Research

The state of Circular Economy in EU Research and Innovation projects

Anonymous — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 14:47:44 +0000

The state of Circular Economy in EU Research and Innovation projects

Tags

Circular Economy

Funding

European Union

Research

Topic

Circular Economy

The European Union invests about 10 billion euros annually into more than 4,000 research and innovation projects.

Circular Economy plays an increasingly vital role in these projects, leading to an emerging community of businesses, research organisations, and NGOs collaborating on a broad diversity of topics, such as food, waste, plastics, construction, manufacturing, biotechnology, product innovation and design, and circular business model development.

A recent research project carried out by Anja Grüll and Dr André Martinuzzi at the Vienna University of Economics and Business explored the characteristics of organisations within this community while analysing trends and assessing collaboration patterns.

One increasingly prominent topic in these funding programs is the Circular Economy due to its potential to mitigate climate change, promote sustainability initiatives and boost economic growth and competitiveness by creating business opportunities, jobs, and technological innovations.

Dr André Martinuzzi, Head of the Institute for Managing Sustainability, Vienna University of Economics and Business

Anja Grül, Researcher and PhD Candidate, Vienna University of Economics and Business

The Circular Economy is now part of all major EU strategies like the European Green Deal and driving transition through numerous policies and regulations, including the Circular Economy Action Plan, Waste Framework Directive, Eco-design Directive or the Bioeconomy Strategy, and Plastics Strategy.

For its last Framework Programme, Horizon 2020, the EU distributed a budget of nearly €80 billion over seven years between 2014- 2021.

This resulted in over 35,000 projects and involved almost 18,000 organisations from 177 countries.

In search of data

The European Union Open Data portal, CORDIS, has been the primary source for this research.

One of the main challenges was to identify Circular Economy projects partly because initially, the term Circular Economy was not widely recognised, though its goals (e.g., waste reduction, resource efficiency) correspond strongly with the concept.

As the concept and term of Circular Economy became more established, the EU created a dedicated Focus Area as an overarching topic across numerous themes in its third funding round.

Who is involved with EU-funded circular economy projects?

In terms of nations, the Circular Economy Network includes 92 countries, of which the following ones received 78% of the project funding budget: Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Netherlands, Belgium, United Kingdom, Sweden, Norway and Finland.

The top 20 most prominent players in the Circular Economy Network come from the EU-15 countries, while Norway, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom, as non-EU countries, also play an essential role.

The EU invested €4.8 billion into almost 990 Circular Economy projects, involving 13,300 organisations from 92 countries.

Figure 1: Based on research project carried out at the Vienna University of Economics and Business.

Looking at the organisational level, the recipients of almost half of the EU budget for Circular Economy projects have been for-profit businesses, followed by research institutions, then higher education establishments and public bodies, who take the smallest share.

Even though research institutions only make up 10% of all participants in the Circular Economy Network, they are by far the best connected, taking 70% of the Top 20 player positions.

They possess substantial resources and capabilities, participate in numerous projects and are, therefore, dominant in the network, serving as connectors and knowledge disseminators or knowledge hubs.

Meanwhile, the private for-profit businesses show contrasting results since they comprise 66% of all participants but are only represented by one organisation in the Top 20 most prominent organisations.

Due to data privacy issues, intellectual property concerns, and fear of losing a competitive advantage, private for-profit businesses are not as willing to collaborate with other private companies and prefer to work with research or higher education institutions.

Private for-profit businesses generally have a high participation rate and obtain a significant share of EU funds. However, they are not as well-connected and less likely to collaborate with other private for-profit businesses.

Collaboration Networks

By incentivising different organisations to collaborate on projects, the EU supports the emergence of networks around different themes, which is crucial for developing technological innovation and designing socially desirable products and services.

These networks develop dynamically and are shaped by different actors. Participating organisations may form stronger bonds and stay connected for several projects.

The more often actors work together, the stronger their relationship grows alongside the willingness to embark on future collaborative journeys.

Building solid relationships brings mutual support, improved reputation, access to resources, and increased collaboration opportunities.

The more connections an organisation has, the more it obtains a central position in the network, leading to increased visibility, influence, and competitiveness. Organisations that don’t have strong ties or a good relationship with at least one significant player will have a hard time creating successful project proposals.

The emergence of the Circular Economy community

Circular Economy projects in Horizon 2020 steadily increased each year in terms of EU funding, number of active projects and participants, and budget per project – in other words, the projects grew, and more organisations got involved, showing the uptake of the program.

However, there was a downward trend in the number of new players joining.

According to the interim evaluation of Horizon 2020, this may be due to a lack of awareness about the funding program, the application process's complexity besides intellectual property concerns, or a lack of resources or capacity.

In 2021, there were still 474 active projects, and all 9,000 involved organisations were linked to at least one participant in the main component, resulting in one entirely connected network.

Figure 2: Circular Economy Network Development

Network Centralization shows the existence of dominant actors who have a disproportionate number of collaborations compared to others. A small, strong core of highly collaborative organisations tended to expand their network, while the majority participated only in a few projects.

Hot topics in funding circularity

Circular Economy can be found in nine funding call themes, which differ in topic focus, action area, and approaches to circular solutions. Some are focused on forwarding industry-oriented solutions, while others are open to a broader range of diverse activities.

The biggest variety can be found in the EU Call themes CLIMATE and CROSS-CUTTING actions, which include multiple areas of activity:

urban waste management, housing solutions, creation of new technologies, development of circular business models, the establishment of circular supply chains and industrial symbiosis, design and innovation of circular products, promotion of sustainable consumption, stakeholder platforms, and advancement in knowledge and research for a circular economy.

These efforts expand over numerous value chains and industries, including manufacturing, construction, bioeconomy, electronics, water, batteries, packaging, critical raw materials, textiles and food.

The theme of Leadership in Enabling and Industrial Technologies (LEIT) includes the parts of Horizon 2020 providing new opportunities for industrial leadership in Key Enabling Technologies (KETs), Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Space.

These are areas of key industrial competencies determining Europe’s global competitiveness and providing key components and systems needed for solutions to Societal Challenges.

This is now split into two areas.

