Entrepreneurship

Why do ambitious changemakers upskill in Climate Entrepreneurship?

Bronagh Loughlin — Mon, 08 Aug 2022 17:21:41 +0000

Why do ambitious changemakers upskill in Climate Entrepreneurship?

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Climate Change

Climate Innovation

Entrepreneurs

entrepreneurship

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Choosing a trailblazer postgraduate course focusing on climate action is becoming a top choice for innovators wanting to make a positive impact in Ireland.

The first course of its kind, the Postgraduate Certificate in Climate Entrepreneurship hosted by Tangent, Trinity’s Ideas Workplace in Dublin, offers students a hands-on learning experience to tackle climate change with an entrepreneurial mindset.

Applications are currently open until the 16th of August for this part-time, blended learning experience delivered in person and online, with teaching lessons held two evenings per week.

This unique course was developed in collaboration with the School of Natural Sciences at Trinity College Dublin and is now kicking off for a second year to equip participants with knowledge and tools to handle both the opportunities and challenges arising from the climate emergency.

Professor Quentin Crowley, Course Director and the Director of Trinity College’s Centre for the Environment, speaks about who the programme is suitable for:

“A key aspect of the course is that it is very multidisciplinary because climate change is very systemic and is not something that will be solved with one solution.

We need different actors, sectors, and thinkers, so regardless of your background, we encourage you to apply.”

The course aims to provide an integrated approach to preparing students for the opportunities and challenges emerging from the climate crisis.

Professor Quentin Crowley, Climate Entrepreneurship Course Director at Tangent, Trinity College Dublin

All those who wish to turn their climate action ambitions into reality can develop their lateral and critical thinking skills in this course, enabling them to take innovative approaches across numerous fields.

Graduates will have the creative confidence to transform ideas into solutions.

Shanna May Breen, a past student from the first intake, shares why she decided to apply for the Climate Entrepreneurship programme:

“I’m a creative, my background is in theatre making. Around four and a half years ago, I became quite worrisome in terms of climate issues. I started developing projects that looked at climate to make that intelligible for me."

Shanna took her idea even further and developed a business called Tree Zero.

Shanna May Breen, graduated from the first Postgraduate Climate Entrepreneurship course.

"I’m not only a Climate Artist now, but I’m also a Climate Entrepreneur.”

Since the course’s completion, she has been developing this product alongside Enterprise Ireland’s New Frontiers programme with top sustainable European designers.

The course is best suited to those who want to actively address climate change and equip themselves with the creative confidence and innovation skills to transform their ideas into solutions.

The content covered in the classes is centred around three main modules, including systems innovation for positive climate action, entrepreneurship opportunities in climate adaptation and mitigation, and climate enterprise development.

Caithriona McCarthy, another graduate of the course, speaks about why she decided to join: “For the last 10 years, I’ve been teaching sustainable horticulture and sustainable agriculture in the west of Ireland."

Participating in the Climate Entrepreneurship course helped Caithriona McCarthy to design a climate education programme for children. Image: Edible Landscape Project

"As a result of doing the Climate Entrepreneurship course, we were able to better communicate our message,” McCarthy adds.

She quickly adopted her learning, and by the time Caithriona finished the course, she had designed a climate education programme for children focusing on system thinking with her team.

Joining the Climate Entrepreneurship course will help students be better prepared to reduce the future social and economic costs of the climate crisis while encouraging communities, businesses, and individuals to play their part.

Caithriona also highlights the added value of working in teams:

“I think the group work was brilliant because we were so motivated and that made us work well with each other. I’ve stayed in touch with groups I’ve worked with and bounced ideas off them too.”

Those on the programme benefit from access to leading academics and a world-class entrepreneurial community as well as exclusive networking opportunities with regular guest talks by industry leaders, masterclasses, and events.

About the content, Shanna May Breen adds: :

“I think the course is so interesting that you are eager to log on and meet up each evening.

It was a very active course to participate in, and I would do it again in a heartbeat."

The Postgraduate Certificate in Climate Entrepreneurship will begin in September 2022 and runs until March 2023.

Springboard+ covers 100% of course fees for eligible, unemployed applicants, and those who are employed pay just 10% fees at €375 for a level 9 qualification from Ireland’s leading university.

