Greening the social economy
[This article first appeared in Social Enterprise magazine]
When he set out his priorities for the Government's new social enterprise unit last autumn DTI Minister Douglas Alexander made it clear that its key priorities would be to develop the social and economic impact of the sector. At a conference in Nottinghamshire this month the Unit's Assistant Director Carolyn Campbell was urged to add another priority to the list by considering the environmental value of social enterprises.
The conference was organised by the environmental regeneration charity Groundwork and brought together speakers from central and local government, think tanks, business and the voluntary sector to consider the role of the social economy in contributing to local sustainable development.
The link between community-based employment initiatives and environmental protection and improvement is well established. For a number of years Groundwork has been delivering employment programmes providing confidence and skills to the long-term unemployed by creating practical jobs in the environmental sector - industries such as horticulture, countryside management, energy efficiency and recycling.
These ILM (intermediate labour market) projects, building on the Government's New Deal programme, have been targeted at those furthest removed from the labour market and carefully designed to integrate with wider environmental and community regeneration initiatives.
In many parts of the country, however, preparing people for work is only one part of the equation. If the jobs don't exist for ILM participants to `graduate' into then the programmes can only ever be partly successful. Meanwhile, it is also clear that any attempt to regenerate run-down communities will only be sustainable if the local economy itself is thriving.
These two imperatives have led a number of Groundwork Trusts to seek to develop their environmental ILMs into stand-alone enterprises. A national partnership between Groundwork and The Royal Bank of Scotland has provided development and kick-start capital to ten ILM enterprises. However, the transition from grant-funded training programmes to revenue-generating businesses is a difficult path on which Groundwork is only just embarking.
There are, however, encouraging precedents. `Bulky Bob's' is an offshoot of Liverpool's Furniture Resource Centre which, on contract to the city council, undertakes collections of bulky household waste with 30% of the total tonnage re-used, recycled or refurbished.
In France, meanwhile, ENVIE has been recycling electrical appliances for redistribution or sale since 1984 and now employs more than 100 permanent administrators and executives working alongside 400 trainees and a similar number of volunteers.
It is interesting to note, however, that, although there are clear environmental benefits to both of these enterprise operations, neither place themselves within the `environmental sector', concentrating instead on their contribution to social regeneration and local economic recovery.
And yet the `green job' sector is an obvious growth area for the social economy. For a start the sector itself is expanding providing exciting new avenues for enterprise development. The EU has predicted that up to 1million jobs could be created in the renewable energy sector alone by 2010. In its most recent report on the environment and employment the EU points to significant growth potential in areas such as clean technologies, renewable energies, recycling, urban and rural renovation and nature conservation. What's more, given Douglas Alexander's enthusiasm for the social economy to contribute to the delivery of public services, it is worth remembering that the environment is our most fundamental of public goods.
Just as the environment is good for growth in the social economy, however, social enterprises are also particularly well suited for delivering environmental benefits through practical sustainable development.
In an age when we are all global citizens environmental social enterprises provide a unique bridge between the individual and that wider responsibility. They connect together personal benefits to the employee with their place in the community and their responsibility to the wider environment.
In other words they are where individual opportunity, community regeneration and global sustainability meet.
This represents a huge opportunity for the Government to demonstrate its commitment to joined-up thinking and a real chance to embed sustainable development principles at the heart of our national policies on regeneration and competitiveness.
DTI and DTLR have already recognised the value of the social economy in addressing poverty and stimulating enterprise in deprived communities. Now is the time for DEFRA to get in on the act, using its role as sustainable development champion to demonstrate to the Treasury the value of investing in an economy that delivers environmental as well as social justice.
Case study 1 - EnProve
EnProve is a wholly owned subsidiary of Groundwork Ashfield and Mansfield. The company was established to deliver Groundwork's ILM programmes in Nottinghamshire which enable local unemployed people to participate in the regeneration of their neighbourhood while gaining new transferable skills and ultimately jobs.
EnProve offers temporary and permanent employment to long term unemployed local people who, under supervision, deliver a range of services in sectors such as land reclamation and maintenance, home repair and insulation and computer recycling.
This next year will be pivotal for EnProve as it seeks to secure 50% of its income through the delivery of services, a move away from grant dependency which is clearly challenging. According to EnProve's Director Graham Parry the switch towards a focus on income generation has had to be carefully managed. "It has required careful consultation with our staff, partners and potential clients and we've had to develop clear messages and structures to explain complex issues and avoid harmful misconceptions about job substitution and double funding." Over the coming years, EnProve will aim for targets of generated income of 60%-70%. However, according to Graham Parry grant aid will always be part of the EnProve funding regime. "To move completely away from grant would compromise our ability to work with significant numbers people who are regarded as the hardest to help."
Case study 2 - Black Country Timber Products
The Wolverhampton Environment Centre is home to Groundwork Black Country's Timber Products initiative. Through the scheme local unemployed people have been recruited to learn woodland management skills within the Black Country Urban Forest and then convert the wood into products for sale locally.
The training programme is supported by the Single Regeneration Budget and was awarded business development funding through the Youth Enterprise Initiative, a partnership between Groundwork and The Royal Bank of Scotland which was set up to help develop intermediate labour markets into new green enterprises.
The business revolves around generating a range of products which are used as part of local landscaping or environmental regeneration programmes. These have included planters, signage and a dovecote as well as a selection of smaller garden items for general public sale. All proceeds are used to support the ongoing woodland management programme. The project already has its own sawmill complete with environmentally friendly solar panels and a wind turbine and an industrial drying kiln.
According to Mick Moreton who runs the project for Groundwork Black Country, the challenges of developing a professional business from an employment training scheme are considerable. "The very nature of the project means that we are working with a client group with a considerable skill shortage. Many have no experience at all of a working environment and therefore meeting the needs of customers in a timely and professional manner will always be a challenge. We're also very conscious of our need to maintain our environmental integrity which again requires innovative business thinking."
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