Back to the future: How history can help us understand the future of social enterprise

By Jieun Ryu, ISII Researcher As part of my PhD thesis, I studied different concepts of social enterprises in South Korea and how this concept has emerged and changed throughout history. This highlighted to me how the concept of what defines a social enterprise is fluid and responds to the present day’s social and economic …

The on-going support of businesses in response to the Coronavirus

The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked an unprecedented social movement that continues to see more and more organisations diversify to create social impact in their communities. From local barber’s loaning out hairdressing equipment with all proceeds going to charity, through to global travel companies launching international initiatives, the number of social schemes being created is at …

Looking to create long-lasting impact and behavioural change? Context is king.

By Megan Hogg, ISII Data Analyst Whether you’re conducting research, managing a department or running an organisation, it’s easy to zone in your focus on any one thing you’re looking at, and quite easy to forget that there are other things influencing the behaviours and actions we see all around us. To understand what’s going …

The importance of in-person relationships in a world of video calls

By Michael Maher In-person relationships have become a distant memory recently with social distancing procedures implemented around the world. Whether it’s for work, university or gathering research, more and more people are having to use video calling, and with concerns about the environmental impact that comes with travelling, they are becoming more popular in general. …

We welcome Jieun Ryu to the ISII team

We were thrilled to welcome Dr Jieun Ryu to the ISII team recently from the University of Northampton’s, Faculty of Business and Law.  We spoke to Jieun to understand her background in social enterprise and the fascinating projects she has been working on.  What was your background before you came to be at the Institute? …

The Future of Social Solidarity

By Ecem Karlidag-Dennis As a social impact researcher, it’s been amazing to hear from my friends and peers about the acts of kindness they have carried out for their neighbours recently. Having also seen these things on the news and social media, I’ve been thinking about Social Solidarity – about what it is and how …

The continuing support of businesses in response to the Coronavirus

As the impact of COVID-19 continues to disrupt our daily lives, more and more business are turning their efforts towards helping people adapt to the ‘new normal’ by offering free access to paid-for products, or by switching their focus from normal production of goods to the generation of social impact. As we continue to track …

Social Innovation has to go further than complementing the current system – it has to break the rules

By Dr Toa Giroletti Recently I have been broadly involved in social innovations, social enterprise research and teaching and participated in the Social Innovation Social Enterprise Research Teaching Landscape (SISERTL) project funded by the British Council, assisting the Filippino team in conducting interviews on the topic. In a previous blog, I spoke about the SISERTL …

The importance of staying connected during social isolation

By Claire Paterson-Young Coronavirus (COVID-19) has resulted in a world of uncertainty with information surrounding the pandemic constantly changing. Government guidance on social distancing and social isolation to help protect the health and safety of population mean that people have become isolated from friends and family which can lead to feelings of anxiety, stress and …

How businesses are giving back in the crisis of the Coronavirus

The spread of Coronavirus is putting pressure on our everyday lives in an unprecedented manner. With schools and businesses closing, shops selling out of key foods and household items and thousands of people threatened with unemployment, there is a bigger need than ever to consider how we can create social impact to solve what are …