In LEIT ICT, many projects aim to forward digital solutions across different sectors and manufacturing industries, especially platform solutions. Deliverables include dissemination of knowledge, the connection of actors across supply chains, and optimisation of processes.

Additionally, the focus of LEIT NMP* is the advancement of key enabling technologies. Its activities range from (re-)manufacturing and processing to creating sustainable materials and product life cycle enhancement. Included sectors are electronics, intensive industries, nanotechnologies, and biotechnologies.

Waste and waste management are paired with multiple areas like urban waste solutions, food, plastics and packaging, water, and agriculture, as these value chains are closely related.

*Nanotechnologies, Advanced Material and Advanced Manufacturing and Processing

Background style

Light

Sponsored?

October 2023

Collaborative content with

Profit with Purpose Magazine

Open calls for proposals on Gender Equality research with cash grants

Business Spirit News reporting — Mon, 09 Aug 2021 11:19:51 +0000

Open calls for proposals on Gender Equality research with cash grants

Tags

Topic

Citizen Social Science projects on Gender Equality are invited to submit applications to receive up to €20,000 grant and other supports.

Civil society initiatives can apply for a grant of up to €20,000 to conduct Citizen Social Science research on the topic of Gender Equality as part of the Co-designing Citizen Social Science for Collective Action (CoAct) research project.

Three open calls for proposals are available for non-profit organisations registered in the EU until September 30th 2021, with specific topics and regional focus.

“The CoAct Open Calls on Gender Equality are a way for us to both share our findings with the civic sector and learn from their feedback, ensuring that our research stays closely connected and responsive to the needs of civic actors," said Cédric Lombion, Data and Innovation Lead at Open Knowledge Foundation, a member organisation of the CoAct consortium.

"Gender Equality is an ongoing major societal issue that constantly affects our daily life."

Cédric Lombion, Data and Innovation Lead at Open Knowledge Foundation

The first call is for projects addressing initiatives on “Sustainable cities and communities” in the Berlin-Brandenburg region in Germany that aim for making cities and villages inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable for all their inhabitants.

The second call is focusing on “Decent work and economic growth”.

It is open for organisations from Eastern Europe, and projects from Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia are invited to apply for support.

The third call is open to international civic organisations operating within the European Union working on topics related to “Opportunities and risks of digitalisation”.

Proposals under this call should address issues relevant to gender inequalities in online spaces, such as gender dynamics of online platforms and exposure to online harassment.

Applications from a broad range of backgrounds are welcome, including feminist, LGTBQ+, none-binary and critical masculinity perspectives that tackle gender inequalities in their various manifestations.

Besides the maximum of €20,000 cash grant, selected projects will benefit from other supports provided by CoAct, like research mentoring program, peer networking and access to tools and resources.

CoAct is a research project exploring Citizen Social Science and started in January 2020, funded by the EU Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.

CoAct is a Horizon 2020 research project exploring Citizen Social Science

This project seeks to move beyond its own co-research activities and invite other actors to benefit from the project and its support mechanisms by connecting with experts at the grassroots level while exploring the opportunities and challenges of citizen-led research.

A transdisciplinary consortium of nine research institutions and civil society organisations from Barcelona, Wien, London, Buenos Aires, Berlin, and Potsdam is collaborating to achieve the project's objectives.

According to Cédric Lombion consortium partner, the CoAct project aims to contribute to the field of Citizen Social Science by implementing research programmes dealing with various social issues, from youth unemployment to mental health to environmental justice.

“We believe that Citizen Social Science is not just a research field: it is also a set of strategies and practices developed within activist communities and civic organisations to support citizen mobilisation and community building projects,”

Lombion adds.

Citizen Social Science combines collaboration between citizen groups and academic researchers to address pressing social issues from the bottom up, finding solutions embedded in their social contexts, building on robust research methods.

Headline image: Adam Wingler from Unsplash

Background style

Light

Sponsored?

August 2021

Citizens are invited to shape the future of parks across Dublin city

Anonymous — Fri, 12 Mar 2021 09:34:36 +0000

Citizens are invited to shape the future of parks across Dublin city

Tags

Topic

A new research survey aims to find out what people want to see in Dublin’s parks.

The reality of “social distancing” and “self-isolation” became the new norm as part of consecutive lockdowns, and we were all faced with a sudden and radical change in our daily routine and lifestyle.

However, parks in Dublin and nationwide in Ireland have remained open, providing an important outlet for people to support their physical, social and psychological needs.

Dublin City Council (DCC), in partnership with Dublin City University (DCU) are hosting an online survey to identify what roles and functions the parks fulfilled for all Dublin citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The research will also focus on how these features can be maintained after the pandemic and what future developments people would like to see in the parks.

This is an opportunity for the public to share their opinions and experiences, shaping the development of parks across Dublin in the coming years.

The research team behind the project highlight that there are significant insights available in terms of the frequency, type of usage and volume of activities that have taken place in the capital’s parks during this time.

“People access parks for a whole variety of reasons, for exercise, to enjoy nature, for their overall wellbeing and by hearing from them it will help to inform the ways in which parks should be improved and developed and, crucially planned as a space that all generations can enjoy together”, said Research lead Dr Carol Barron, DCU School of Nursing, Psychotherapy and Community Health.

Parks have provided a safe haven for many during COVID-19; Image: Pexels

This study may have a direct benefit to individuals by helping to identify the specific reasons people are using parks during the era of COVID-19 and plan for the future development of parks as sites of recreation, play, leisure, health, socialisation and biodiversity.

“Parks have provided a safe haven for many during COVID-19, and undoubtedly, the volume of people using their local park has increased substantially.

While the country remains under current restrictions and people are using their parks frequently, we want to find out from respondents what they would like to see developed in their park”, added Dr Marcos Dias from DCU School of Communications and Joint Research Lead.

Organisers want to consult with as many people as possible who use Dublin parks to identify what visitors currently like about Dublin parks and what services, facilities, and events they would like to see in the parks in the near future.

Launching on 15th March, the survey seeks responses from people across Dublin city and county until Sunday 28th March 2021.

The findings will be used to help inform planning and development policy concerning public parks by DCC. It is envisaged that the results will be disseminated via Dublin City University communication platforms.