You can learn more and submit your application here.

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August 2022

Sweetening the deal to make food ethics matter

Business Spirit News reporting — Mon, 08 Aug 2022 13:19:09 +0000

Sweetening the deal to make food ethics matter

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A chocolate range with exceptional taste and high ethical standards was brought to life by an Irish entrepreneur to raise awareness.

Chocolatey Clare, alias Clare Tate followed her passion when she designed a chocolate range in Ireland with a sensational taste while raising the bar to the highest in ethics and sustainability.

In this interview, she shares her secrets of running an ethical food business that goes beyond the usual ‘greening’ strategies.

I set up my business in 2016, knowing absolutely nothing about the food industry. After turning 50, I decided to just do something else entirely and switch to a completely different career by becoming an entrepreneur.

I have been a vegetarian for about 30 years, and I turned vegan along with my whole family about seven years ago. I couldn't find any vegan chocolate that I really loved, even though I tried almost all of them.

So I decided to make my own and started my business by searching the internet ‘How do you make chocolate?’. Besides finding the best taste, I had some other criteria on my list: to start with, it had to be vegan, but veganism extends to an approach to minimise the exploitation of not only animals but humans, the environment and the planet.

In the finished product, you have your in¬gredients, processes, people, packaging, and everything has an effect.

Clare Tate, Founder of Chocolatey Clare is dedicated to raise the bar in food ethics.

Food ethics is one of my main principles, which means no animal or human exploitation in the production of my chocolate.

I strive to ensure that all my ingredients are ethically sourced, so I would investigate the ethics policies and the sustainability commitments of all the suppliers I engage with. For example, when I use organic coconut milk powder, I also need to make sure that no monkeys are used to harvest the coconuts.

I think there is no such thing as a neutral purchase because you support that company every time you buy something.

One of the main challenges for me entering the food industry was having no previous experience whatsoever. I had to research everything, but I don't think it was all negative because it meant that I had no preconceived notions of what should I be doing.

I investigated everything and looked at all possible options at the time.

I went to a lot of trouble to find environmen¬tally friendly packaging. The boxes I use are made from FSC certified paper and printed with vegetable-based ink instead of petroleum basting. The printing company that I work with has printing machines that are actually wind-powered.

My products are more expensive than the mass-produced options. But if you think about it, there is a good reason for that.

Particularly in the food industry, there is an unrealistic expectation from the general public that chocolate should be cheap.

If everybody in the supply chain is fairly paid and the environmental impact is taken into account, the end product will obviously be more expensive.

At the same time, unfortunately, there is still a lot of exploitation and even slave labour involved in the cocoa industry.

The result is that chocolate is cheap when it shouldn’t be, so it is a bit of an uphill battle to convince consumers that chocolate is a luxury item that deserves to be paid for and should be treated that way.

"Chocolate is a luxury item that deserves to be paid for and should be treated that way," says Clare Tate.

One of my other mantras is that you should buy less but buy better. I think consumers have all the power because if we stop buying something, then companies will stop making it or be forced to examine how they produce things.

Most of my customers aren’t vegan and aren't really bothered about buying dairy-free products, but they like the chocolate we make. And this was another thing that absolutely was at the top of my agenda.

Not only do I want to make chocolate according to my principles and my ethics, but it has to be delicious.

Figuring out all the details and building up a business was not easy, and I was glad to receive such tremendous support from the Dublin City Local Enterprise Office. It meant not just being able to have experts helping me but getting great exposure to my products and refining my positioning.

I would love to see many more people stand by the type of business I’m running.

Considering that there are plenty of resources and food out there to feed the world, yet only a few per cent of humanity has the luxury to enjoy it, we would definitely need a systemic change.

How the system works right now, how food is produced, priced, distributed, and consumed, is far from being fair or sustainable.

It might look like an unrealistic or naive paradigm shift, but access to quality and safe food is a basic need and should be available to everyone.

As a small business, I’m doing everything within my reach and power to get people to at least think about their impact when purchasing their food.

Chocolate might just be a sweat first experience for them to feel good about making better choices whenever they buy something.

This content is a piece of an article originally published in the "Make change happen" issue of Profit with Purpose Magazine.

