This document focuses on the Bottom-up Business Opportunity (BUBO) method developed by the Knowledge Center Biobased Economy (KCBBE) of the Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen as part of the Interreg North Sea PERISCOPE program1. In short, the PERISCOPE program includes the start of a permanent transnational intersectoral innovation platform for sustainable development within the North Sea regions. The program will answer the question what opportunities for new business in the North Sea region can be developed and deployed. The final result is a platform that provides innovations and instruments in the areas of finance, policy and Living Labs.
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Smallholders are a substantial part of the oil palm sector and thus key to achieve more sustainable production. However, so far their yields remain below potential. The Roundtable on Sustainable Oil Palm (RSPO) aims to include smallholders in sustainability certification to strengthen rural livelihoods and reduce negative environmental impacts. This study aims to determine if and how certified smallholders perform differently from their non-certified counterparts in terms of management practices and yields, and to what extend this is related to RSPO certification.
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With a growing economy and being an increasingly popular investment destination, both domestic and foreign business activity in Kenya has surged over the past years. In addition, the country has a relatively young population and many of the country’s economic sectors offer business opportunities. Despite these developments, the country has faced challenges on various dimensions of social-economic development. Against this background, corporate social responsibility (CSR), defined as firms’ roles and responsibilities in contributing to a more inclusive and sustainable economy, may play an important role in combating social and ecological challenges and strengthening Kenyan business at the same time. Dutch and Kenyan governments and businesses have taken the initiative to develop a knowledge centre for sustainable and inclusive business in Kenya (KSIB-K). This initiative sprung from a Dutch trade mission to Kenya in 2013. The Dutch CSR knowledge centre, MVO Nederland, was invited to contribute in this trade mission with the objective to disseminate knowledge and expertise on CSR and participate in a multi-stakeholder dialogue on CSR in the Kenyan flower sector. After a series of roundtables talks on CSR and sustainability in which Kenyan and Dutch organizations participated, the plan was conceived to develop KSIB-K and, as an integral part of it, build a local CSR business network. Among the goals of the KSIB-K are building CSR skills in Kenyan firms, propagating a holistic view of CSR that goes beyond philanthropic conceptions of the subject, CSR best practice and knowledge sharing, and stimulating doing responsible business both within Kenya and between Kenya and its business partners, including the Netherlands. While individual Kenyan companies may lack the resources, skills, willingness and experience to engage in responsible business, a CSR business network could bundle these and existing initiatives to create a movement of inclusive and sustainable business that benefits companies and society alike. This chapter will focus on the short history of the initiative to develop KSIB-K and the Kenyan CSR business network, place it within the current ‘state of CSR thinking and practice’ in Kenya and its role in international business and sketch its roadmap for the years to come. This chapter will also pay attention to the role of governments in encouraging responsible business, activities that will be deployed to stimulate Kenyan business to develop CSR knowledge and skills, and possible risks associated with developing such a new CSR business network.
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Vorig jaar op 21 april 2013 kwam RTL Nieuws met het volgende bericht: “Grootschalige fraude Bulgaren met toeslagen”. Wat was er aan de hand? In Rotterdam bleken Bulgaren zich in te schrijven met een identiteitsbewijs en een vals huurcontract bij het loket burgerzaken, op basis waarvan ze meteen een Burgerservicenummer kregen toegekend. Deze Bulgaren waren in Bulgarije geronseld om zich hier in te schrijven en na inschrijving meteen weer terug te gaan. Natuurlijk niet voordat het Burgerservicenummer, tegen een kleine vergoeding, was overgedragen aan een bende fraudeurs. Deze maakte meteen een DigiD aan en vroeg daarmee, met terugwerkende kracht, huur- en zorgtoeslag aan. Bedragen tot soms wel achtduizend euro in één keer. Deze toeslagen worden door de belastingdienst meteen uitbetaald en controle vindt meestal pas achteraf plaats. Deze vorm van fraude is mogelijk gemaakt doordat processen en informatie(systemen) voor inschrijving als burger, aanvragen van toeslagen, betaling en controle over verschillende organisaties lopen. Hierdoor is er niet voldoende transparantie en heeft niemand een duidelijk overzicht met betrekking tot het functioneren van het proces.
