brodie.mcculloch
adventures of a rogue thinker.
I live and work in the most isolated city in the world. I am passionate about social innovation, entrepreneurship, marketing, travel, technology, government 2.0, sustainability, design, photography and have been known to have entrepreneurial tendencies.
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Dismantle on the Fremantle Esplanade
Great visiting Dismantles new workshop on the Fremantle esplanade! Lots to do but lots of promise. Check it out at www.dismantle.org.au
Social innovation in Western Australia re-launch
It has been a busy few months with Cyclefreo moving along nicely as well as SiiWA kicking off its first event with WACOSS mid September (not to mention needing to keep building my customer base through Think Big Communication...needing to make money and all).
From all this learning it became clear that new movement is needed in WA around the area of Social Innovation, Social Enterprise and Social Entrepreneurship. The first part of this is to create a entry point for the area in WA and this is what SiiWA has been turned into. The next step is to start a monthly meetup,
I am talking to a few potential sponsors now and we should have something up and running by early next month. The goal is to build a positive network around this in WA and focus on the good things that are happening rather than the bad things that have happened in the past.
This whole space is about finding innovative solutions but people (mainly NFP sector) are still waiting for the Government show them how this will work and how it fits in. The short of it is that it doesn't fit in, it is new and needs to be created. Government is trying to help but really it will take the business sector and individuals to drive this forward and shape it.
This is where is see SiiWA coming in as this bridge.
Making a difference through online communities
I have just been lucky enough to be selected for the PlanBig advisory board to help guide the direction of PlanBig over the next 12 months.
I will have more to say about this as it progresses and is something I would like to share through this blog as the potential for positive change through this emerging platform is unlimited at this point.
I have a couple of plans up in the form of Social Energy Australia and Cyclefreo but what I am really interested in is how this can be used by communities and individuals to source expertise around their projects from not only Australia but the rest of the world.
More from PlanBig
One of the most daunting things about the really 'big' issues is that they simply seem 'too big' for a single person to tackle. As individuals, we can feel powerless to make much of a difference.
That's the thing about PlanBig. It can help bring about change because it gives you the ideal way to connect with people who are interested in the things you're interested in and are willing to jump in and give you a helping hand.
And because you're sharing your plan with an online community, it also has the possibility to evolve and grow and develop in ways you may never have thought possible.
The conversation begins....Social Innovation in Western Australia
Since returning to Australia five months ago and starting to setup Cyclefreo a Bike Share Social Enterprise for Fremantle it became clear that the conversation around Social Innovation and support for Social Entrepreneurs was lacking in Western Australia.
I have spent time meeting with a range of Leaders, CEO's and Directors in the Public Service, Business, Education and Not for Profit sectors to see what they were doing, their visions and their strategies to push forward this conversation and action to support Social Innovation in Western Australia.
On the 20th of September the first of what I hope to be many events is being run by WACOSS titled "Unlocking and Empowering Social Innovation in WA" which will be the beginning of this conversation to look at what we can do to get things moving.
The format is still being finalised but the facilitator and speaker is Jason Clarke and the idea will be to conduct some form on Un-conference / World Cafe for part of the day to really get people talking and thinking.
I have attached the early flier and sponsors are still being engaged and should be finalised in the next week or so. I am working closely with WACOSS so any input you have on the format or comments in general would be greatly appreciated.
You can register directly for the event here and if you have a place to print off the above and post it or forward it to others who could be interested please do so.
I will post more details as they develop and we should have a detailed agenda in the weeks to come.
Just Read: The End of Charity by Nic Frances
I just finished reading "The End of Charity" by Nic Frances. You can read an excerpt here and purchase the book here (and if your in Perth I can lend you my copy).
It is well worth the read by anyone (Government, Business, NGO or Education) who is interested in how Social Enterprise can change the way social outcomes are delivered and provide the capacity to produce global change within our existing market driven economy.
One of the phrases I liked and am going to take away from this is "Value Centric Market Economics" this describes moving from a purely financially driven economy to a economy driven by producing both Financial, Social and Environmental Capital.
Below is a description but it is well worth finding and reading.