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August 2022

Dublin BIC

kiss.tamas — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 20:43:01 +0000

Dublin BIC

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Ireland

https://www.dublinbic.ie

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Ireland

The Dublin Business Innovation Centre (Dublin BIC) empowers entrepreneurs in Ireland to start and scale by providing a comprehensive range of programmes specifically designed to advance the ambitions of early-stage companies.

Dublin BIC provides programmes across four core areas of expertise:

Investor-Ready Preparation – 85% of Dublin BIC investor-ready start-ups receive funding
Access to Finance – 350 start-ups have received funding through Dublin BIC
Incubation Space – managing two of Ireland’s leading start-up and co-working hubs
Community & Collaboration –In knowledge-sharing, business opportunities and networking

Dublin BIC is here to help the next generation of Irish entrepreneurs start and scale global businesses

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Platform :: Partner categories

Funding | Supports

Networking | Events | Community

Local Enterprise Office Ireland

kiss.tamas — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 20:42:05 +0000

Local Enterprise Office Ireland

Location

Ireland

https://www.localenterprise.ie/

Reach

Ireland

The Local Enterprise Office is the First Stop Shop for anyone seeking information and support on starting or growing a business in Ireland.

They provides advice, information and support to you in starting up or growing your business. With 31 dedicated teams across the Local Authority network in Ireland, Local Enterprise Offices offer you a wide range of experience, skills and services.

The Local Enterprise Office is for people interested in starting up a new business or already in business including; entrepreneurs, early stage promoters, start-ups and small business looking to expand.

Social Innovators in Dublin received €50,000 funding to realise greater impact

Five social innovation projects received significant funding in Dublin to bring more benefits to communities and economy

Inspire

November 2020

Circular Economy training program for SMEs in Ireland to inspire green recovery

Irish businesses can upskill to become more resilient and sustainable by adopting circular economy principles

August 2020

Building the future of Dublin on resilience and innovation

What's next for Dublin City to maintain its position as an internationally recognised innovation hub after the COVID pandemic?

Inspire

June 2020

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Platform :: Partner categories

Funding | Supports

Networking | Events | Community

First Climate Entrepreneurship postgraduate course in Ireland is launched

Szilvia Szabó — Mon, 18 Jan 2021 21:24:57 +0000

First Climate Entrepreneurship postgraduate course in Ireland is launched

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An opportunity for innovators to upskill, reskill, or pivot ideas to tackle climate change and gain market advantage

Trinity College Dublin has launched a new Postgraduate Certificate in Climate Entrepreneurship.

The first of its kind course in Ireland was designed to address the climate change emergency and better equip future business leaders to mitigate related risks and unlock opportunities.

The course run by Tangent, Trinity’s Ideas Workspace, in collaboration with the School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin will begin in March 2021.

“Climate entrepreneurship is a rapidly emerging area with the potential to build societal resilience, create additional jobs in both rural and urban areas and have a meaningful societal impact while positioning Ireland as a global leader in responding and adapting to climate change,”

says Professor Quentin Crowley, Associate Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin.

Professor Quentin Crowley, Associate Professor, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin

The Irish Government Climate Action Plan (2019) outlines an integrated approach to prepare for climate-related opportunities and challenges in alignment with the recently introduced EU Green Deal, which will radically change sectors and the economy.

This move presents new opportunities for entrepreneurs and those on the forefront of the transition to a low-carbon economy.

According to Professor Crowley, as we seek opportunities to increase climate change adaption or mitigation measures, we can also make a positive contribution to our economy and society.

Graduates of the Climate Entrepreneurship programme will develop entrepreneurial skills that can be applied to any aspect of climate action.

They will be given critical and lateral thinking skills and an understanding of the societal and economic value that can be achieved by applying an innovative approach to the global challenge presented by climate change.

This course will not focus on any one area but how these opportunities can fit together, involving three key modules:

Systems Innovation for Positive Climate Action
Entrepreneurship Opportunities in Climate Adaptation and Mitigation
Climate Enterprise Development

Modules are designed to enable undergraduates to identify opportunities for entrepreneurship that can positively impact climate change, including the process of creating, leading and scaling a start-up venture and developing a sustainable green business.

