Brussels event connects local and international social entrepreneurs

This week, the first edition of Newideals is taking place at Bozar in Brussels. Organised by the Social Innovation Factory, the goal of this new conference is to encourage cross-pollination between the corporate world, NGOs, knowledge centres and the Flemish government.

Since it was launched by the government two years ago, the Social Innovation Factory has stimulated the development of innovative projects that address issues like climate change, poverty and an increasingly multicultural society.

It’s no coincidence, then, that the organisation is putting the spotlight on multiple local social entrepreneurs, or Radical Innovators in the event’s parlance, at the Newideals event next Monday and Tuesday. Among them is Solidare-it!, a website created by Brusselaars that brings people in need of help with something into contact with locals who can help them. Locals can offer everything from a bed, meal, administrative help and clothes, to a simple chat.

Het Spilvarken, another Radical Innovator, was started by a couple of Gentenaars who wanted to introduce pigs and chickens to several neighbourhoods in the city to sustainably process food waste. Newideals will also welcome six British social entrepreneurs selected by the innovation charity Nesta, which originally launched the Radical Innovators campaign.

Homeless World Cup

Mel Young, the Scottish man behind the Homeless World Cup initiative, is the most high-profile name on the list of Newideals speakers. He started the football competition in 2001 as a way to stimulate homeless people’s re-integration into society. Since then, local tournaments have been established all over the world, including in Belgium.

“Meeting regularly to train and play matches helps homeless people gradually make a new start in life,” says Kaat Peeters, director of the Social Innovation Factory. “This original method to battle poverty should inspire the Newideals participants to think outside the box more.”

One of the key Flemish speakers is Peter Wollaert, director of the Antwerp-ITCCO training centre and an Associated Fellow at Unitar, the United Nations’ training and research agency. ITCCO regularly organises activities to convince policymakers of the necessity for sustainable action, like tours to showcase the best practices in sectors such as the diamond, port and fashion industry.

As part of the Unitar network of training centres, Antwerp-ITCCO helps spread the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The 17 SDGs, which were developed as a successor to the millennium development goals, are meant to provide a framework for the political policies of UN member states for the next 15 years. The final version of the new goals will be discussed at a UN summit in New York at the end of this month.

Lack of research

“The SDGs are a milestone,” says Wollaert. “Never before has such a broad list of targets been drawn up to improve international development.” At the Newideals conference, Wollaert will discuss the SDGs in more detail, hoping to persuade those present to integrate the goals into their own work.

Wollaert will also participate in a debate with representatives from institutes of higher education in Belgium. “There is still a lack of academic research on social entrepreneurship to help improve working methods,” says Wollaert, “and the field is still too often absent from business studies.”

Newideals will also host a workshop on social impact bonds, a new funding mechanism for social entrepreneur projects. In such a scheme, a private investor helps fund a social project but establishes an agreement with a government agency that commits to paying for improved social outcomes that result in public sector savings.

The Brussels non-profit “Duo for a job” was one of the first in Europe to use this bond system. The project brings experienced over-50s together with job-seekers of foreign descent to help them in their search for a job. The Brussels employment agency Actiris was able to pay back investors, like Bank Degroof Foundation, thanks to the initiative’s success.

Digital revolution

In addition to the workshops, Newideals will also offer one-on-one counselling sessions. In these “clinics”, entrepreneurs receive tailored advice on subjects like funding options and organisational methods. “Acquiring start-up capital, for example, can be a big challenge in Flanders,” explains Peeters.

One thing is certain, social innovations are slowly changing our society and economy. “The digital revolution is playing an important role,” says Peeters. “It’s getting much easier to set up a project.”

According to Wollaert, more and more social entrepreneurs are people with experience in the business world who leave the traditional system because they want to address a certain societal need. “They don’t do this anymore by relying on subsidies,” says Wollaert. “They use business methods but for a good cause – not with the sole aim of making profits.

21-22 September, Bozar, Brussels