Ireland

Trailblazer social innovators awarded with funding in Dublin to scale up impact

Climate Journal reporting — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 17:24:01 +0000

Trailblazer social innovators awarded with funding in Dublin to scale up impact

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social enterprise

Social Innovation

Award

Ireland

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Social Enterprise

Local social enterprises addressing societal and environmental challenges received €60,000 in funding at the annual Dublin Social Enterprise Awards 2023 to enhance their operation and scale their impact.

The six awardees work in diverse areas, including sustainability, unemployment, education, health, homelessness and ex-offender reintegration, supporting disadvantaged people while advocating for inclusion in their communities and beyond.

Minister Joe O’Brien, Minister of State with the Department of Rural and Community Development, emphasised the role of social enterprises in his keynote address at the award ceremony:

“They are tangibly helping to address key issues regarding our economy, society and environment while providing employment, opportunities and positive impact.”

One of the awardees is The Mugshot by PACE, which works with people who have criminal records, supporting people back to the community since 2014 to give them work experience and ease their way into mainstream employment.

With three locations across Dublin, this social enterprise provides training and learning opportunities on a professional and personal level.

The Mugshot by PACE is one of the awardees of Dublin City Social Enterprise Awards 2023.

Maggie Clune, representing PACE, says that the funding will allow them to improve their equipment, which they couldn`t have done without this support.

“This year’s awardees clearly highlight how social enterprise can lead positive change in a sustainable way, showing the possibilities when profit and purpose work hand in hand,”

added Ross Curley, Head of Economic Development, Dublin City Council.

Rediscover Furniture runs its operation at the Rediscovery Centre, the National Centre for the Circular Economy, aiming to keep all kinds of furniture in use for as long as possible through restoration, conservation and upcycling to stop them from ending up in landfills.

“The Social Enterprise Award Dublin is going to help us to rent premises where we can display the furniture and the public can come in and buy it all from us, and also to host events like repair cafés,” says Nessa Doran O`Reilly from Rediscover Furniture.

She adds that this support will go a long way so they can improve logistics, marketing and employment, ultimately getting more people involved with a sustainable lifestyle.

Gemma McCabe, Co-Director and COO of the social enterprise Hair Together, also received an award for delivering wellbeing and life skills programmes through the art of hairdressing and barbering.

For her, this recognition means they can expand their services, involve more kids and young adults, and create a three-year plan to sustain their operation financially.

Hair Together social enterprise received funding and support through the Dublin City Social Enterprise Awards 2023.

Other awardees include Dublin Simon Community Charity Shops, Mellow Spring Childcare Development Centre and New Creations Cleaning Service.

Besides the financial support, awardees were presented bespoke trophies handmade by The Yard at Solas Project, a local social enterprise and previous awardee, and they will also benefit from additional support to grow their organisation.

Now in its ninth year, the Dublin City Social Enterprise Awards is organised and managed by various stakeholders in partnership, such as the Dublin City Council, Dublin City Social Enterprise Committee, Inner City Enterprise, Economic Development Office, Local Enterprise Office Dublin City and the Department of Rural and Community Development.

Headline image: Left to the Right - Pearse O'Reilly, Nessa Doran O'Reilly, Minister Joe O'Brien, Erika Pena, Eileen McHugh, Lord Mayor of Dublin, Paul Donoghue, Rachael Duff

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September 2023

Connecting theory, science and practice in business sustainability

Szilvia Szabó — Thu, 15 Jun 2023 08:48:33 +0000

Connecting theory, science and practice in business sustainability

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Business Sustainability

Education

Upskill

Sustainability

Topic

Business Sustainability

Fireside chat with Dr Lucia Walsh, Lecturer and Programme Chair, Technological University Dublin

Human-induced climate change is the most pervasive threat to the environment and society we have ever experienced, and business as usual is no longer an option. Rather than seeing this as a threat, we need to view it as an opportunity to transform how we work and live, and business can play a crucial role in this.

As a programme chair of the part-time programme Postgraduate Certificate in Sustainability Leadership in Business at the Technological University Dublin, I believe we can help leaders better relate to climate action and sustainability.

Dr Lucia Walsh, Lecturer and Programme Chair, Technological University Dublin

The course is designed to equip leaders with a comprehensive understanding of sustainability principles and the knowledge and skills required to apply evidence-based sustainability tools to decision-making and create a stakeholder buy-in to instigate change and implement sustainable social, environmental and financial business practices.