This project is being funded by the School of Nursing, Psychology and Community Health Publication Grant and a COVID-19 Research Network seed funding grant.

The survey is a collaboration between DCU’s School of Nursing, Psychotherapy and Community Health, DCU School of Communications and Dublin City Council.

Headline image: Mina-Marie Michell from Pexels

Background style

Light

Sponsored?

March 2021

A Circular Economy could prevent climate breakdown but needs speeding up

Bronagh Loughlin — Thu, 28 Jan 2021 21:57:26 +0000

A Circular Economy could prevent climate breakdown but needs speeding up

Tags

Topic

The Circularity Gap Report 2021 offers not only a sober warning of the danger of climate inaction but a clear map forward

The Circularity Gap Report 2021, based on a global scoring system, was released on the 26th of January, highlighting the urgent need to transition to a circular economy in order to tackle climate change related risks.

It aims to empower key decision-makers in both business and government to coordinate actions to accelerate necessary changes.

The research revealed that Circular Economy strategies could cut global emissions by 39%.

Still, the global economy was just 8.6% circular in 2020, meaning the world is consuming over 100 billion tonnes of materials per year and only 8.6% of that is reused in any form.

Two years prior, it was 9.1%, which makes it clear that things have effectively gotten worse.

The Circularity Gap Report 2021, image: Circular Economy

The report is launched annually during The World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos, published by the Circle Economy impact organisation dedicated to accelerating the circular economy transition.

“The Circularity Gap Report offers not only a sober warning of the danger of climate inaction but a clear map forward.

A collaborative effort is necessary among government, business and civil society to scale the circular economy and drive down emissions.

Only through collective investment in and commitment to circular practices can we shape a more sustainable, resilient future,” said Borge Brende, President of the World Economic Forum, at the launch.

The report finds that 22.8 billion tonnes (Gt) of annual emissions associated with creating new products from virgin materials can be eliminated by applying circular strategies.

That would drastically reduce the amount of minerals, fossil fuels, metals and biomass consumed globally.

It calculates that approximately 70% of all emissions are generated by the extraction, processing and manufacturing of goods to meet society’s needs – the meals we eat, the clothes we wear and so on.

Martijn Lopes Cardozo, Circle Economy CEO, said: “Governments are making huge decisions that will shape our climate future.

They are spending billions to stimulate their economies after the Covid pandemic, and they are committed to strengthening their climate commitments ahead of the Glasgow Climate Summit.

Circular economy strategies hold the key to a resource-efficient, low-carbon and inclusive future.”

Circularity Gap Report 2021

The strategies identified in the publication would cut annual material consumption down to 79Gt, by reducing the number of materials used to make products and services, using resources for longer, and replacing finite resources such as fossil fuels with regenerative resources such as renewable energy.

Additionally, they would increase the proportion of reused materials to 17%, nearly doubling the global economy's circularity.

Laxmi Haigh, science writer at Circle Economy and one of the lead authors of the Circularity Gap 2021 report shares more insights:

“I think it is important to be optimistic.

In the last ten years, the circular economy has moved from being more of a ‘fringe’ topic to a mainstream one.

The solution for restoring balance is right in front of us, but it will take the energetic collaboration of people across governments and industries to make it a reality.”

Mobility, housing and nutrition are also named the three fundamental societal needs responsible for nearly 70% of global emissions. These are the areas where circular strategies can have the most significant impact.

“The tagline of our report is: 'Solutions for a world that consumes 1 billion tonnes of materials and has warmed by 1-degree'.

And that is what we have done: provide solutions.

We have identified which circular actions can be most beneficial in reducing virgin resource extraction and limiting greenhouse house emissions across the six most prevalent 'needs and wants'.

Based on the findings, we present a circular roadmap of 21 interventions that countries can adopt into their climate plans moving forward.

From adopting healthier diets to assessing how multifunctional the buildings we construct are, the roadmap is wide.

Laxmi Haigh, science writer at Circle Economy, lead authors of the Circularity Gap 2021 report

In this way, any country interested in integrating the circular economy into its climate plans and pledges can use our report as a handbook, or look for more tailored insights,” adds Haigh about how to make the best use of this report and take action.

Different strategies are appropriate for different countries at various stages of economic development.

The report presents blueprints for governments to take actions in three broad categories - low-income, middle-income and higher-income countries - with different priorities for each.

At this stage, the world is on course for a climate breakdown, but the report suggests that we can bridge the gap to achieve climate neutrality through leadership and action.

Suppose the coming decade is the decisive one for humanity’s future on this planet.

In that case, 2021 is the year to ramp up our efforts to bring our goals into realistic reach and prevent the worst potential impact of climate change from becoming our reality.

Martin Frick, Senior Director Policy and Programme Coordination at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change says,

“For billions of years, our home planet was in a perfect cycle: New life constantly emerged out of the same carbon that existed as life before.

We need to restore this balance and achieve carbon neutrality without delay.

For that, we need to eliminate waste and create products that last, can be repaired and ultimately can be transformed into new products.”

In adopting a roadmap packed with circular strategies, society can pave the way for the systemic transformations required to course-correct the global economy – going far beyond the limitations of current policy and national climate pledges.

Headline image: Pexels

Footer

Circularity Gap Report 2021

Background style

Light

Sponsored?

January 2021

Young trailblazer innovators awarded for bold sustainability ideas by UNEP

Anonymous — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 12:05:42 +0000

Young trailblazer innovators awarded for bold sustainability ideas by UNEP

Tags

Topic

The Young Champions of the Earth prize is awarded to innovators with bold ideas for sustainable environmental change

The Young Champions of the Earth prize is awarded every year to seven entrepreneurs under the age of 30 with bold ideas for sustainable environmental change.

Winners, hailing from different regions around the world, receive seed funding, mentoring and communications support to amplify their efforts.

The prize is the United Nations Environment Programme's (UNEP) leading initiative to engage youth in tackling the world's most pressing environmental challenges. Since its inception in 2017, 28 environmental trailblazers have been recognised from every corner of the globe.

“Globally, young people are leading the way in calling for meaningful and immediate solutions to the triple planetary crises of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution – we must listen,”

said UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen.

