This strategic partnership aims to support the development of innovative practices in the education and training of individuals who are either seeking to expand their knowledge and expertise in relation to social enterprise or are already engaged in social enterprise organisations (S.E.) and who wish to develop their capacity to trade their goods and services internationally. The project partnership (8 Nr organisations) is led by Glyndwr University, Wales and is both cross sectoral and pan European in its complexion as it includes four higher / vocational education college (UK, Ireland, Greece, Germany), four independent training organisations (Lithuania, Latvia, Wales and Italy). Many successful S.E. in the more developed western and southern European countries have grown by developing their international trading practices. This has allowed such organisations to achieve the needed investment funding to deliver their aspirations and mission statements. The former focus of social enterprises on looking for grant aid to support an exciting new idea needs to change; social entrepreneurs, S.E. managers and their potential investors must recognize that excellence in innovation and local trading is insufficient on its own to generate lasting business results. The co-production of local solutions to social problems needs S.E. organizations to be innovative and have the capacity to also attract international markets for their goods and services so as to continue to deliver the services and goods required in their home localities. In the northern, central and eastern parts of Europe the concept of S.E. is not yet fully appreciated or understood and its potential as a vehicle to tackle social and economic exclusion in disadvantaged locations is subsequently not as widely recognised. As a result there is a need to build capacity in this sector on a cross European basis so as to enable existing S.E. and new potential social entrepreneurs to trade globally in order for the organisations to develop, grow, become more sustainable with more effective and efficient performance. Therefore this project aims to develop (a) an e-framework of factors influencing the internationalisation of social enterprise trading practices, (b) a written report that reviews and appraises the support mechanisms available to social enterprises seeking to optimise their international trading operations in all project partner countries and (c) a digitally enhanced blended learning set of S.E. development and education materials for international trading (InTSEnSE). Such outputs can be used by, (i) social entrepreneurs to learn how to overcome barriers to international their trading practices, and (ii) existing social enterprise organisations to become more sustainable through international trade, (iii) educators and trainers in HE and VET to deliver formal and informal courses of education and training. The materials produced will be open access. These results will be based on case study research undertaken with 60 Nr S.E. organisations in urban and rural environments located in differing European national contexts. The synthesis of the data from the basic research will allow blended e-learning tools to be developed that are open access. Thus the target groups for this project are existing social enterprises & their employees seeking to develop their knowledge and expertise, potential social entrepreneurs, students/learners, teachers, partner institutions, other educational institutions, research centres, employers and their associations, and policy-makers. The short term impact of the project will be a written report and blended e-learning that can be used for formal and in-formal courses of HE/VET and which in the longer term will help develop capacity in the S.E sector across Europe. The work will contribute to the emergent EMES research agenda on innovation in social enterprise. The work also supports the key priorities set out in the Europe 2020 agenda and the Modernising Agenda for Higher Education that were identified in the E.U. Education and Training Strategy 2020 in terms of the way the work will contribute to (i) the improvement of the quality and relevance of teaching and learning related to social enterprise through the development of case study research and evidence based curricula related to international trading practices; (ii) the promotion of mobility of staff and students on a cross border basis that will result from participating in this project; strengthen the knowledge triangle that links education, research and innovation related to the promotion of the social enterprise. Overall the development of the blended web enabled digitally enhanced learning materials will contribute to the challenge of opening up education through the development and use of technology to facilitate personalized learning at differing levels of engagement by differing types of cross sector education and training providers.
Project Summary intsense aims to support the development of innovative practices in the education and training of individuals who are either seeking to expand their expertise in relation to the internationalisation of social enterprise (SE) trading or are already engaged in social enterprises and wish to develop their capacity to trade their goods and services internationally and so enhance their sustainability. The outputs of the project will impact on the capacity of the social enterprise sector at organisational, local, regional, national, European and International levels. The project partnership is led by Wrexham Glyndwr University (UK) and is both cross sectoral and pan European in its complexion as it includes four higher / vocational education colleges (Wrexham Glyndwr University - UK, Limerick Institute of Technology - Ireland, Panepistimio Patron - Greece and Pädagogische Hochschule Freiburg - Germany), three independent vocational training organisations (Archivio della Memoria - Italy), Inovaciju biuras - Lithuania, Socialas Inovacijas Centrs - Latvia) and one social enterprise research/training agency (Social Impact Consulting Ltd. - UK). The establishment of the partnership will internationalise the operations of the partner organisations and further embed them in European and International networks. The cross sector nature of the project partnership ensures the open access multi-media inter-active blended learning materials. Video and case study material will help to improve / internationalise high quality formal and informal social enterprise programmes of higher education and further and vocational education / occupational adult training across Europe which is relevant to national and European labour market needs. Context Although it is acknowledged that some social enterprises are trading internationally, limited work has been undertaken on this subject. intsense conducted a study across its partner countries that explored, on a qualitative basis, the reasons why social enterprises engage in international trade and the barriers and enablers that facilitate this form of enterprise. The study explored factors such as: motives behind foreign establishment, typical forms of trading international, relevant resources and the barriers and challenges faced. Project Outputs intsense accordingly developed a number of outputs, namely: • A framework of factors that act as enablers and barriers to the internationalisation of social enterprise trading of goods and services that reflect differing business models currently in use. This is an entry level framework and acts as a summary to the whole of the project; • A desk-based research report that maps out and appraises the use of current support mechanisms available in each partner country for social enterprises wanting to internationalise their trading practices; • Case study materials that act as pilot lights to show exemplars of social enterprise international practices, collected from social entrepreneurs that are already trading their goods and services internationally; and • Formal and informal educational and training materials relating to the international trading of social enterprise goods and services, their sustainability and support mechanisms available. The materials will comprise an online interactive business canvas, video summaries and written modules, based on the findings of the project that can be adapted to a variety of educational settings. Thus the target groups for this project are students/learners, teachers, trainers, partners institutions, other educational institutions, research centres, employers and their associations, third sector voluntary bodies and policy-makers, new social entrepreneurs, existing social enterprises & their employees seeking to develop their knowledge and expertise and achieve lifelong learning. Organisational Summary A Total of 54 Social Enterprises (SEs) took part in this ERASMUS+ project; of those 54, 48 were already exporting their goods and services internationally and 6 were considering internationalisation. Principal Sector of Activity No. of Social Enterprises Employment Skills 4 Consultancy 1 Education and Training 8 Business Support 1 Arts and Crafts 6 Health and Well-being 5 Culture and Tourism 6 Social Care/social support 2 Retail 3 Sports/Leisure 1 Agriculture, Food and Drink 9 Environment (including Energy) 2 Work Space 0 Financial Support 1 Humanitarian aid 2 Other 3 Total 54 Mode of Internationalisation No. of Social Enterprises Direct Export* 22 Cooperative Export 1 Subsidiary 4 Fair Trade 3 License 3 Franchise 3 Consultancy 1 Joint venture 4 Partnership/Collaboration 14 Note: Some SEs were utilising more than one mode of internationalisation. *Direct export included: business to business sales, export via contract, export via e-commerce, export through a distributor, direct sales to cross border communities and direct sales to ex pat communities.