The British Council shows its full support to social enterprise at the Social Enterprise Summit 2013
British Council Hong Kong and British Council China are running four high profile policy dialogues and seminars from 27 to 30 November 2013 during Social Enterprise Summit 2013, one of the most prominent international symposia on social enterprise.
These events will be held through the British Council’s global Skills for Social Entrepreneurs (SfSE) programme. A pre-symposium online policy dialogue will be held on 27 November for government officials, academics, social investors and social entrepreneurs in Mainland China, Hong Kong and the UK to share their knowledge, experience and policy recommendations to foster an enabling investment environment for social enterprises and social investors; on 29 November, Dr Mairi Mackay, Director Society at British Council East Asia will be on a plenary keynote panel on the subject of ‘Conscientious Capitalism’ with Charles Hampden-Turner and Martin Hill, two thought-leaders for wider society innovation work; on 30 November, there will be a seminar session on social investment in China, during which a number of successful social entrepreneurs and social investors from Mainland China and Hong Kong will present their business models on social innovation.
Dr Mackay said, “In Asia, there is strong demand across many sectors to learn from the UK’s experience in creating a fertile environment for social enterprise and investment. The British Council harnesses the UK’s expertise and works with many partners to support a new generation of social entrepreneurs across Asia in order to help to address some of the biggest social and environmental challenges we face, build trust and opportunity, and foster a more sustainable, prosperous, and inclusive future for all.” She added, “We are delighted to serve as a partner to the Social Enterprise Summit as it provides a fabulous opportunity to network and exchange ideas with many of the most innovative and accomplished organisations in this field.”
In addition to supporting the Social Enterprise Summit, British Council Hong Kong has organised various seminars and training workshops since early 2013 to support the building of successful social enterprises in Hong Kong. In December 2013 to January 2014, the British Council will run “Capacity building: Skills for Success” workshops in collaboration with Community Business. Through best practice sharing and training by UK professionals in the social enterprise sector and capacity building training workshops led by business sector professionals, the programme will facilitate exchanges between UK and Hong Kong on social enterprises development.
Launched in 2009, the Skills for Social Entrepreneurs programme aims to provide aspiring and practicing social entrepreneurs as well as NGO practitioners, community leaders, development workers and young people with skills training and professional mentoring along with access to UK expertise, global peer networks, funding and investment opportunities that enable them to build successful social enterprises. In addition, SfSE organises public-engagement activities and policy dialogues which promote the social enterprise model as well as social innovation, corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainable economic development at local, national and international levels.
The programme is now running in nine countries in East Asia: China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam; and has trained over 2,700 social entrepreneurs and formed 95 partnerships.