“As we enter this decisive decade where we work to cut emissions and protect and restore ecosystems, UNEP Young Champions demonstrate that all of us can contribute, starting where we are with what we have. Every single act for nature counts, and we need the entire spectrum of humanity to share this global responsibility and this profound opportunity.”

With solutions to harvest water from the air, recycle plastic into paving slabs, and motivate fishing boats to haul tonnes of plastic out of the ocean, these change-makers show how innovative ideas coupled with ambitious action can help solve some of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges.

The seven prize winners, all 30 years old or younger, were selected by a global jury of experts following a competitive public nomination.

“It is absurd that we still have this problem of providing decent shelter – a basic human need. Plastic is a material that is misused and misunderstood.

The potential is enormous, but its after life can be disastrous,” says Nzambi Matee one of the winners.

In 2017, Matee quit her job as a data analyst and set up a small lab in her mother’s back yard.

There, she began creating and testing pavers, which are a combination of plastic and sand.

She developed the prototype for a machine that turns discarded plastic into paving stones – an invention that underpins her company, Gjenge Makers.

Each day, the business churns out 1,500 plastic pavers, which are prized by schools and homeowners because they are both durable and affordable.

With her enterprise she is also giving a second life to plastic bottles and other containers which would otherwise end up in landfills or, worse, on Nairobi’s streets.

Nzambi Matee, Young Champion of the Earth 2020 winner; Image: UNEP

Matee encourages other young people to tackle environmental challenges at the local level.

“The negative impact we are having on the environment is huge,” said Matee. “It’s up to us to make this reality better. Start with whatever local solution you can find and be consistent with it. The results will be amazing.”

On of the winners from the Asia and Pacific region, 29 years old Xiaoyuan Ren from China, has a similar mindset with her MyH2O data platform that tests and records the quality of groundwater across a thousand villages in rural China into an app so residents know where to find clean water.

The platform also educates communities about sources of contamination and connects villages with potable water companies.

Since its launch in 2015, MyH2O has helped provide clean water to tens of thousands of villagers, an accomplishment that saw Ren recently named a Young Champion of the Earth.

Indian engineer, Vidyut Mohan, who grew up in Delhi, is the co-founder of Takachar. The company buys rice husks, straw and coconut shells from farmers and turns them into charcoal, saving the debris from the fires, which are also a driver of climate change.

Mohan and co-founder Kevin Kung launched their venture in 2018, where they have worked with about 4,500 farmers and processed 3,000 tonnes of crops. Those efforts were recently recognized by becoming one of the winners of this year's award.

“I’ve always been passionate about energy access and creating income opportunities for poor communities,” said Mohan. “(That) is at the heart of finding answers to the difficult question of balancing economic growth and climate change mitigation in developing countries.”

Max Hidalgo, biologist and inventor - named Young Champion of the Earth 2020; Image: UNEP

Max Hidalgo, a relentless tinkerer, biologist and inventor, was also honoured as one of the United Nations Environment Programme’s Young Champions of the Earth for 2020.

He uses nature as inspiration for technological innovations that change lives in the world’s poorest communities.

“I developed an electrical energy generator in the shape of a local flower, and a flowerpot that can charge cell phone batteries,” he said. “Now I am working on developing biodegradable packaging that’s hexagonal, like a beehive, so that it is sturdy but compact.

Nature in itself is incredible. There is so much we can learn by observing it.”

His most heralded invention thus far turns the wind into water.

Called Yawa after the Quechua words for water, yaku, and wind, waira, the technology uses a wind turbine to condense vapour from the air and generate water.

The technology is much needed in Hidalgo’s native Peru, one of the countries in Latin America most at risk of a water crisis due to changing climate.

“There are communities that have been waiting for water for 20 years and rely on trucks that come in with expensive water of questionable quality,” he said.

The Yawa technology, developed by Hidalgo, is an example of best practice in the circular economy.

Materials used to build the turbine are recyclable and there is minimal plastic in the device.

The simple-to-use technology is even being modified to adapt to local air quality, a response to the challenges wrought by air pollution.

But most importantly, the technology is something that can be used, owned and repaired by the communities it serves, even if they are no experts.

Other outstanding projects that received the honour of becoming Young Champions of the Earth in 2020 are:

North America: Niria Alicia Garcia (USA, 28), coordinates - alongside a community of indigenous activists - the annual Run 4 Salmon event using virtual reality to bring to life the historical journey of the Sacramento chinook salmon along California’s largest watershed, raising awareness of this invaluable ecosystem, the species and people it supports.

West Asia: Fatemah Alzelzela (Kuwait, 24) started Eco Star, a non-profit recycling initiative that exchanges trees and plants for waste from homes, schools and businesses in Kuwait. Since launching in early 2019, Eco Star has recycled over 130 tonnes of metal, paper and plastic.

Europe: Lefteris Arapakis (Greece, 26 years) founded the start-up Enaleia, through which the team trains, empowers and incentivises the local fishing community to collect plastic from the sea, allowing both fish stocks and the ecosystem to recover. Enaleia is also prototyping recycling the plastic into fashion merchandise like socks and swimsuits.

By amplifying news of the significant work being done on the environmental frontlines, the Young Champions of the Earth prize - part of UNEP’s #ForNature campaign - aims to inspire and motivate more young people to act for nature.

More stories of winners: Young Champions of the Earth

Footer

Award - UNEP

Background style

Light

Sponsored?

December 2020

First extensive study on Social Investment in Africa reveals financial trends and gaps

Anonymous — Fri, 27 Nov 2020 11:50:05 +0000

First extensive study on Social Investment in Africa reveals financial trends and gaps

Tags

Topic

The African Venture Philanthropy Alliance launched a high-level report on the state of social investment financing in Africa

The African Venture Philanthropy Alliance (AVPA) launched ‘The Landscape for Social Investments in Africa’ high-level inaugural report on the state of social investment financing in Africa.

The report is the first of several concerted efforts aimed at addressing information gaps on social investments in areas such as Philanthropy, Impact Investing, Private Capital deployment and Corporate Sustainability Programmes across sub-Saharan Africa.

