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Rhodes>Community Engagement>Social Innovation>Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship

Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship

Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship is key to community development. The global Sustainable Developmental Goals describe a shared vision for economic, social and environmental transformation. As the Rhodes bck体育app_bck体育官网下载-二维码平台 Community Engagement vision is aligned with the Rhodes bck体育app_bck体育官网下载-二维码平台 Institutional Development Plan as well as the global Sustainable Development Goals, the Social Innovation Hub aims to address SDGs 1, 8, 9 and 10 as its contribution to the public good mission of Rhodes bck体育app_bck体育官网下载-二维码平台 as a Higher Education institution.

 

What we do:

Community of Practice - groups and networks of innovators and entrepreneurs

Digital Resources Library - access to basic tools to develop ideas

Workspaces - spaces to hold meetings and events, and work on projects and access the internet

Training programmes - social innovation related training workshops and roundtables and events

Storytelling - opportunities to share your story with your community 

 

Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship activities at the Social Innovation Hub

Social Innovation Support Group 

Social Innovation Support Groups are a series of workshops that guide participants through the various soft skills that can help improve performance in commercial and innovation and professional environments. The course invloves mindfulness and positioning oneself in the ecosystem of social innovation in Makana. 

These workshops are targetted at aspiring entrepreneurs and innovators - with no project or only starting projects. 

 

Business for Better Lectures

The Business for Better series of lectures involves discussing various key aspects of starting a business - business models, business plans and registering businesses. The series is more theoretical and involves engaging with peers and broadening knowledge about entrepreneurship. The series also encompasses the social aspect of business and how it can be incorporated into any enterprise. 

 

What is Social Innovation?

We define social innovations as novel and creative solutions to social issues (such as poverty and unemployment) that goes beyond conventional and traditional solutions and is powered by the community’s own resources.

Social innovations are interventions that:    

  • enhance community capabilities and relationships
  • ultimately improve the use of community assets and resources  
  • are sustainable solutions that build community resilience
  • advance people’s capacity to improve systemic and institutional inequality

  

Social innovation can contribute to creating sustainable and resilient communities by helping to create adaptive and innovative responses to social and environmental challenges and promoting the long-term viability of communities (Moulaert and Mehmood 2015). By fostering a culture of experimentation, creativity, and learning, social innovation can help communities to adapt to changing circumstances, and to develop solutions that are locally relevant and globally connected.

Social innovativeness thrives in cohesive communities which provide a supportive environment for social innovation, where individuals and organizations can collaborate, share resources, and learn from one another. This can lead to the creation of new partnerships and collaborations, as well as the dissemination of successful models and best practices. In such an environment, social innovators are more likely to find support for their ideas and to be able to access the resources they need to bring those ideas to fruition. 

Social innovation is connected to community cohesion because it can foster community involvement, build social capital, promote social inclusion, and contribute to sustainable and resilient communities by facilitating positive social change at the community level. Cohesive communities may also have easier access to resources, both tangible and intangible, that can enable social innovators to create and implement innovative solutions that address community needs. 

Tangible resources may include funding, physical infrastructure, or other resources that are needed to bring ideas to life. Intangible resources may include knowledge or skills that can be shared among community members to support the development and implementation of innovative solutions.

Shared responsibility and action: By creating opportunities for community members to participate in collaborative efforts to address social problems, social innovations can promote shared responsibility and collective action. Social innovation fosters community involvement in identifying and addressing local problems, contributing to a sense of social cohesion and community empowerment (Moulaert and Nussbaumer 2007). 

Using social capital: Social innovation can help to build and strengthen social capital in communities (Putnam 2000). Social capital is the social networks, norms, and trust that facilitate cooperation and coordination among individuals and groups. Social innovation can contribute to the development of social capital by promoting collaboration and interaction among community members, as well as by creating opportunities for individuals and organizations to share knowledge, skills, and resources. Social innovation can further facilitate the creation of networks of people and organizations that share a common vision and work together to achieve social goals (Baumgartner et al. 2013).

Social justice: Social innovation can help to promote social inclusion and reduce social inequality in communities (Mulgan 2006). Social innovation can help to address social problems that affect marginalized or excluded groups, such as poverty, unemployment, or discrimination. By involving these groups in the process of social innovation, and by tailoring solutions to their needs and experiences, social innovation can help to promote their inclusion in society and reduce the gaps between different segments of the population.

 

What is Social Entrepreneurshp?

We consider social entrepreneurship as:

  • a business model that prioritizes social and environmental impact alongside financial profit.

  • seeking innovative solutions to address social and environmental issues, often leveraging technology and business principles to achieve their goals.

  • taking many forms, including for-profit businesses, non-profit organizations, and hybrid models that combine elements of both.

  • driven by a sense of purpose and a desire to create positive change in society, often working to empower marginalized communities and promote sustainable practices.

 

Social entrepreneurship is a form of social innovation that uses innovative business models to create sustainable and scalable social impact. This approach aligns with the growing recognition of the importance of social innovation in addressing complex social challenges and promoting community development (Mulgan et al., 2007).

Social entrepreneurship is a form of social innovation that seeks to create innovative solutions to social problems through sustainable and financially viable business models (Mair & Marti, 2006). Social entrepreneurship is based on the idea that entrepreneurship can be used as a tool for social change, and that innovative business models can create both economic and social value (Dees & Anderson, 2006). Social entrepreneurship is therefore distinct from traditional entrepreneurship in that it prioritizes social impact over profit maximization (Bacq & Janssen, 2011).