The students develop a systematic understanding of sustainability principles and sustainability literacy related to the UN SDGs and link them to business as part of a ‘Sustainability Principles’ module led by Dr Olivia Freeman.

Another module is ‘Leading Sustainability’ facilitated by Alacoque McAlpine, emphasising developing communication and leadership skills so the business case for sustainability coupled with the most suitable strategies can be communicated and implemented effectively.

In the second semester, I take the lead with the students to bring their knowledge and skills together as they work on a consultancy project that addresses a real business sustainability challenge in the current workplace or business or collaboration with a client.

The students also develop a pitch aimed at key stakeholders to create a buy-in for the proposed solution to the business sustainability challenge. Interestingly, programme participants come from diverse backgrounds, including fintech, construction, consulting, pharma, project management, insurance, and public and not-for-profit sectors.

There is a lot of information and misinformation about sustainability.

Many people believe it is too late to act or that climate change isn’t as bad as portrayed in the media.

Businesses often feel overwhelmed and find it difficult to know where to start and what practical yet transformative actions they can take.

Furthermore, a lack of knowledge about sustainability in general and concerning business practice: it is often seen as having something to do with the environment rather than encompassing other social and economic elements.

Another significant challenge is that while there are new career opportunities in sustainability, it is often seen as a separate function without sustainability considerations being embedded into the core of business strategy or translated into clear KPIs – this means that sustainability is still often perceived as nice to have or something that only relates to reporting.

Smaller businesses especially don’t have the capacity or financial and human resources to pause and strategise, so it is hard for them to refine their core offerings and future-proof their business.

Our role, as educators, in climate action is empowering one student at a time with sustainability knowledge, skills and mindsets.

Most business practitioners join our programme because they recognise the importance of sustainability and its role in business and want to gain the relevant knowledge, skills and tools so they can lead in embedding sustainability into practice – either directly in their current roles or by influencing key stakeholders within their organisations.

Others join because they want to change their career and work directly in sustainability-related roles.

This programme is deliberately built to provide students with many opportunities for creativity, critical thinking, reflection and peer learning. We are also keen to keep all this learning connected to the real world.

A cut-through experience was when we had Nasreen Sheik, a former child labourer, to a panel discussion. Hearing first-hand about the horrific experiences of child labourers and modern slavery was very powerful.

For instance, we do not think too much about who makes our clothes, especially the very cheap ones, and the true cost of making them.

Students learn about dirty industry practices as well, incluidng child labourers and modern slavery in supply chains. Image: Unsplash

After this, no one will think of slavery or child labour as a distant problem you have nothing to do with.

With every purchase or supply chain decision, you are making an impact and have the choice also to make a difference.

After finishing the course, students keep in touch with each other and us to exchange ideas and share achievements, which makes us very proud.

For example, one of our recent graduates, Claire Hyland working at Thinkhouse, a leading youth marketing agency in Ireland, implemented her learnings to establish the foundations of their BCorp certification journey.

Another student, Bradley Queen, from the Irish Exporters Association, established the Institute of Sustainable Trade to support the members with education, networking and professional development opportunities so they can embed sustainability into their businesses.

There are many more examples of changes our students initiated, reinforcing the importance of education about sustainability in business.

Headline image: Unsplash

This article is an extract from content originally published in the Circular Economy in Action special edition of the Profit with Purpose Magazine - you can read the full article and other features in the magazine.

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Transforming Ireland’s home for entrepreneurs to support climate innovators

Bronagh Loughlin — Tue, 13 Jun 2023 11:31:06 +0000

Transforming Ireland’s home for entrepreneurs to support climate innovators

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As a top global incubator in the heart of Dublin City, hosting more than 160 innovative start-ups, the Guinness Enterprise Centre (GEC) has a massive influence on the business ecosystem in Ireland.

The Guinness Enterprise Centre is recognised as one of the greatest incubators globally, ranking as the second private business incubator in the world, according to UBI, the University Business Incubator benchmark.

Eamonn Sayers, Manager at GEC, says: “Our mission is to drive economic wealth in Ireland by empowering entrepreneurs to start and scale.

We provide the best environment for these entrepreneurs to attract talent, scale, and build phenomenal businesses.”

In the past years, the GEC underwent a transformational change inside-out.

After many years of being a traditional business support organisation, they modernised the building with sustainability in mind and became a green business hub.