AVPA is a unique Pan-African network established in 2018 for social investors, headquartered in Nairobi with offices in Johannesburg and Lagos, with a mission to drive a transformative social investing agenda and build vibrant, influential community across Africa.

Their work is aligned with thriving sister networks in Europe (EVPA), South America (Latimpacto), and Asia (AVPN) to form a dynamic global force for social impact.

AVPA facilitates the flow of human, intellectual and financial capital, not only within Africa but also across countries involved with its partner organisations globally.

The Landscape for Social Investments in Africa report

“Africa needs an estimated $500 billion - $1.2 trillion annually between now and 2030 to meet its financing gap for delivering on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals targets.

With traditional sources of social investment like aid and government funding unlikely to fill this gap. Therefore, we need to turn to the global financial and capital markets for the requisite investments, “ says Dr. Frank Aswani, CEO of AVPA.

“This demands a good understanding of the social investment landscape on the continent and increasing collaboration amongst social investors by breaking down existing silos between providers of grants, debt and equity.

We are taking the first step in this direction with this study. It provides a baseline against which we can track future progress and key trends that will influence the increased flow of capital into social investments in Africa while working collaboratively to identify programmatic interventions for creating increased social impact.” adds Aswani in regards of carrying out this broad research.

Dr. Frank Aswani, CEO of The African Venture Philanthropy Alliance

The report presents findings of an eight-month study across 18 African countries - six each in West, East, and Southern Africa.

The study was commissioned by AVPA with support from the United States African Development Foundation (USADF), Social Capital Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, and an anonymous donor.

"The US African Development Foundation (USADF) supported AVPA to carry out a landscape study to understand better social investment across East, West and Southern Africa.

The findings will help drive strategies and plans for future investors, donors, foundations, and public sector financiers.

We are constantly looking for ways to partner with corporations and governments that are interested in the business growth of Africa." C.D. Glin, President and CEO, US African Development Foundation

AVPA conducted the study in partnership with Intellecap, the advisory arm of The Aavishkaar Group, which works to build businesses that can benefit the underserved segments across Asia and Africa. It mapped providers of social capital - financial, human and intellectual, their investment strategies, and opportunities for collaboration amongst the various investors.

The findings highlight, among other things, what is currently happening, who are the key players, what are their current approaches to investing, what challenges they are facing, and the opportunities they are seeing. It also identifies additional areas of future research while making recommendations of opportunities to create a more vital ecosystem for increased capital flow and social impact on the continent.

Many social investors in sub-Saharan Africa operate in silos, necessitating strategic interventions to bridge gaps across the different types of capital and investment strategies.

Key findings of the report:

Over 820 social investors are operating in the sub-Saharan African (SSA) region; 39% in East Africa, 31% in West Africa and 30% in Southern Africa.
The majority of social investment capital deployed across the regions continues to come from international sources with a growing number of active regionally-based social investors.

Overview of Key Social Investors in SSA

Donors, development finance institutions, and sustainability aligned fund managers are the largest providers of social capital across the SSA regions, deploying billions of dollars annually, mainly through long term projects.
Corporates and corporate foundations are emerging as strong drivers of regional social investment ecosystems.
While Southern Africa has the highest number of regional-based family foundations, a high level of activity was also recorded for regional family foundations in West Africa who are relatively public with information on their giving and the causes they support.
Regional Corporate Social Investors (CSIs) across sub-Saharan Africa largely support basic services (health and education) provision, while North American CSIs mostly focus on economic empowerment and entrepreneurship initiatives.
Development finance institutions and sustainability aligned fund managers investments across the regions are highly concentrated by geography and sector, following similar trends in sector preference with financial services, agriculture and energy.
Across the regions, tech-based enterprises focused on solving challenges in the financial services, agriculture, energy and healthcare challenges have received the highest focus from social investors.
Large pools of social investment capital deployed by African diaspora communities, faith-based organisations and other local capital providers represent a significant opportunity for collaboration with other social investors to make progress in key social sectors such as health care, education and affordable housing.
The supply of social investment capital in the SSA region remains significantly mismatched with demand from social enterprises and impact businesses.
With declining funding from donors and international foundations, non-profits are exploring alternative and more sustainable funding models.

The study includes an in-depth report for each of the three regions - East, West, and Southern Africa to provide detailed regional analyses.

Nancy Kairo, AVPA Executive Director for the East Africa region

“The East Africa section of this report shows there is an urgent need to diversify both the sources and the recipients of impact funds.

Development finance institutions are still among the largest providers of such capital, and most of these funds are invested in mature stage sustainable businesses that can absorb large amounts of capital.

Yet, to realise real change we need to see large capital flows from other sources such as the capital markets, high-net-worth individuals and grantors amalgamate in support of SMEs—the backbone of our economies.” says Nancy Kairo, AVPA Executive Director for the East Africa region.

AVPA plans to repeat this study every 2-3 years to track trends and improve the knowledge base within the ecosystem.

Footer

Report

Background style

Light

Sponsored?

November 2020

Dutch social enterprises have a strong influence on building a new economy

Anonymous — Mon, 16 Nov 2020 12:07:00 +0000

Dutch social enterprises have a strong influence on building a new economy

Tags

Topic

Social enterprises are pioneers in building a better economy in the Netherlands

A new research report from Social Enterprise Netherland revealed the pioneering role of mission-driven enterprises in the business community to facilitate a transition towards a more sustainable economy and contribute to reach the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The Transition Theory shows that small, innovative players – niche actors – are of crucial importance in accelerating the process of building back better from the COVID-19 pandemic. Social enterprises – companies with a primarily social mission – are the pioneers in the transition to a new economy.

Many social enterprises focus not only on the direct positive impact they create with their own product or service but also aim to influence other companies to act more sustainably.

Study: Social Enterprises as Influencers of the Broader Business Community - image:Social Enterprise NL

Social Enterprise Netherland (NL) has conducted the ‘Social Enterprises as Influencers of the Broader Business Community’ research based on thorough academic literature research and inspiring examples from the Dutch social enterprise sector.

The report found that there are three important ways in which social enterprises can influence the business community, which are at the core of their ‘model of influencing’:

1. ‘Raising the possible’ (showing that it is possible to do business sustainably),

2. ‘Raising the desirable’ (showing that it is desirable to do business sustainably),

3. ‘Raising the acceptable’ (showing that it is unacceptable not to do business sustainably).