Social entrepreneurship has been identified as a key driver of social innovation, as it combines innovative solutions to social problems with sustainable business models (Nicholls & Murdock, 2012). By using business models to address social problems, social entrepreneurship can create a sustainable and scalable impact (Bornstein, 2007). Moreover, social entrepreneurship can foster a sense of empowerment and ownership among community members, as they become active agents in addressing social problems through entrepreneurship (Mair & Marti, 2006).

 

Social Innovatons in and around Makhanda

The Social Innovation Hub also features a website called Common Good First which showcases digital stories from innovators around the world.  Meet some of Makhana’s social innovators on www.commongoodfirst.com and read the profiles below. If you would like to have your innovation added to this list, please let us know. 

 

Ubunye Foundation Trust

Ubunye works with communities in the Ngqushwa and Makana local municipal districts of South Africa’s Eastern Cape province. Our work is concentrated in the former homeland of the Ciskei, an area which was deliberately neglected and underdeveloped during apartheid and where the legacy of this era is reflected starkly by intergenerational and structural poverty.

Amanzi Yimpilo

Amanzi Yimpilo is a city-wide school initiative to bring clean water to drought-stricken Makhanda. The project was driven by a local ECD Forum that noticed a severe problem occurring in their schools and decided to be proactive, using their own knowledge and resources. Using the idea of a Stokvel the group of ECD practitioners set about resourcing their own schools. Since it's inception in early 2019 it has grown tremendously and now involves many city stakeholders.

Water-testing in Grahamstown

Community-based water quality-monitoring programme in Makhanda, which involved Grade 9 learners. The Grade 9 learners monitored the water from their households the Hydrogen Sulphide Test kit. This engagement programme with the community of Makhanda about the concepts of water quality and health facilitated the development of the necessary connection between academia and the society. The citizen Science program succeeded in generating GIS water quality maps for Makhanda using water quality results generated by Grade 9 learners.

GADRA Education

We offer educational services directly to young people and the other set of programmes worked indirectly in the form of public school. We also work with public schools were we offer support teachers and all types of interventions.

Waste Pickers Movement Makanda

A collective of waste pickers came together to form an organisation to advocate for environmentally and economically sustainable waste management that encourages dignity, fairness and justice for the workers. The organisation was born from an initiative to build a community garden to help combat the poor nutrition of the pickers living on the dumpsite.

Umthathi Training Project

The project is based on Community Development Model which is based on the perception that community members are ultimately in their best position to develop themselves and their own communities and to eliminate the obstacles that impede the process. (Weyers,2011:153). Umthathi Training Project's vision is to increase the quality of life through further developing the knowledge, skills, activities and networks necessary for healthy living within focus area in the Eastern Cape. This is done to empower our beneficiaries so that they will be able to generate income from selling their produce and eradicate poverty along the process.

Grahamstown Scout Group

The Grahamstown Scout Group (initially a Cub Pack) was established in 2014 by a group of Rhodes bck体育app_bck体育官网下载-二维码平台 students who craved to share the value of Scouting with other young people! The group was established in partnership with St Mary’s Development and Care Centre (DCC), a local organisation, and Rhodes bck体育app_bck体育官网下载-二维码平台 Community Engagement Division as well as many other student organisations, such as the RU Mountain Club to fulfil a gap for a boys’ life skills programme.

Access Music Project

In an area of historic disadvantage brimming with potential, AMP’s music academy opens up access to high-quality music studies, formal qualifications & tertiary/career pathways through a rigorous, industry-relevant and uniquely South African curriculum.

Science Internship Programme

The Programme welcomes Grade 10 and 11 learners into the bck体育app_bck体育官网下载-二维码平台 where they work alongside researchers from various different Science Departments. The programme has grown from accepting 5 students in 2013 to accepting 30 learners in 2018 and 2019. The learners get to be a scientist for three weeks of their holidays during the course of the year. They are placed in the care of various research groups across campus to get exposure to different disciplines.

Mfuzo Boxing Camp

We train youth from 10 years to 40 years, from Monday to Friday. Our training times are 17H00 - 19H00. Our members are males and females. We have 48 members aged 10 - 49 years. The mission of our club is to keep youth busy with sporting activities on a daily basis and providing a constructive and healthy alternative to crime and drug abuse – a growing problem in our communities. Our club was established in October 1995.

Allan Gray Centre for Leadership Ethics

We facilitate 'IiNtetho zoBomi'—a student-led, service-learning, ethics course that brings together thinkers from philosophy, and a range of other disciplines, in an effort to raise awareness of the forces that come to bear on our lives. Our aim is not merely to encourage students to think more clearly about ethical matters from the purely intellectual point of view; our aim is rather to foster a transformation in patterns of affect, thought and behaviour, and to show students the extent to which taking responsibility for our lives is a truly difficult thing to do. More information can be found here: https://www.unodc.org/e4j/en/integrity-ethics/module-6/index.html

Ikamva Youth

The project is a youth based afterschool programme providing tutoring, mentoring and career guidance to high school learners in grades 10 to 12. They meet at least three times a week to get assistance with their homework and assignments.

Assumption Development Centre

The Assumption Development Centre (ADC), situated in the heart of Joza community in Makhanda. It is a vibrant space where Life skills, Financial skills through savings model, Second chance matric school and Business skills development are being promoted. ADC seeks to transform the township economy through encouraging people to explore business ideas and placing young people for work opportunities. Its founding members are Assumption Sister, Rhodes bck体育app_bck体育官网下载-二维码平台, Makana Municipality, and local NGOs St Mary's DCC, Ubunye Foundation and Gadra Education. It has over 500 members who benefit from workshops and courses. 

Last Modified: Wed, 19 Apr 2023 09:53:43 SAST