improving social enterpreneurs skills on alternative finances, SocialFinanceLab aims to support the social business fabric in participating partner countries (Germany, Spain, Lithuania, Ireland, the UK and Hungary) and beyond.
01
Promote an entrepreneurial mind-set through the development of competences for alternative financing and improvement of the financial environment for new social enterprises and entrepreneurial processes
02
Increase users' competencies for employability and creation of new social businesses through social entrepreneurship skill development
03
Improve personal development opportunities through reinforcement of "soft competences," such as problem solving, decision making and creativity
How do European social entrepreneurs train their financial skills?
Financial management skills and difficulty in accessing funding and finance are still the biggest stumbling blocks for young social entrepreneurs. Learning and training opportunities on alternative funding options, not to mention how to pursue them, are few. With these point in mind, the first output of the SocialFinanceLab Project is a comparative analysis report of training methodologies and approaches to alternative finances. The report covers the current status of training opportunities in each partner country, additional case studies, and it also captures important components for the development of future training tools, including this project's second output, the SocialFinanceLab Platform.
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HOW DO EUROPEAN SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURS TRAIN THEIR FINANCIAL SKILLS? Learning and Training on Social Finances: A Comparative Analysis of Training Methodologies and Approaches​
Link to the executive summary in:
English Hungarian Lithuanian Spanish German
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Link to the full report here. (English)
SocialFinanceLab
The SocialFinanceLab Platform contains different tools to promote collaborative learning and include basic contents that can be updated and adapted by the users. Instruments for networking and on-line collaboration, access to a wider types of contents, links to other similar initiatives, and rooms for innovation are the base of the SocialFinanceLab platform. In order to facilitate the learning process, SocialFinanceLab platform also contains a self assessment tool, social business models of alternatively financed ventures, case studies and lessons learnt, and finally, links to other European initiatives and projects developed.
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PROJECT BACKGROUND
A contemporary social entrepreneur, Nobel Peace Prize Winner in 2006, Muhammad Yunus, echoes the enormous synergies and benefits when business principles are unified with social ventures. Furthermore, within the current socio-economic scenario, it becomes extremely important to search, identify and spread these social ventures and to support the social entrepreneurs — individuals with innovative solutions to society's most pressing social problems. Rather than leaving societal needs to the government or business sectors, social entrepreneurs find what is not working and solve the problem by changing the system, spreading the solution, and persuading entire societies to take new leaps. Just as entrepreneurs change the face of business, social entrepreneurs act as the change agents for society, seizing opportunities others miss and improving systems, inventing new approaches, and creating solutions to change society for the better. Thus social entrepreneurship embraces a set of knowledge and competences that are of benefit to adult learners in all walks of life and in variety of jobs, and above all, it also fosters transversal competences, such as creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship — skills that in todays rapidly changing knowledge based society are increasingly important.
MEET THE TEAM
Ireland
Mullingar Employment Action Group (MEAG) is a community supported 'not for profit' organisation which was formed in 1986 to help tackle unemployment in the Region. Since its inception the Action Group has actively supported the creation of over 3,000 jobs through various interests, projects and initiatives. MEAG's Enterprise Centres are home to 26 SME's directly supporting over 200 jobs. MEAG also sponsor and support the development and vocational education and training of individuals. Through European Partnership Projects MEAG learns from countries and organisations throughout Europe about best practices in developing programs and supports.
Spain
DRAMBLYS is a non-profit organization committed to positive social change and responsible leadership that works for the promotion of social innovation and social entrepreneurship. We combine sociological imagination and inquiry with social creativity and design to approach, explore, and innovate solutions to emerging social problems, to strengthen local capacity and foster social creativity.
At DRAMBLYS we aim to bridge diverse communities by connecting and engaging different people from all walks of life. Through social learning and exchange of good practices, we aim to design colourful synergies and empowerment for responsible leadership.
Hungary
Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BUTE) is the leading university in technical higher education in Hungary. Its main mission is to educate professionals for the industry in the disciplines of technology, informatics, natural sciences, economics, business and management. The university’s mission, inseparable from the education, is to cultivate the sciences, to make scientific research, which encompasses fundamental and applied research, technological product and service development, and exploitation of results making up the innovation chain.
Germany
Domhan Vision UG (haftungsbeschränkt) is a SME in Hude, North Germany. Domhan Vision’s (DV) objects are the planning, development and implementation of innovative projects with the main focus on entrepreneurial, sport and social projects, including education, knowledge management and learning by means of ICT tools. Besides DV develops and runs sport events within its main focus.
DV works together with universities and local authorities to provide learners and the community with innovative and effective solutions to tackle complex societal and entrepreneurial challenges.
United Kingdom
South West College (SWC) is a vocational and technical college based in 4 campuses across the Western region of Northern Ireland. As a core service, the college offers a range of modern and industry relevant curriculum options for students. In addition to the core services, SWC offers a wide range of national and international projects and initiatives to support both local and regional communities and businesses. SWC has a prominent standing in innovation and creativity which is aided by 4 innovation centres within our campuses. These centres act as interactive learning and exhibition spaces in which SWC learners, schools, entrepreneurs and companies from a variety of industries can attend to engage in learning experiences and workshops focusing on creative industries and business development.
Lithuania
European social entrepreneurship and innovative studies institute (ESI), founded in 2010, and is a non-profit organization that focuses on non-financial business supports, accelerates global, innovation-based impact entrepreneurship. We aim to create the most favorable conditions for the creation, development, growth, and expansion of social businesses in Lithuania and thus contribute to the overall economic growth. We want business decisions to have a positive impact on the society and communities in which we live and operate!