Eamonn Sayers, Manager, Guinness Enterprise Centre

Recently, the Irish Government nominated the Guinness Enterprise Centre as a Circular Economy Hub.

They now actively collaborate with Techies Go Green, a non-profit organisation supporting tech-oriented companies to become carbon neutral by 2030, in building a sustainability cluster.

The cluster was launched by Eamon Ryan T.D., Minister for the Environment and Climate, in February 2023.

“What’s happening at the GEC right now is also a preview into the future of smart business and innovation in Ireland,” said Minister Ryan at the launch.

Speaking on this transition, Eamonn further explains how they facilitated this shift: “We recently completed an €11m expansion with support from Diageo, Dublin City Council, Dublin City Local Enterprise Office, Enterprise Ireland, the Irish Strategic Investment Fund and Furthr.

We started planning for this in 2016-2017, and from the beginning, we had the desire to put sustainability at the heart of our community in the GEC.”

More and more businesses are recognising the importance of taking climate action.

Eamonn reflects on the GEC’s decision: “We need to lead and demonstrate what is possible. In our community, we are inspired by innovators and entrepreneurs every single day.

It’s all around us. It’s in our DNA, and sustainability must also be in our DNA.”

The GEC building is now 95,000 square feet. Two new floors were added and built with carbon neutrality at their core.

The concept of having a green roof has encouraged the team to the point where they now have 18 beehives on the top of the building.

(Left to right) Eamonn Sayers, manager, Guinness Enterprise Centre; Eamon Ryan, TD, Minister for the Environment and Climate; Michael O Hara, co-founder, Techies Go Green; and Dr Mary O Riordan, CEO, HaPPE Earth on the green roof of GEC at the beehives.

Sustainability measures were also factored in around heating, lighting, air conditioning, recycling, charge points, transport initiatives, and much more. The team have plans to install solar panels to further their greening efforts.

Speaking on the challenges they faced in transitioning to a hub for sustainable innovation, Eamonn says: “The primary challenges we faced were balancing cost and value and, initially, lack of deep domain knowledge.

Understanding the practical side of sustainability was crucial to the development of the Centre.”

The team expects the hub to grow further and help immensely to drive sustainable innovation.

They started by building the largest community of sustainable innovators by collaborating with key partners in this space, such as Techies Go Green, Community Resources Network Ireland, Dublin City Council, the Dublin City Local Enterprise Office and Enterprise Ireland.

“In line with Government’s cluster policy, we have developed the Centres sustainability cluster, Sustainability@GEC attracting climate innovators with more engagement on a weekly basis. Besides, we are engaging our sustainable early-stage startup community with corporations adopting best practices and building new processes.”

The GEC team also believe the transition to a hub for sustainable innovation will help other businesses that are not traditionally green overcome barriers and challenges to implementing sustainability and circular economy practices.

Eamonn says that the GEC will act as a test bed connecting with a wide range of businesses and enterprise locations, with enterprises operating from their building employing over 900 staff.

“We want to share our sustainability journey with all other startup hubs across our enterprise ecosystem here in Ireland, thereby putting sustainability at the core of every startup community,” Says Eamonn about their ambitions to go further.

“If we get it right in the GEC, we can get it right in every start-up hub in Ireland. We get it right in the hubs; then it follows that every start-up in Ireland will put sustainability at the core of how they operate in business.

The impact on our country will be tremendous.

We are excited by the potential of Irish start-ups showing the way towards a sustainable future.

We have it within our own work and deeds to develop a brighter future for Ireland and for the world we live in. Let’s grasp this opportunity - our time for sustainability is now.”

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Looking at business sustainability through the upskilling lens

Bronagh Loughlin — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 10:07:11 +0000

Looking at business sustainability through the upskilling lens

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Expert opinion by Niall Collins, Chief Operating Officer Institute of Sustainability Studies

Businesses are under increasing pressure from all stakeholders to improve the sustainability performance of their operations.

Companies must integrate sustainability principles to remain competitive, meet stakeholder demands, and stay ahead of looming regulatory requirements.

You will need the right skills and knowledge to do all this.

I worked in sustainability consulting for several years, helping organisations from all different sectors and sizes begin the first stages of their sustainability transformation.

I understood quite early on that the only way to ensure the integration of sustainable business practices into any organisation was through education and upskilling of individuals.