Nic Frances is a social entrepreneur. He once worked for charity. This is the story of how he came to understand that charity can never deliver a just and sustainable world. It is only through a value-centred market economy that we will ever see real social change.
Breaking new ground and drawing on his encounters with business and social leaders around the world as well as his own richly-lived experiences, Nic Frances leads us through his principles of social entrepreneurship. He introduces us to the powerful idea that the market can be a tool for delivering a range of values besides profit. He explains the growing recognition that corporate social responsibility benefits businesses as well as the community and that welfare organisations will only be really effective when they start exploring social enterprise and corporate partnerships.The End of Charity is as hopeful and as it is inspiring. It heralds a breakthrough to lasting change to the seemingly intractable problems of poverty, injustice and environmental sustainability. It is a book for everybody who cares about the future.
Pigs Will Fly....Social Innovation in Australia
The article I wrote for Openforum has been republished here on Pigs Will Fly, a bit about the blog is below.
Pigs Will Fly
We’d love you to join our conversation about sustainable living, where we share the successes and pitfalls faced by grassroots small business, volunteers and community groups around Australia.
You can contribute by commenting or tipping us off with stories that show how we can balance local community needs with business success and jobs, without the expense to our natural and cultural heritage.
Let’s take control of our own future!
Thanks to Gail for republishing it as I hope it will help people who are looking for organisations to help them in their social projects.
Social Innovation in Australia...from the ground level
I have had another article posted on Openforum.com.au which is an analysis of the various players in the Social Innovation arena in Australia and how the field is progressing in general. The goal is really to give people like me (who has spent the last 5 months finding all these) the opportunity to understanding exactly who is doing what right now and then get in contact with them so they can move forward with their ideas or plans far more quickly than I have been able to.
Here is an excerpt from the full article which you can read here.
Over the past few months I have been hunting down the right people to talk to about Social Enterprise and where it is currently heading in Australia. This stemmed from the desire to start a bike sharing social enterprise in the City of Fremantle, Western Australia and quickly finding out that very few people actually knew what I was talking about when I mentioned Social Enterprise and my Socially Innovative solution to inner city transportation.
Challenges Everywhere for Social Innovation
Wow, I have entered so many different competitions in the last two months.
The WA Centre for Innovation - Innovator of the Year which I have entered Cyclefreo and Social Energy Australia in as well.
Rather than money for these challenges I am really looking for the ideas to spread and get people involved to move them forward. Already the contacts I have made around the world from entering have been highly valuable.
I should know about the first one for TACSI in the next month and all the applications will be up on their website in the next week.
Learning from a Churchill Fellow
Click here to download:
JMcNeill_public sector and social enterprise_Churchill Fellowship report.pdf (189 KB)
It is always interesting to read things that reinforce what you have already been thinking. I have had this happen a number of times over the past few weeks and some of the conversations I have had continue this trend (can also be a bad thing).
This report was written by Joanne McNeill upon completion of her Churchill Fellowship last year. Joanne is the Officer - Social Enterprise at Parramatta City which is one of the few Local Governments in Australia that have embraced such a position.
I highly recommend reading her findings and observations as they provide some good insight into how events should unfold in Australia.
Books i'm liking :: Building Social Business - Muhammad Yunus
I just started reading Muhammad Yunus's new book, Building Social Business - The New Kind of Capitalism that Serves Humanity’s Most Pressing Needs looking good so far and if it is anything like his last book I will be happy.
Should be able to get some solid ideas from it.
"This third book by Professor Yunus, following Banker to the Poor and Creating a World Without Poverty, is dedicated solely towards the concept of social business, its implementation, and its maintenance. Social business is an innovative business model which promotes the idea of doing business in order to address a social problem, and not to maximize profit. As the title suggests, this complement to traditional capitalism truly can serve humanity’s most pressing needs, especially poverty. Each and every social business creates employment, good working conditions, and of course, addresses a specific social ill such as lack of education, healthcare, and good nutrition.
In simple terms, a social business is a non-loss, non-dividend company dedicated entirely to achieve a social goal. In social business, the investor gets his investment money back over time, but never receives dividend beyond that amount. The Grameen Bank is a prime example of social business, with the Grameen borrowers themselves being its shareholders!"
From The Yunus Centre
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