Students can expect to gain both subject-specific and transferrable skills and have the confidence to turn ideas into creative solutions with a particular focus on developing system-thinking and entrepreneurial mindset.

"I'm interested in this course because I have a huge passion for sustainability and social justice. I believe that when it comes to finding solutions to pressing issues, like climate change, entrepreneurs are leading the way.

I would love to join alongside them and discover how we can truly tackle these issues to save our planet.

As a Freelance Writer and Journalist, a majority of my clients are organisations who are working in the field of sustainable business.

I feel that the course is the perfect combination to improve my skills to meet the needs of future clients I would like to work with and take action myself," explains Bronagh Loughlin why she is considering taking this course as her next carrier move.

Online Postgraduate Certificate in Climate Entrepreneurship; image: Pexels

Industry players are also keen to engage and have shown a tremendous amount of enthusiasm to contribute.

A wide range of experts will be involved to ensure a down-to-earth approach and to offer sectorial insights.

The course is funded under the HEA Springboard+ initiative and is free to eligible candidates.

Classes will be delivered online over 24 weeks, and graduates will be awarded a Level 9 Certification from Trinity College Dublin.

“We recommend this course to eligible applicants who would like to challenge themselves and work with others who have a passion for becoming changemakers.

If you have a curious mind, willing to explore outside of your subject area and collaborate to explore new solutions, this course is for you,” says Professor Quentin.

Graduates can use this learning opportunity to upskill, reskill, or pivot their area of focus.

Highlighted areas of the course:

Developing strategies and action plans in response to high impact climate challenges.
Communicate and interact with multiple stakeholders to support positive climate action.
Enable behavioural changes and explain their influence as changemakers in complex climate systems.
Evaluate ethical, social, commercial and political factors in decision making to support climate entrepreneurship.

“This course is a launchpad for the changemakers, activists and entrepreneurs who understand that there is still time to address the global issue of climate change.

I look forward to the innovative solutions that graduates on this course will produce, creating a positive impact on the world,” adds Dr Dan Rogers, Head of Education at Tangent, Trinity's Ideas Workspace.

Applications are welcome from any nationality where they have been resident in the EU/EEA for 3 of 5 years prior to application. The closing date for applications is 11th February 2021.

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January 2021

Mainstreaming Responsible Innovation is crucial to Build Back Better

Anonymous — Sun, 04 Oct 2020 12:23:02 +0000

Mainstreaming Responsible Innovation is crucial to Build Back Better

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Responsible Research and Innovation

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Leaders of change will come together virtually for 2 days to make change happen

The 4th edition of the Responsible Innovation Summit aims to facilitate collaboration and knowledge exchange to 'help build back better' from the Covid19 pandemic. This virtual event will take place on 20-21 October where innovators can come together to discuss game-changing trends and learn from each other.

The coronavirus has shown how much we rely on global communities, nature and Innovation. It also revealed the vulnerability of businesses and the global economy. However, this situation offers a unique opportunity to implement new business practices and inspire innovations that lead to a more resilient and sustainable economy.

Responsible Innovation plays a vital role in Covid-recovery

“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. 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 Responsible Innovation Summit is a 2-days event, which is not only an online conference but a meeting point for innovators to cross-pollinate ideas and facilitate future collaborations.

The event aims to inspire business leaders, policymakers and researchers to find innovative ways that could help to build a more sustainable and just economy.

Expert panel discussions will be featured around four key areas:

Roadmap to Build Back Better
Changing the narrative
Building resilient and sustainable businesses
Making Profit with Purpose the new Buisness as Usual

There will be a particular focus on financing positive change, leadership skills and methods to deliver sustainable growth, and the business case of Responsible Innovation and Circular Economy practices.

“The power to change the world is in the hands of every innovator, but we need to cross-pollinate ideas, raise awareness and act collaboratively to deliver a just transition to a sustainable economy. We want to generate positive change by using the power of communication and empower cross-sectorial knowledge sharing," says Szilvia Szabó, co-founder and organiser of the Responsible Innovation Summit.

Responsible Innovation Summit, 2019, Dublin

“We are definitely going to miss the personal meetings, but the virtual edition presents a great opportunity to be more inclusive, open up the discussions and disseminate the content afterwards on multiple channels”, adds Szabó in regards to running the event online this year due to coronavirus.