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Currently, various higher education (HE) institutes develop flexible curricula for various reasons, including promoting accessibility of HE, the societal need for more self-regulated professionals who engage in life-long learning, and the desire to increase motivation of students. Increasing flexibility in curricula allows students to choose for example what they learn, when they learn, how they learn, where they learn, and/or with whom. However, HE institutes raise the question of what preferences and needs different stakeholders have with regard to flexibility, so that suitable choices can be made in the design of policies, curricula, and student support programs. In this workshop, we focus on student preferences and share recent insights from research on HE students' preferences regarding flexible education. Moreover, we use participants’ expertise to identify new (research) questions to further explore what students’ needs imply for several domains, namely curriculum-design, student support that is provided by educators/staff, policy, management, and the professional field. Firstly, a conceptual framework on flexible education and student’s preferences will be presented. Secondly, participants reflect in groups on student personas. Then, discussion groups have a Delphi-based discussion to collect new ideas for research. Finally, participants share the outcomes on a ‘willing wall’ and a ‘wailing wall’.
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Background: The full potential of social entrepreneurship remains challenging to achieve, despite continuous efforts in various economies, including South-East Asia. Several obstacles need to be addressed, such as the scarcity of skilled employees, limited business understanding among founders, difficulties accessing funding and infrastructure, and the absence of proper social impact measurement. Higher education institutions (HEIs) often face constraints in engaging and supporting early entrepreneurial activities, exacerbating the imbalance in the social entrepreneurship landscape. This imbalance has been observed in both Thailand and Myanmar. Research objectives: The Erasmus+ funded project, STEPup, running from 2020 to 2023, recognized an opportunity to foster innovative social entrepreneurship practices tailored for disruptive business settings in these two countries. By applying the challenge-based learning approach through interactive case challenge proceedings involving social entrepreneurs, faculty mentors and students, the development of the entrepreneurial mindset of the latter group was studied. Research design and methods: To accomplish this, a multi-method research design was chosen, which involved a case-challenge experience within the framework of 6 universities, a questionnaire-based survey conducted among the student population which took part in the case-challenge experience and desk research. Results: The study revealed the necessity for a self-organizing and organic support system for social entrepreneurship. The objective of this paper is to present recommendations and strategic guidelines to enhance access and opportunities for existing social enterprises and social entrepreneurs seeking to establish and sustain a social enterprise ecosystem. The proposed framework leverages the support, expertise, and structure of existing higher education institutions. Conclusions: Higher Education Institutions can serve as excellent cases demonstrating how to design and develop resource hubs for social enterprise practitioners and engage stakeholders from all sectors to address social issues and promote awareness.
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"Despite many efforts, people with a refugee background still have great difficulties to find a job on the Dutch labour market. This has adverse consequences for the economic independence of people with a refugee background, their social connections, personal development, health and general well-being, but also for employers as well as society in general. There are many sectors in the Dutch labour market with large, structural labor shortages, while at the same time much talent remains untapped. Meanwhile, more and more social enterprises in the Netherlands are stepping into this void, with the explicit goal to facilitate access to the labour market for people with a vulnerable position, including people with a refugee background. Consequently, these so-called work integration social enterprises (WISEs) are — by far — the dominant type of social enterprises in the Netherlands. Although the diversity between WISEs in terms of economic sectors, specific target groups and business models is large, the way in which they organize their key activities can serve as an example for regular employers, who still tend to think in problems rather than opportunities when it comes to employing people with a refugee background. At the same time, the impact of these social enterprises still remains relatively limited in comparison to the scale of the societal challenge. The aim of this study therefore is twofold: 1) to obtain a better understanding of the role of WISEs with regard to the sustainable labor participation of refugees, and 2) to assess the ways in which WISEs can scale their societal impact with respect to labour participation of refugees. These conference proceedings focus in particular on (new) forms of collaboration between WISEs and regular employers that aim to become more inclusive employers."
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In BOP ventures the notion of “selling to the poor” has steadily been replaced by business approaches that suggest sustainable value creation. This has certain implications, in particular the development of strategies that serve triple bottom-line goals. These include economic, social and environmental benefits, in other words, the well known goals of people-planet-profit. However to optimise value-creation one ideally needs to follow a strategy that is based on some form of conceptual model that can serve as a frame of reference. This paper proposes such a conceptual model. The research was undertaken in 8 BOP projects involving multinational information and communication technology companies in Africa. ICT is relevant here because of frequently high expectations that it contributes positively to development goals. A study of the BOP literature reveals that several elements need consideration when trying to create value in developing areas. In addition it emerges that these elements are somehow interdependent. Using information found in the literature as guide a study of 8 cases was undertaken. The research approach was the case study method and the data was analysed for emerging patterns. Primary and secondary data was collected through interviews as well as a close study of archival and other sources. The analysis revealed three high level factors that may need to be aligned in order to ensure optimised value creation of BOP ventures. These three factors are BOP strategy, partnerships, and products & services development. It is also confirmed that neither BOP strategy nor partnerships nor products/service development can be synthesised independently from the rest. There is a delicate balance and interaction between the three where all three are interdependent and mutually influence each other.
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