“People might think that social enterprises are very small as compared to the industry leaders. Can they really make a change?

This report shows that they can actually play a crucial role in the transition of the business community towards creating a more sustainable economy, by showing that it is in fact possible to make a profit with purpose by disrupting the mainstream business as usual practices.” says Simone van Dijk Social, one of the researchers contributed to the report from Social Enterprise Netherland (NL).

The ‘model of influencing’ describes eleven ‘influencing activities’: concrete strategies that social enterprises employ to influence. Different inspiring examples from the Dutch social enterprise sector illustrate these activities.

Social enterprise Tony’s Chocolonely's mission statement: “Together we make 100% slave free the norm in chocolate” - Image: Tony’s Chocolonely'

For example, social enterprise Tony’s Chocolonely has a mission statement that goes beyond their products: “Together we make 100% slave free the norm in chocolate”. This explicit mention of changing the norm clearly references changes beyond Tony’s own chocolate bars.

Their case shows that it is possible to make fair chocolate that has a positive impact on local communities and stimulates other chocolate-making companies to copy their methods through their Tony’s Open Chain platform.

Albert Heijn, the largest retailer in the Netherlands, followed the example and became an official ‘mission ally’ for its private-label chocolate brand Delicata.

"Real social entrepreneurs want systems to change, transitions that take years, and that can hurt. It is about operating radically differently.

As a social entrepreneur, you should think about: where are you in that landscape, in the system? What do you want to change? Do you want to set up a whole new system, or turn the current system around? Is what you’re doing impactful, or are you merely limiting the damage?” says Arjen Boekhold, Game Changer Unltd., former Tony’s Chocolonely.

Another precedent showed by social enterprise Frank About Tea when they published an ‘Open letter to the CEO of Unilever’ in the Dutch Financial Times.

With this action, they actively raised awareness about the inequalities in the tea sector amongst consumers and professionals, stimulating them to hold companies accountable for their responsibility in the supply chain.

Social enterprises can also contribute to raising official standards, such as voluntary industry agreements, certifications and even legislation, thereby making it unacceptable not to do business sustainably.

Fairphone, Dutch social enterprise challenging smartphone industry - image: Fairphone

For instance, Fairphone is a social enterprise company which aims to develop smartphones that are designed and produced with minimal environmental impact.

They are bringing together major industry players in the Fair Cobalt Alliance to jointly improve the conditions in which cobalt, an essential resource to produce smartphones, is mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

"Our strength lies in giving an example with the product, with the service itself.

[…] We have to accomplish, to prove, that a product or service like ours has a sustainable business case to put in the market, and develop a sourcing model,” says Monique Lempers, Impact Innovation Director at Fairphone.

The ‘Social Enterprises as Influencers of the Broader Business Community’ research shows that social enterprises – often relatively small players in their industries – can play a crucial role in the transition to a new economy.

The results provide concrete tools to help social and other innovative companies from around the world accelerate the sustainability transitions in their industries through influencing.

Simone van Dijk from Social Enterprise NL explains further the relevance of their research:

“We conducted this research because we found there was still little known about the way social enterprises influence the broader business community – even when this is often at the core of a social enterprise’s mission.

We hope that the findings in this report do not only help value-driven enterprises to see and enhance their influencing role, but also show corporates the relevance of (working together with) social enterprises.

It also shows the importance of funding long term systems change, stimulate researchers to investigate this further, and help support organisations such as ours to support their members to unlock business potentials through their influencing role.”

The recently released Social Enterprise Monitor 2020 also showed that 96% of Dutch social enterprises actively aims to influence other organisations. The Social Enterprise Monitor is the largest annual survey of social enterprises in the Netherlands, carried out by Social Enterprise Netherland (NL) in collaboration with multiple partners and with the support of PwC.

Social Enterprise NL is a national membership body that represents, connects and supports the growing community of social enterprises in The Netherlands with over 400 members to date.

Their mission is to build an economy that works for all people: circular, inclusive and poverty-free. The organisation offers its members different kinds of business support and works on a more favourable ecosystem for social entrepreneurs in the Netherlands and beyond.

Footer

Report - Social Enterprise Netherlands

Background style

Light

Sponsored?

November 2020

Profit with Purpose magazine launch

Anonymous — Fri, 08 May 2020 11:01:46 +0000

Profit with Purpose magazine launch

Tags

Topic

Promoting Responsible Innovation and value-driven business practices to 'help build back better' from the Covid19 pandemic.

The 'Profit with Purpose' print magazine aims to inspire innovators from business, research and policy to 'build back better' after the Covid19 pandemic adapting Responsible Innovation and sustainable business practices. It features overviews of recent trends, research projects, business practices, and inspiring stories about leaders. The first edition was launched on International Day for Biological Diversity, 22nd May.

The Covid19 pandemic has shown how much we rely on global communities, nature and innovation. This situation offers a unique opportunity to implement new business practices and inspire innovations that lead to a more resilient and sustainable economy.

Illustration: Getty Image

“The world is facing an unprecedented test. And this is the moment of truth. We must respond decisively, innovatively and together to suppress the spread of the virus and address the socio-economic devastation that COVID-19 is causing in all regions. Finally, when we get past this crisis – which we will – we will face a choice. We can go back to the world as it was before or deal decisively with those issues that make us all unnecessarily vulnerable to crises. Our roadmap is the 2030 Agenda and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The recovery from the COVID-19 crisis must lead to a different economy.” said António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations at the launch of the report on socio-economic impacts of coronavirus.

The Profit with Purpose magazine was created with the support of Dublin City Council in collaboration with the Business SPIRIT Platform, Responsible Innovation Summit and a group of acknowledged experts from business and academia, including Ali Sheridan director of Sustainability Works; Dr. Roisin Lyonns, assistant professor of entrepreneurship and innovation, Dublin City University; Zoe Hertelendi, CEO of EdamameEco. (See the list of contributors at the end of the page.)

Dublin is working to restore its economy and to strengthen its capacity as an innovative, resilient city where people can thrive. They are actively collaborating with entrepreneurs who want to adapt and future-proof their business models.