The unique lineup of speakers presents an opportunity to hear war stories, learnings and raise questions about defining a new business as usual.

More than fifty speakers from all over the world are coming together to discuss actual topics and share best practices that could help decision-makers to lead the way forward.

“Using research papers and case studies as a starting point, we have identified nine ways in which Responsible Innovation can be beneficial for different stakeholders.

If you are a researcher or a practitioner interested in this field, we invite you to discuss if and how Responsible Innovation increases innovativeness and competitiveness, creates new market opportunities, helps to mitigate risks and avoid losses, trust and corporate image and helps attract the best employees,” says Dr André Martinuzzi, Head of the Institute for Managing Sustainability Vienna University of Economics and Business, who will lead one of the workshops at the summit.

Dublin City Council supports this not-for-profit event which traditionally was held in Dublin, and the core team behind the conference is located in Ireland.

“Dublin is seeking to develop as a hub for Responsible Innovation – we already have a strong Economic and Enterprise eco-system that support Innovation. One of the reasons why we are supporting the Responsible Innovation Summit is that we recognise the need to drive awareness and engagement in creating Innovation that results in economic growth and social good at the same time.

Dublin is a leading Hub for Innovation

We see this event as a great opportunity to connect, engage, learn and commit to further action to advance this agenda for Dublin and those who live and work in our beautiful capital city.” says Mary Mac Sweeney, Deputy Head of Enterprise and Economic Development, Dublin City Council.

She adds that "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.”

Delegates can join various sessions discussing Responsible Innovation trends, emerging business models making a 'Profit with Purpose' and learn from value-driven enterprises.

Organisers are passionate to make this event educational, inspirational and accessible to all innovators who want to generate a positive impact.

Attendees can book tickets to access all sessions, visit virtual expo booths, join launch events and embrace networking opportunities. Bursary tickets are also available to innovators who could benefit from attending but lack the resources.

This two day offers a chance for innovators to actively get involved in shaping the future by turning major challenges into opportunities.

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October 2020

A new voice to unite and represent Irish social entrepreneurs

Bronagh Loughlin — Mon, 17 Aug 2020 16:04:48 +0000

A new voice to unite and represent Irish social entrepreneurs

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Social innovators in Ireland are creating a movement to support and unify social enterprises.

A group of social entrepreneurs, key stakeholders and supporters have joined forces to launch a new organisation called the Social Enterprise Republic of Ireland (SERI) which can add a huge amount of value to the Irish social enterprise sector and economy.

SERI aims to become a representative body for the dynamic, evolving and broad social enterprise sector in Ireland.

Social enterprises may come in all shapes and forms but all dedicated to providing innovative and impactful solutions to address the most hard-hitting social challenges. Their core objectives are often to create social, societal or environmental impact. They pursue these objectives by trading in goods and services. In addition, they re-invest any surplus profits into the creation of impact as opposed to the creation of profit for owners or shareholders.

This form of making a profit with purpose could provide a unique opportunity to innovators to start and scale their business ethically and sustainably, creating value on a social and economic level at one go.

The organisation of SERI was born out of passion, knowledge and experience that exists within the sector and a universally recognised need for a united voice. It is formed by some of Ireland’s leading social enterprise practitioners and supporters – including FoodCloud, Social Entrepreneurs Ireland, Rethink Ireland – in a means to champion for the sector and their members both nationally and internationally.

Tammy Darcy, Interim CEO of Social Enterprise Republic of Ireland (SERI)

“There seems to be a consensus so far in our conversations with stakeholders that a big priority is going to be to raise awareness of social enterprise and the impact that we create, but also to collect data, which will help us to share that story,” says Tammy Darcy, Interim CEO of newly formed SERI, also Founder and CEO of multi-award winning social enterprise, The Shona Project.

Their vision for Ireland is to have a world-class environment for social enterprises to thrive.

Therefore their strategy focuses on four pillars:

representation, awareness, support and relationships.

Chair, Fergus Findlay, previous CEO at Barnardos Ireland said, “Social enterprise and its ecosystem have deeps roots in Ireland reaching back to the old Irish tradition of 'Meitheal', where people in rural communities came together to work on a neighbours farm. This embodies the spirit of social enterprise – working as a community to benefit the community socially and economically”.