Niall Collins Chief Operating Officer at Institute of Sustainability Studies

Furthermore, I believe every job is becoming a green job, and all employees need to understand how their role impacts an organisation’s sustainability goals.

External consultants, like I was, can only help to a certain extent. Internal teams must have the necessary skills to implement the critical steps to improve their business. I brought this expertise to the Institute of Sustainability Studies (ISS) to enable whole organisations to internalise sustainability through learning.

ISS is an ed-tech start-up that helps individuals and organisations on their sustainability journeys by developing and delivering practical, comprehensive, and action-oriented courses that can help them implement sustainability practices throughout their operations.

Removing jargon and making sustainability practical and accessible

Despite the growing interest from business leaders in this area, I have noticed that the jargon associated with sustainability often drowns the easy means of putting things into practice. In essence, they don’t know where to begin.

We have designed two learning opportunities at ISS - a Certificate and a Diploma in Business Sustainability - to remove the cloud that covers climate change, carbon management, circular economy and other topics in this field.

For instance, to tackle regulatory barriers, we provide detailed information in our Module on Sustainability Plan Implementation on key business-friendly regulations, including the EU Taxonomy, Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, and the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, all of which provide greater transparency concerning the analyses of sustainability risks inherent in business activities.

A dedicated module on Sustainable Finance helps businesses learn about financial assets and benefits that bring economic and environmental benefits while tackling the barrier of limited resources.

There is a lot of misinformation out there, especially when it comes to transitioning to a sustainable business.

One of the first assumptions we break in our courses is that being sustainable means shedding more money and taking a direct hit on profitability.

However, as most of our participants have found and experienced, many easy tools will help you become sustainable without compromising your profitability.

Breaking big ideas down into quick and actionable steps

Complex and complicated concepts, such as circular economy or decarbonisation, can be broken down and translated into quick and actionable steps.

That`s also the case with the circular economy, which could be a real win-win-win for businesses, society and the environment if adopted properly.

We have a dedicated module on circularity in business and sustainable products, focusing on optimising every aspect of a product’s lifespan.

In the end, they have the ability to explore advantages and analyse the risks and opportunities associated with a circular business model.

In addition, they can assess their current organisational value chain, figure out how they can design products that better suit the circular economic model, and understand the importance of communicating their company’s sustainability journey. Participants will also understand that they can begin with small steps.

Companies can do many things, from becoming more waste friendly to actively reducing waste from daily operations and across the supply chain. Building a circular business model that supports the company`s daily operations require a clear picture of where they are now and where they are headed. Therefore, a thorough analysis is where it all should start.

The next step is to implement the R-strategies - refuse, redesign, repair, recycle, and reduce and work out a feasible revenue model that can help achieve these goals.

Putting it all together

To be motivated to implement changes, you need to see the benefits of your investment and actions. It includes the essential step of considering customers’ needs, and creating a well-researched business plan that caters to these needs most effectively is vital.

It is important to note that any plan should always have room left to adapt and improvise as per client needs. Green marketing and communication are pivotal when it comes to building a sustainable business.

Unless you get the word out about your green credentials that you have worked hard on, the success of your business will be limited.

You should find a way to be transparent and authentic in your communication while avoiding the pitfalls of greenwashing and building an honest relationship with your customers and stakeholders.

Putting the pieces together is also easier when you can share your questions and doubts with others and learn from your peers.

We always try to embrace this as we clearly see the benefits of exchanging ideas and sometimes war stories.

Headline image: Unsplash

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Inspiring female voices in sustainability in Ireland

Anonymous — Wed, 08 Mar 2023 10:13:36 +0000

Inspiring female voices in sustainability in Ireland

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Celebrating International Women`s Day by shining a light on trailblazer Irish women.

Female leaders have proven crucial for driving the change we need to fight the climate crisis. These incredible women are working day by day to help us achieve a more sustainable and equitable world.

In honour of International Women’s Day, celebrated on March 8th, we are spotlighting the work of these genuine changemakers as a reminder that we can all spark positive changes by putting our skills to work.

Written by Bronagh Loughlin and Szilvia Szabó

Start-up

Aisling Kirwan - Positive Carbon

Aisling Kirwan, alongside Mark Kirwan, brought Positive Carbon to life to offer an automated food waste tracking solution that could help food service companies to minimise their environmental impact while optimising their operation.

By working with renowned hospitality players and food service providers in the Irish Market, they have already proved that adopting sustainability measures is in the best interest of any business. Their ultimate goal is to help businesses understand their food waste and apply necessary changes to become more efficient and less wasteful.