"I believe raising awareness of what these changes will mean for each individual business is essential. It is clear by now that the European Green Deal introduced in 2019 by the European Commission will play a critical role in the process of recovery. This is Europe’s new agenda for sustainable growth which aims to transform our cities to become cornerstones in building a climate-neutral economy by 2050 in Europe.” says Mary Mac Sweeney, Deputy Head of Enterprise and Economic Development, Dublin City Council.

Mary Mac Sweeney, Deputy Head of Enterprise and Economic Development, Dublin City Council

She adds that Dublin City plans to create several opportunities, such as events or training, where companies can learn from experts and from each other about what they could be doing to respond to global and local changes. The new Dublin City Council Corporate Plan shares the mission of making Dublin the ‘best place in which to be, to live, to work, to do business and to enjoy’ and for the first time, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are incorporated into this plan.

The Profit with Purpose magazine will be published biannually covering Irish and international news, and readers can access it free of charge. Besides the print format, the Business Spirit Platform offers an open access online platform for innovators to learn and connect.

Profit with Purpose magazine

“We want to generate positive change by using the power of communication and empower cross-sectorial knowledge sharing," says Szilvia Szabó, managing editor of the Profit with Purpose magazine.

The magazine provides ‘easy-to-digest’ content related to value-driven business, responsible research and innovation, sustainable finance, circular economy, climate change, sustainable development and everything in the intersection of People, Planet, and Profit.

The first edition is focusing on topics like Responsible Investments, what Sustainable Development Goals could mean for a business, interviews with entrepreneurs who successfully embedded sustainability and ethics into their business strategy, like Java Republic, Wild by Water, The Ethical Silk Company, The Upcycle Movement and more.

“The power to change the world is in the hands of every innovator, but we need to cross-pollinate ideas, raise awareness and make news more actionable in order to deliver a just transition to a sustainable economy,” explains Szilvia as her motivation to start this new magazine.

The editorial team welcomes contributions from writers, researchers, agencies, business leaders and innovators who want to share their work and expertise to inspire value-driven change. You can easily apply online to become a contributor and join the community.

Szilvia Szabó, managing editor, Profit with Purpose magazine

Full list of contributors:

First edition - Profit with Purpose magazine

Ali Sheridan director of Sustainability Works; Dr. Roisin Lyonns, assistant professor of entrepreneurship and innovation, Dublin City University; Zoe Hertelendi, CEO of EdamameEco; Theodor Cojoianu, postdoctoral research fellow, University College Dublin; Faye-Walsh Drouillard, impact investor and founder of WakeUp Capital; Deirdre Garvey, CEO of The Wheel; Leslie Maleipaard co-founder of Planet Calls; Tim Graham, Stakeholder Engagement and Marketing Manager, Dublin Place Brand; Laura Costello marketing strategist at THINKHOUSE; Dr. Joanne Rourke, Resource Efficiency Officer int he Eastern-Midlands Waste Regional Office, Ireland; Giulia Bubbolini, COO, Agency of the Chamber of Commerce of Romagna, Italy; Jessica Huntingford, Head if European projects at Resolvo; Karen Coughlan, EU project officer at Southern Regional Assembly;

Footer

Launch: Profit with Purpose magazine

Background style

Light

Sponsored?

May 2020

From test lab to the market

Szilvia Szabó — Wed, 03 Jul 2019 21:23:00 +0000

From test lab to the market

Tags

Topic

Trailblazer researcher becoming a business leader to help millions of people.

Report with Dr Conor Kerley founder of Setanta Nutrition Science

The issue is that there are so many supplements available on the market with little no science behind them. During my PhD, I uncovered how plant-based food components could lower blood sugar and blood pressure.

Creating a game-changer product

I have very personal reasons to become interested in nutrition and health.

Before I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2003, shortly after my 16th birthday, I was hospitalised with major balance issues. It was scary enough, but there was a middle-aged man in the bed beside me, he had a stroke while playing golf. The stroke caused by uncontrolled high blood pressure left him paralysed from the neck down. Although he could talk, eat, drink and was mentally very able, he couldn't move the rest of his body. When he needed a nurse, he would ask me to ring the bell for him.

One of my aunts has a long-standing type 2 diabetes. I don't see her too often as she spends 18 hours a week hooked up to a dialysis machine in a hospital. She travels one hour to dialysis and one hour back - three times per week. Also has heart failure, nerve issues and eye problems all caused by unchecked blood sugar levels.

All these experiences made me realise that prevention and awareness are key and inspired me to do something about it. After my honours graduation in dietetics and doctorate in nutrition, I was keen on helping people improve their diets.

My vision was to have a safe, natural, affordable option to help control blood sugar, blood pressure and brain health – however, this seemed to be very close to a fairy tale.

I won a major award from the British Hypertension Society which got me to attend as a presenter at the 2017 Australian Blood Pressure conference. Afterwards, I spent six weeks travelling around Australia and speaking at conferences, meeting with leading experts. I also spent a lot of time on planes and trains by myself, which gave me time to think:

As a single clinician, there is a limit to how many people I can see and help in a year. With a nutrition supplement, I can help millions!

So when I came back from Australia, I completed a “Start your own business” course run by the Local Enterprise Office. I also started a new job as a lecturer but spent my evenings and weekends finding out more about building a business.

I knew there was much potential for my business idea, so I left full-time employment to create a company. That's how Setanta Nutrition Science was born.

A simple but ambitious mission

I want to provide a solution to millions of people around the world by providing nutrition supplements, based on research, to help prevent and treat diabetes, and high blood pressure.

My preliminary research in tests tubes and on myself has shown a remarkable effect. As a crazy scientist, I started with self-experimentation, assessing my blood sugar and blood pressure responses to meals with specific added components.

I noticed some beneficial components, then I tried these components together, and they have shown an even greater response!

The breakthrough: Transforming research findings into a viable product

My strength is science and research, but to make this solution widely available, I have to build a business. That isn’t straightforward and comes with lots of learning.

