Tuesday, October 13, 2009

SOCIAL ENTERPRISE WORLD FORUM

I have just returned from the Social Enterprise World Forum in Melbourne where, along with 2 other TRA staff members, heard from practitioners working on global social enterprise projects.
Some of them small and others immense, these projects all had similarities around the passion and drive behind the idea, the development of key partnerships, financial strength and risk.

It was a little reassuring to know that there is general confusion about the language of social enterprise and the exact model. While the model is still unclear the aim of these initiatives is obvious. These groups, businesses and organisations are wanting to develop meaningful ventures that assist community, deliver a tangible service/product, address an identified need and sustain themselves financially. The industry itself is growing with a huge commitment from government, business, community organisations and individual philanthropists.

Philanthropists are investing in social enterprise ventures, business people are converting successful businesses to social enterprise ventures and community projects are incorporating income generating components.

It's an interesting time. The challenge is to identify how best we can incorporate social enterprise principles into arts and cultural activities.