Social Enterprise

Viki Baird – Stillgarden Distillery

Viki Baird is the brainchild behind the Stillgarden Distillery, the Dublin-based business changing industry practices by designing its spirits through the lenses of community, science, and nature.

As Co-Founder, she has played an instrumental role in developing a pro-social approach to building and running this business. Part of this approach includes community projects like the Social Botanist Project, whereby local community members meet up and plant botanicals.

They also keep a keen eye on reused materials as much as possible, including packaging, sourcing coffee grains from local shops to create their espresso martini blend and even giving used organic ingredients to local farmers to be used for chicken feed.

Viki Baird, Co-Founder, Stillgarden Distillery social enterprise

Higher Education

Lucia Walsh - TU Dublin

As a lecturer at Technological University Dublin, she has gone far beyond the daily routine of teaching the set agenda. She is the program chair for the Postgraduate Certificate in Sustainability Leadership in Business course and the MSc Business & Entrepreneurship while leading various collaborative programs.

These include supporting students in taking on ENACTUS projects where they can learn more about social entrepreneurship on learning by doing basis and the ENFUSE project that connects third-level students with SMEs and social enterprises to work on challenges together.

Business support

Máire Fay - Dublin Chamber

As the Head of Education, Development & Sustainability at Dublin Chamber, she is passionate about helping SMEs to better understand and adopt environmental initiatives to improve their business while contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals.

One of the flagship projects that has grown from strength to strength under her wings is the Sustainability Academy, which provides hands-on knowledge to business leaders on current sustainability affairs, such as carbon management, circular business models, climate strategy, and green public procurement, among others.

Scale-up

Iseult Ward and Aoibheann O’Brien – FoodCloud

FoodCloud - a social enterprise to save and transform surplus food into opportunities to make the world a kinder place.

Iseult Ward and Aoibheann O’Brien shared a vision that no good food should go to waste when they started a school project at Trinity College Dublin in 2012.

Following their dream, they established FoodCloud in 2013 as a social enterprise to save and transform surplus food into opportunities to make the world a kinder place.

Working towards this mission, they have also become a role model of how to scale a social enterprise and significantly increase its impact through entrepreneurial thinking.

In 2021, FoodCloud redistributed 16,380 tonnes of surplus food, equivalent to 89 million meals, across four countries: Ireland, the UK, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Climate action

Ciara Feehely - Vita

Ciara Feehely is the Head of Communications and Fundraising at Vita Ireland, the Irish development partner supporting African farmers and communities for over 32 years. Ciara and her team work with African climate-smart communities with access to markets, services, and livelihoods for all.

In Eritrea and Ethiopia, Vita’s work focuses on empowering climate-smart agriculture, climate mitigation, and empowering women. Ciara’s involvement since 2015 has helped the organisation immensely with improving its efforts to facilitate sustainable livelihoods.

Communication

Fiona Donnellan – Sustainable PR

Fiona Donnellan is helping sustainable brands tell their stories to have a greater impact and enhance their reputation. Her business offers public relations, communications, and social media services for purpose-driven brands. Founded in 2019, Sustainable PR’s client list includes incredible businesses like Reuzi, Grown Clothing, Shells Cafe, Minor Figures, Jiminy Eco Toys and more.

Fiona’s mission is to help sustainable brands get a spotlight at a time when altering our lifestyles and behaviours couldn’t be more important.

Economic Development

Mary Mac Sweeney – Dublin City Council

For many years she worked as Deputy Head of Enterprise and Economic Development at Dublin City Council, supporting startups and scaling businesses through the Local Enterprise Office and promoting Dublin as an attractive place to live, work, study and invest through the Dublin Place Branding initiative.

Mary Mac Sweeney, Acting Executive Manager at the Culture, Recreation and Economic Services at Dublin City Council

She has been promoting sustainability and social innovation with a genuine passion and keeping these issues on the agenda for strategic plans for Dublin city.

At the forefront of change, she contributed to various programs, projects and initiatives, such as the Dublin City Social Enterprise Awards, getting Dublin to join the 100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities European agenda, and bringing the SoCircular event to life with her team while supporting various other events in the impact space.

Mary continues to cross-pollinate ideas and inspire collaborations to make change happen scale as Acting Executive Manager at the Culture, Recreation and Economic Services at Dublin City Council.