At the moment I have many wonderful mentors, but practically I’m the only person working full time within the business. I’m building up a team although it takes time until then I try to keep my focus on the end goals and work towards them every day. Chasing funding is exhaustive, as are other elements of starting a business by yourself.

I’m naturally energetic and enthusiastic, also eat and sleep healthy, which helps. When there is a setback or a delay, I can think of the big picture: there is vast potential to help people around the world. Lots of supports are available. The real issue is trying to find the right one.

The Local Enterprise Office Louth, Ireland was a great starting point, they have been very supportive of me and my business idea. We obtained maximum feasibility funding which is helping to accelerate the process of building a company. Besides, I won Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur in the Louth region.

The other big help came from the Dublin Business Innovation Centre (BIC), namely Conor Carmody investor-ready manager, who has been so friendly, open, and honest. He was one of the judges at the Business SPIRIT Award and has helped me so much figuring out my strategy.

I decided to leave full-time employment in November 2018, just a few weeks after the Responsible Innovation Summit, where I presented my project, as a finalist for the Business SPIRIT Award.

This was a tough decision. It’s complicated enough to launch a business anyway and almost impossible to do while being employed. I am pleased with this decision although there are ups and downs, I am excited about the future!

Believing in the impact

Our product treats the underlying causes of diabetes and therefore, could help prevent diabetes and also treat it.

Worldwide there are 800 million diabetics and pre-diabetics at a treating cost of $727 billion. Only in Ireland, there are 250,000 people with diabetes and pre-diabetes which cost the Health Service Executive (HSE) $845 million per year.

Our product designed to improve diabetes control and decrease these risks, therefore the potential is massive. Making it available to people on a global level keeps me going.

Diabetes can lead to eye, kidney and nerve problem and even heart attacks and strokes. There are so many people at risk of diabetes that preventing or even delaying diabetes would reduce suffering and also costs.

We are about to start our first manufacturing run. Following this, we will conduct a human research study where we invite people who are overweight or worried about their health to visit our clinical facility while fasting.

We will measure blood sugar, cholesterol, inflammation in the blood as well as blood pressure. Breakfast with our supplement will be provided and we’ll measure the impact. On another occasion, we will repeat this but with a placebo instead of our supplement.

First will target diabetes prevention and treatment, later high blood pressure. In the future, we plan to expand our focus on solutions for brain disorders such as dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis.

We are more than open to get feedback, collaborate or share our findings. Please feel free to get in touch on social media - Twitter, LinkedIn.

Background style

Light

Sponsored?

July 2019

Creating better innovations with the Ethics Canvas framework

kiss.tamas — Thu, 04 Apr 2019 21:33:07 +0000

Creating better innovations with the Ethics Canvas framework

Tags

Responsible Innovation

Topic

You can structure ideas about the ethical implications of innovation projects and visualise them in order to resolve them.

Just because it’s innovative is it actually good? The landscape of technological innovation is rapidly changing and most of the time ethical considerations are not even on the checklist. Currently, ethics in research and innovation is a very top-down process that relies on compliance.

The Ethics Canvas framework was created by academics at ADAPT Research Centre Dublin, to reflect on the potential impact of innovation on society.

“Ethics is not simply about compliance but requires active reflection during the design process.

Technological innovations are changing the world faster than ever. At the same time, people are increasingly concerned about the ethical impacts of technologies.

This has led to a damaged image of the tech-sector and rising concerns for policymakers.” says Dave Lewis, Associate Professor, School of Computer Science and Statistics at Trinity College Dublin.

Building the Ethics Canvas in collaboration

Your contribution is needed to create a free tool which can help to build a better society and better quality of life for all of us.

The Ethics Canvas provides a tool that can be part of the solution to the problems that ethics in research and innovation faces. It allows researchers and innovators to reflect on the ethical impacts of their work.

This is a free open source material which was designed as an intuitive tool that helps innovators to:

Brainstorm about the ethical implications of a project and represent them in a canvas.
Analyse the ethical concerns of a project considering all stakeholders and find suitable solutions that reflect on shared values.
Learn from similar use cases and share your experiences

The Ethics Canvas is an easy to use collaborative tool that assists in the identification of ethical impacts of research and innovation projects and incentivises actions towards tackling these impacts.

The Ethics Canvas distinguishes 6 main types of ethical impacts that innovation can have:

individual behaviour (changing habits, patterns)
relations (friends, family, professional life)
worldviews (political, religious, scientific)
social conflicts (inequality, lack of justice)
resource use (climate change, toxics)
product or service failure (fallout, safety)

It offers guidance for thinking about ethical impacts of technology in a holistic way. For this purpose, it has revisited the ‘building blocks’ of the Business Model Canvas by answering three basic questions:

Who might be affected by the technology? What are the potential ethical impacts on these people and groups? How can we address these ethical impacts?

Who can use this framework best?

Researchers: For discussing ethical impact of their research and innovation projects.

Entrepreneurs: For creating innovative products, services in an ethical and responsible way.

Policymakers: For better understanding ethical impacts and finding policies to solve them.

Teachers: For teaching engineering and business students about ethics.

How to use it?

1 – Identifying relevant stakeholders:

Who might be affected by the technology in question? Think not just about your users but anyone who can be affected – individuals, groups.

2 – Explore ethical impacts:

How might people’s behaviour or relations change because of your product or service? Considering individual and social perspectives in relation to worldviews, value conflicts.

What are the potential negative impacts of required resources relating to your project? What happens with technical errors, security failures, end of life products, etc.?

3 – Discussing remedial actions:

What are the most important ethical impacts you found? How can you address these by changing your design, organisation, or by proposing broader changes?

As a result, you will have gained a better understanding of the potential ethical impacts of your innovation and some first ways to address these.

It is suitable for offline use, as a paper canvas, also for online use, as a collaborative tool.

Online features:

Create a personal account and collaborate with other users
Save canvasses and export them into a pdf format
Tag terms and create a shared knowledge-base

How can you contribute?

Take these very easy steps to become part of the solution:

Start using the online Ethics Canvas or download the pdf format: www.ethicscanvas.org
Send your feedback with ideas, suggestions on how to make it better! Contact us here!
Share this open call for the contribution!

Start using the Ethics Canvas

Background style

Dark

Sponsored?

April 2019