Davos and Europe debate ‘What is going wrong with social enterprise’

January 25, 2013
i-genius
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Davos and Europe debate ‘What is going wrong with social enterprise’

Davos and Europe debate 'What is going wrong with social enterprise'

washed away by the flow

At Davos, a romance with social entrepreneurship

This week’s 2013 World Economic Forum calls for social entrepreneurs as architects of this year’s theme: Resilient Dynamism.  Last year at Davos 2012, after a panel on social entrepreneurship, I witnessed the room buzzing with phrases like “creative capitalism” and “solving the problems of the world’s poor” as bubbly champagne was poured and shrimp cocktail served. The world business owners,celebrities, and athletes, dressed in black suits and armed with blackberries, vigorously engaged in discussion, forming a new social enterprise mafia. But is this a bit of self love and self congratulation? What has arisen for elites is social enterprise as the solution, a remaking of the world in the image that has made them successful. Charity is no longer charity: it is applying capitalism to make the poor rich….

Continue reading Forbes article written by Erica Dhawan, click here


Is the European social enterprise agenda losing steam?

The clash between non-profit purists and innovators is blocking progress of the European Commission’s Social Business Intiative, warns Filippo Addarii. In French you say “On ne change pas l’attelage au milieu du gué!”. Once you are in the middle of the river you don’t change course or you might be washed away by the flow. This is the risk the European social enterprise agenda is facing if it doesn’t stick to the course set at the beginning.

On 27 November 2012 the European Commission reunited for the second time the members of GECES (group of experts on social entrepreneurship) in Brussels. The meeting followed the launch of the Single Market Act 2 (SMA2) in October, a year after the launch of the Social Business Initiative (SBI). As the minutes of the GECES meeting have been published I can report on the main outcomes…

Continue reading Civil Society Finance article written by Filippo Addarii, click here

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