He adds, “It is clear that social enterprise has evolved to be a thriving sector. What’s next is in our hands. Our team and our members will forge a new beginning for social enterprise and will grow this sector to benefit all our people and communities throughout the Republic of Ireland”.

At this early stage, SERI is open to welcome members on a complimentary basis until January 2021 and have open discussions about how to create a movement that genuinely empowers and inspire social innovators in Ireland.

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August 2020

Turning funky bags into a piece of advocacy for sustainability

Anonymous — Mon, 08 Jun 2020 13:52:35 +0000

Turning funky bags into a piece of advocacy for sustainability

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How nature-inspired funky bags could become more than an accessory?

Interview with Dublin-born sisters and designers, Jacki Parker and Nicole McKenna on how they embarked on the journey of creating the Wild by Water brand to share their love of everything that is naturally wild and water-related.

We grew up beside the sea and spent summers on Killiney beach close to Dublin, where our love of all things coastal began. A lifetime of hiking, biking, and kayaking ensued, with trips to every part of Ireland. Luckily a keen interest in photography meant we took many pictures over the years and captured the essence of Ireland’s unspoiled natural beauty.

We both ended up working in the fast-paced world of fashion and design, which means deadlines determine your life. Escaping into the wild to recharge and revitalise became a regular and valuable part of our hectic lifestyles.

A childhood next to the see inspired designers to create the Wild by Water brand

Part of our philosophy with our own business now is that we want to highlight the simple fact of how important the natural environment is in our everyday life. And what if we could practically ‘carry’ this feeling with us wherever we are going? So we began by making a range of nature-loving bags, featuring the photographs we took on our adventures and escapes. Thus the Wild by Water brand was born. We had value-driven products which attracted like-minded customers, but we aimed for more.

While ‘fashion with function’ was our motto, we also wanted our bags to be meaningful.

We started to build up our supply chain with a critical awareness regarding the impact that any production has on the natural environment and society. It is important to us that we source the right materials and find partners and suppliers who shared our values.

We travelled to France to visit Premier Vision, the fashion and textile exhibition to research fabrics and materials. We were looking for allies who could work with us in meeting high standards of sustainable production. It was not as straight forward as we thought since many factors influence when would you actually say that it is sustainable.

A unique value proposition

Appreciating the outdoors plays a vital role in creating ‘statement products’, and it has become an essential part of our identity.

Image: Wild By Water bag

Our mantra in the making is to use patterns inspired by Irish landscapes; to make it functional and beautiful; and to deliver it as sustainable and ethical as possible. That gives a unique touch to everything that comes from us.

People who love nature and want to contribute to a more sustainable way of life find these features valuable when they purchase any products. We regularly receive feedback from our customers and partners, which in turn feeds back into the business and design process.

Sharing these visions influences thinking and practice, which encourages us to keep doing and improving what we are doing.

The fact that we have each other helps a lot. We have different backgrounds and experiences which comes handy at times in need. It can be simple things, like speaking a foreign language. Jacki’s ability to communicate in French proved to be very useful at an international exhibition and resulted in a collaboration that otherwise might have been out of reach.

In the making of something meaningful

Working this close to any project means your heart and soul is in it. In the last four years, we have met many challenges. They come in waves, some are exciting, some are less so. Truly believing in your mission makes you take more risks and endure failures with the commitment to keep working towards your vision. Any gains come on top of that as a sort of a triumph.

But besides challenges, you can find supports too, and we found exactly that at Dublin City Council and Local Enterprise Office (LEO) Dublin. We initially undertook the ‘Building Craft and Design Enterprise’ course with them to roll-out our business over their 12-week training. We also availed mentoring from Dublin LEO and did some other business training.

Also, we had the opportunity to show what we have been working on at the Showcase Ireland exhibition. It was great to get direct feedback from both local and international buyers on our product offerings and our business plans.

We quickly realised that offering custom-made solutions would make sense. One of the great outcomes of taking part in the programme was that we started collaborating with Dublin City Council.