Circular Economy - Public awareness and policy

Dr Sarah Miller – Rediscovery Centre

Dr Sarah Millet has been a visionary leader as she has facilitated and overseen the development of the Rediscovery Centre, Ireland`s National Centre for the Circular Economy, since 2005. As CEO of this ecological centre and innovation hub, she is advancing the agenda for Circular Economy in Ireland and Europe.

The Rediscovery Centre has become a leading partner in hosting the prestigious Circular Economy Hotspot 2023 event in Dublin, a four-day learning and networking opportunity to adopt circular economy practices.

The centre’s work is built around the three key themes of education, demonstration and advocacy.

Circular economy - Business education

Joanne Rourke - Eastern-Midlands Waste Region

Joanne is an Environmental Scientist with over 20 years of experience in environmental work involving laboratory work, policy, communication, awareness, research and education. She is a true advocate for sustainability, driving change through several Irish and EU projects, like the MODOS Circular Economy business training program, which supports leaders in transitioning to more circular business models.

Her passion and expertise shine through every time she is on stage at events, representing the Eastern-Midlands Waste Regional Office as a Resource Efficiency Officer. She holds a PhD in Human Geography, specialising in Environmental Risk Communication.

Circular economy - design

Lynn Haughton - The Upcycle Movement

With a motto that 'It's only waste if we waste its potential' Lynn founded the multi-award-winning community organisation 'The Upcycle Movement' in 2012 to inspire people to look at waste differently and contribute to a circular economy. Her mission is to keep materials from ending up in landfills by giving them a second life and turning them into functional and beautiful items.

She mainly focuses on upcycling wetsuits as they cannot be recycled and do not biodegrade, only adding to gigantic waste mountains at the end of their use. Besides working on design solutions and hosting workshops, she recently added a new feature, the Re Source platform, that connects resources for upcycling with designers who can repurpose them.

The Upcycle Movement turns wetsuits into practical and beautiful items, keeping them from ending up in landfills.

Young Entrepreneurs

Kara O’Sullivan and Joanna Dooley- Greens Are Good For You

Kara O’Sullivan and Joanna Dooley are the Founders of Greens Are Good For You, a fashion rental service. These two young women were inspired to start this business following years of sharing each other's favourite clothing pieces and recognising the global issues in the fashion industry.

Their company aims to encourage customers to consume with a conscience, understanding that they can consume fashion most affordably and sustainably.

This list is only the tip of the iceberg, as many more inspirational female voices are out there.

Therefore, this is only us, inspired by these amazing women, to kick off the discussion and turn the conversation over to you to keep it going.

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March 2023

Campaign to boost social enterprise sector in Ireland

Business Spirit News reporting — Tue, 15 Nov 2022 10:43:18 +0000

Campaign to boost social enterprise sector in Ireland

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Ireland’s first nationwide campaign calls on businesses and the public to support Irish social entreprises by purchasing from them.

The first #BuySocialIRL Week in Ireland aims to inspire businesses and the public to purchase from social enterprises while raising awareness about this sector from the 14th until the 21st of November.

The campaign was launched in Dublin, and there are events planned nationwide with special ‘meet&greet’ sessions in Cork and Galway where participants can network and learn more about social enterprises.

The Irish Social Enterprise Network (ISEN) coordinates the event with support from the Irish Government, highlighting the various benefits of integrating social enterprises into the supply chain, including invigorating local communities.

“If you purchase from a social enterprise, you are helping employ people that might not have had a job otherwise, you are supporting local community initiatives and directly impacting people's lives,”

said Chris MM Gordon, CEO of ISEN, at the launch event.

He explained further that ‘social enterprises are businesses for good’ and selling products and services means they can reinvest their profits into communities.

Chris MM Gordon, CEO of Irish Social Enterprise Network opened a 'Meet&Greet' event in Cork as part of the #BuySocialIRL Week campaign. Image: BuySocial.ie

The slogan of the campaign ‘Do Good. Spend Well. Buy Social.’ also reflects on the main goal of this initiative.

Gordon added:

“Through this #BuySocialIRL week, all we ask is that you consider buying something from a social enterprise.”

Besides the one-week campaign, the public and business leaders are invited to visit the BuySocial.ie online directory that lists Irish social enterprises providing products and services.

