Building a better tomorrow – Bridging the disconnect between policy, practice, education and research in social enterprise

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The National Social Enterprise Policy for Ireland (2019 – 2022) was a watershed moment for social enterprise in Ireland. Ireland has a rich, proud and diverse experience of social economy and social enterprise, yet the policy framework developed comparatively later than in some other EU member states. Since its launch in 2019, the Policy has helped to significantly shape the social enterprise sector in Ireland including through targeted measures and improved coherence across government policy. At the same time, the sector is still in a nascent phase and faces dramatic new challenges associated with the realities of focussing on social impact whilst trading in a competitive market economy traditionally focussed on export-potential, which have been exacerbated by the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. As this foundational Policy comes to the end of its term, the Government, in partnership with the sector, now faces another significant juncture which will determine how successful social enterprise can be in moving from the margins to the mainstream and contributing to Ireland’s economic, social and environmental progress. The current article seeks to clarify the features of Ireland’s indigenous social enterprise sector, and offers perspectives on some of the prerequisites for an ambitious and impactful successor policy in 2023 to unlock the potential of the sector to grow in scale and impact.
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Consolidating Ireland’s Indigenous Social Enterprise Sector – A Policy Perspective

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The National Social Enterprise Policy of Ireland was launched in 2019 following a slow and episodic process. The aim of the paper is to examine the development and implementation of the National Social Enterprise Policy. In particular the interaction between key sectoral stakeholders in the development of the policy and the primary influences on the process. The results of a substantial qualitative enquiry details the complex set of relationships underpinning the development of social enterprise policy in a multi-level governance framework. It situates the National Social Enterprise Policy in an environment unusually susceptible to sub-sectoral advocacy and highlights the particular characteristics of the Irish case where social enterprise policy is largely removed from broader social economy policy interventions in Ireland and the European Union. The paper highlights the complex and fluid environment in which various stakeholders articulated and advocated for their policy positions. It also details how the relevant policy institutions engaged with and were influenced by stakeholders. It contributes to the understanding of social enterprise policy formulation and how this process can become more inclusive.
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Rethinking social enterprise policy making in Ireland – untangling proportionate, disproportionate and unengaged sectoral policy contributions

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Extensive research over the past twenty years explains and documents different approaches to and examples of social enterprise across the world. One line of research analyses the institutional contexts – considering economic development, governance, culture, and civil society - in order to explain different national approaches to social enterprise. Simultaneously, researchers have focussed on organisational level features to create typologies of social enterprises. This paper synthesises that research to create an embedded model of types, which sit within and are infl uenced by institutional contextual factors. The model is tested in the case of the Republic of Ireland, through desk research and empirical observation. A set of 57 organisations provides qualitative data for a narrative account of four types of social enterprise. Contributions include a new model of institutionally embedded social enterprise types which conceptualises and highlights the importance of historical contexts in applying typologies.
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Institutional influences on social enterprise types in the Republic of Ireland

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Social Enterprises (SEs) have become the focus of increased policy attention internationally and at the EU level in recent years. Not as much attention, however, has been given to identifying and eliminating their skills gaps and training needs. Following the principles of the Training Needs Analysis (TNA) methodology and collecting data from different stakeholders on the social entrepreneurship sector of four EU countries (Italy, Ireland, Greece, and Slovenia) participating in the EU project ‘SocialB’, this paper examines the development of its training content, and how this addresses the SEs’ training challenges regarding management, sustainability and growth issues. This paper outlines the steps this project followed in tackling these issues through developing innovative learning content and training delivery methodology.
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Social entrepreneurship education enhancement through innovative training pedagogies across Europe

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This paper argues that a dedicated legal status for Irish social enterprises - or the wider social economy - holds to date a mostly overlooked potential to increase clarity of what social enterprises are and for social enterprises themselves on governance. A legal status takes an agnostic approach towards the enterprise’s legal form while offering certain incentives and privileges for those that meet the criteria. A review of recent trends across Europe points towards a legal status being the preferred approach in more recent years, with country reports pointing towards lessons learnt in terms of aiming to capture and support the sector holistically. This paper concludes that while promising as a concept, further research is needed to validate the potential in the Irish context.
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A legal status for Irish social enterprise-an overlooked opportunity?

AHEAD OF PRINT

Volume 42 (2023): Issue 2 (December 2023)

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Volume 39 (2020): Issue 2 (December 2020)

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