Custom made bags - Wild By Water

We created unique designs for them to use on branded daysacks featuring waterside locations and activities across the city. Each bag was handmade from recycled and upcycled materials, water-resistant and built for longevity. In this way, they could express their branding by using sustainable and ethical promotional products.

It was inspirational to experience the level of their dedication to creating values at different levels and supporting a local business with a mission.

We are offering a choice to our customers to make a difference with their purchase and express their own beliefs.

We thoroughly enjoy the process of raising awareness and looking beyond the obvious. Which is in our case, to show that what might just seem to be a bag could actually be a message to change things for the better. There are no limits for us to combine creativity, sustainability and ethics.

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June 2020

Building an ethical business brick by brick

kiss.tamas — Thu, 04 Apr 2019 21:31:21 +0000

Building an ethical business brick by brick

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It only takes passion and dedication to challenge 'business as usual'.

Report with Eva Power, founder of The Ethical Silk Company

The textile industry has a significant impact on the environment and, in many cases, inhumane treatment of its employees. I believe that it is possible to offer consumers an alternative and educate them to consider all aspects of their purchases.

We want our customers to enjoy beautiful, timeless pieces, with the knowledge that they were made to the highest standards, both in quality and throughout the production process.

I found a particular mulberry silk production that extracts the silk from the cocoon after the moth has left it. The result is beautifully rich mulberry silk which, because of the particular way it is produced, is more like fine linen with a lovely matt lustre rather than the shiny finish of traditional silk.

Entrepreneurial journey

My journey has been a bit of a rollercoaster… I’m running my business for a while now, and I’ve done it very slowly, it’s growing organically, no investors are involved, and I try to keep it that way. I’m proud of it that it started in 2009 and it’s still going, evolving and changing.

What I’ve learned so far is to trust myself and have faith in what I do and don’t be afraid to show what I’m doing. At each level, we try to be as responsible as possible. We’re constantly researching how to improve ways of creating our products and managing the business.

The support I received is countless, really. I’m always surprised how people relate with our story, how they try to help both professionally and personally.

Without my husband I’m not sure I’d be here, he kept me going many times I would have given up.

Starting and running a small business it’s hard enough, but I'd say: Go for it, trust yourself but watch your cash flow like a hawk! Finance is so tricky to handle, and every cent needs to be accounted for! You’ll need money to carry out your plans. I think it helps if you consider yourself as an investor looking for returns.

I received many supports from the Local Enterprise Office – Dublin City, which helped me financially and in learning how to run my own business.

For me, it’s important to make a positive impact on my business.

I just wanted to create something that I can personally stand over and be proud of.

We want to keep up with organic growth and improve our presence and sales online. We’re bringing in a new collection and continue to grow in the US to make a more significant impact there.

Respect and hard work

Tailoring silk is hard and challenging work! We are collaborating local NGOs and suppliers who train and promote local people, offering job security, fair wages and carrier options for woman and man in the area.

Our products are printed by hand at Mehera Shaw's unit in Bagru, Jaipur.

Block printing is a centuries-old tradition, and heritage craft of India passed down from generation to generation. Using simple tools, age-old techniques and years of experience, the designs are traced onto teak wood blocks and carved by hand. The blocks are then dipped in dye, and the pattern is stamped onto the silk, by hand, one at a time. Colours used are low impact, AZO-free dyes and all water used is treated and recycled.

One of the most challenging part for me is the public appearance, to put myself out there and be the face of the company, broadcasting the message. Naturally, I’d rather be working behind the scenes, but that’s part of the learning which is necessary to run a successful company.

To overcome my fear of public speaking and share our story, I applied to the Business SPIRIT Award in 2018. I made it to the final, where I received a professional presentation training.

First, it felt like I'm going to die on stage, speaking in front of a real live audience of about 200 people was my worst nightmare. But eventually, I have won, and it felt amazing, which encourages me to push myself, no matter how hard it is.

I commit to give back as I witnessed all the hard work of charities.

Having visited the Jeevan Jyothi AIDS Centre in Theni, and witnessed first-hand the tireless work carried out by the staff, I decided to pledge 5% of company profits to the centre.

Focus Ireland, a charity that works to prevent people from becoming, remaining or returning to homelessness, also receive 5% company profits.

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April 2019