Siel Bleu is one of the Irish social enterprises joining the #BuySocialIRL Week. Image: BuySocial.ie

The website features a wide range of options for anyone interested in supporting organisations such as Mug Shot Coffee, creating jobs for people with prison or probation experience or Siel Bleu, which helps the elderly and people living with disabilities to transform lives through exercise.

Visitors can browse and find authentic offers, including Ireland's first social enterprise design store, We Make Good or Brigit’s Garden, a place where people of all ages can connect with nature, among others.

The #BuySocialIRL is supported by the Department of Rural and Community Development, the Dormant Accounts Fund and Pobal, which works on behalf of the Government to support communities and local agencies toward achieving social inclusion and development.

The event’s main organiser is the Irish Social Enterprise Network, the National Body for Social Enterprise in Ireland, active in advocacy, education and facilitating networking.

Headline Image: BuySocial.ie

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Innovation and sustainability trends showcased in Dublin

Business Spirit News reporting — Mon, 17 Oct 2022 09:50:05 +0000

Innovation and sustainability trends showcased in Dublin

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Event to connect Innovation, Sustainability and Technology in Ireland.

The Furthr Festival will present game-changing innovations, future technology, and business opportunities in sustainability on Friday, 21st October, at the Convention Centre in Dublin, Ireland.

The event, previously known as Futurescope, comes under a new name and branding but with the same passion for bringing together business leaders for a day of inspiration, learning and networking.

Attendees can explore topics across five main stages focusing on Insights, Innovation, Sustainability, Transformation and Investment with more than 100 high-profile international and Irish speakers.

Keynote speeches include topics like Guardians of the Future, presented by Sophie Howe, Future Generations Commissioner for Wales and Think global: Move quickly, delivered by Michael Culligan, CEO at Furthr.

The event is best suited for innovators and innovation seekers looking for trends, insights, ideas and connections to take their businesses to the next level.

One of the highlighted sessions will be the One2Whatch startup competition, where pre-selected innovators will pitch for the ten thousand Euro cash prize and become crowned winners as the most promising startup.

With an expected attendee number of around 1600, this is the ultimate meeting point for business leaders striving to be at the forefront of change, unlocking market opportunities.

Additional highlights of the conference include the Future Tech Arcade, The Innovation Exchange, panel rooms, an exhibition area and plenty of networking opportunities during lunch and the after-event drink reception.

One2Whatch startup competition at Furthr Festival with 10K prize money. Image: Furthr

A particular emphasis will be on facilitating collaboration opportunities between diverse stakeholders such as startups and scaleups, investors and academia.

Tickets are available on the event’s webpage.

Furthr, formerly Dublin Business Innovation Centre, has accelerated funds and connections for Irish startups since 1988, empowering entrepreneurs to advance their ambitions.

Over the years, Furthr has helped Ireland’s innovative startup founders to raise a total of €500+ million.

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October 2022

Celebrating social and circular enterprises in Dublin

Business Spirit News reporting — Sun, 02 Oct 2022 12:15:49 +0000

Celebrating social and circular enterprises in Dublin

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Social Entrepreneurship

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A new initiative led by Dublin City Council aims to shine a light on social enterprises and circular economy players.

The SoCircular event will take place in Dublin on 5th October to bring together social and circular enterprises and other stakeholders to connect, learn and build connections.

This new initiative is driven by Dublin City Council in collaboration with strategic partners from various sectors and will be hosted at a prime venue, The Mansion House.

The event aims to facilitate the transformation of Dublin's economic ecosystem to become more resilient and competitive by better integrating enterprises and innovators with strong sustainability and social values.

Organisers will provide a forum for discussions, exchanging ideas and gaining insights while showcasing exhibitors and cultural programs.

Besides networking and learning, the goal is to encourage businesses, organisations and government departments to buy from these organisations to empower this sector's growth.

“This event will raise awareness of these innovative enterprises.

Buying from them will bring about many benefits, such as shorter supply chains, creating resilient local employment, improving social and environmental impacts, and supporting fairer, greener and thriving communities,”

says Mary MacSweeney, Deputy Head of Economic Development and Enterprise.

Mary MacSweeney, Deputy Head of Economic Development and Enterprise highlights the importance of integrating social and circular enterprises into supply chains.

Pointing out the role of businesses and government in strengthening social and circular enterprises is one of the core messages of the event.

Buying from these companies could add to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and department strategies while helping them raise their profile by walking the talk and filling slogans with actions.

At the event, participants can meet with innovative entrepreneurs embracing sustainability and circular economy in their business model and join panel discussions to learn more insights about available supports and key players.

Attendees can find the detailed program and register online free of charge.

Cultural performances and a trade expo with more than 50 local social and circular enterprises will allow people to connect and network.

Lord Mayor of Dublin, Caroline Conroy, expressed how much social and circular enterprises can help counteract the impact of environmental and economic crises.

Another element of the program is to raise awareness about how socially driven businesses can address environmental challenges and, the other way around, how environmentally focused projects can easily solve social problems.

The Lord Mayor of Dublin, Caroline Conroy, emphasised the importance of this sector in helping the city fight upcoming challenges associated with the impacts of climate change and economic crises.

The event is being hosted as part Dublin's involvement in the European Social Economy Regions project of the European Commission.

Various stakeholders and organisations have rallied behind this initiative, including the Department of Rural and Community Development, CRNI, EMWR, Dublin Place Brand, Social Enterprise Dublin, and Dublin Regional Skills Forum, among others.

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October 2022

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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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

Prosocial disruption delivered by a distillery in Dublin

Bronagh Loughlin — Tue, 21 Jun 2022 12:32:14 +0000

Prosocial disruption delivered by a distillery in Dublin

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Dublin-based company is changing industry practices by designing its spirits through the lenses of science, community and nature.

Viki Baird, Co-Founder of the Stillgarden Distillery, explains their pro-social approach to building and running their business.

She says, “We try to promote social activity but in a different way. For example, we transformed an area of wasteland which was near the distillery. It was full of all sorts of junk, and we turned it into a botanical garden and recruited several ‘Social Botanists’ throughout the first Covid lockdown. We gave people growing kits, which they took away and grew the botanicals at home.”

The Social Botanist project was launched by Stillgarden Distillery in Dublin. Image: Stillgarden Distillery

When the plants had outgrown the boxes, everyone returned and together with the organisers, they planted them in the botanical garden.

After harvesting those botanicals, they collaborated with the botanists to create what they call a ‘Social Gin’.

The distillery gave the botanists three different flavours to choose from, all made with the plants they had grown at home. In this way, local people are playing an essential part in creating this community-based drink.

The company is on a mission to bring our spirit of prosocial disruption to the world through science, community and nature.

Viki explains further: “The science component refers to the fact we have a lab here and lots of excellent equipment like an ultra-sonic ager, and stuff like that which allows us to create different and innovative products.

About the nature side of things, one of our main community projects is the Social Botanist Project, which takes place weekly, so we get new people signing up. We also do on-site garden tours where people can come along for 10 euro, and for that price, they get to look at the garden and enjoy a free drink on our terrace.”

Viki details how the Social Botanist Project works:

“We have hydroponic boxes, and we plant them up for people to take away. There are about eight different botanicals and a special light in each one which helps them grow quicker. It is vital that they grow quickly to enable people working on the same projects to keep up and meet up.

While driving through this area, you can spot some of these boxes on people’s windowsills.

For us, it means people are getting involved and also inspires us to look for other areas of wasteland where we can plant botanicals and engage more social botanists.”

“We try to reuse as much as possible and use this mindset in every aspect of our business.

This includes the packaging we get in, which we reuse where possible in our delivery system. Also, when we make our espresso martini, we take used coffee grains from local coffee shops and reuse those to create this specific drink.

Some of our other gins utilise many healthy materials, which we dry after making our gin and use in tea bags. If there is something we can’t reuse from our ingredients, we give it to local farmers for chicken feed.”

They also run a return your bottle scheme where they give people a discount if they return their bottle and their stopper, andreuse these items rather than put them into the bottle bank.

Viki shares why they have taken this unique approach:

“Because we are called Stillgarden, we always wanted to have a garden on our premises.

Viki Baird, Co-Founder of the Stillgarden Distillery

During the first Covid lockdown, people came to us, just chatting with us, saying they were bored and looking for something to do during the downtime.”

Since they have reopened, there is a great variety of outdoor and indoor experiences that they can offer to visitors, including garden tours and gin tasting.

Eventually, these projects inspired them to do their community-based projects, and the reaction to their efforts was overwhelmingly positive, getting great support from their customers and the local community.

Headline image: Geraud Pfeiffer, Pexels

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

The Summer 2022 edition of the magazine is focusing on making cities sustainable and inclusive, and is available here >>>

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June 2022