Working together to build a better Cork

Work ing To gether to Build a Better Cork

by Juliette Crowley, EU Project Manager / Atlantic Social Lab Project

Cork City Council wants a strong, robust and dynamic social enterprise sector in Cork. The Council sees strategic value in social enterprises and since 2017 has been involved in the Atlantic Social Lab project which works to support social enterprises.

The term social enterprise might not be clear to all. With the National Social Enterprise Policy, published in July 2019, we now have a common definition of social enterprise and a government department with responsibility for supporting social enterprises. In this policy a social enterprise is defined as an enterprise whose objective is to achieve a social, societal or environmental impact, rather than maximising profit for its owners or shareholders. It pursues its objectives by trading on an ongoing basis through the provision of goods and/or services, and by reinvesting surpluses into achieving social objectives.

“B ringing together social enterprises to share problems, experiences and find solutions has been key to creating a strong social enterprise sector in Cork. The next step is to strengthen links between social enterprises and the business community in Cork which will benefit both sectors and lead to enhanced collaboration.”

storytelling, measuring social impact and procurement. It has strengthened relations between social enterprises in Cork as well as externally with support organisations and social enterprise experts therefore building capacity and giving social enterprises access to expertise across a range of subjects.

According to the Cork City Local Economic and Community Plan, social enterprise in Ireland has the potential to grow significantly to generate at least 65,000 jobs and 5% of GDP. The Atlantic Social Lab project (funded by the EU’s Interreg Atlantic Area Programme) has built on this potential and enabled the council to identify and address issues being faced by social enterprises.

The Council has been working with experts and key social enterprise activists to provide networking and training to social enterprises through the organisation of workshops on topics such as funding, finance, governance, The next key Council Atlantic Social Lab event will be a workshop on the 8 th of April in Republic of Work organised in conjunction with Cork Chamber which will introduce social enterprises in Cork to the business community.

This event aims to link social enterprises with private businesses in Cork strengthening relationships and opening up opportunities for collaboration. It will give social enterprises a platform to inform the business community about their objectives, activities, beneficiaries and social impact and give private businesses a chance to consider their social impact locally.

There is a vast amount of work being carried out by social enterprises in Cork and this event will provide an opportunity to learn about the many projects that are taking place and for sharing experience and networking. Examples of social enterprises in Cork include Deaf Enterprises which is Ireland’s only dedicated employer of the Deaf community; Churchfield Community Trust which provides work and training to ex offenders and other disadvantaged groups and Sailing into Wellness which teaches sailing and personal development to recovering addicts. And there are many more.

Cork City Council is fully committed to supporting social enterprises with Adrienne Rodgers, Director of Services in the Council commenting “The work of the City Council through the Atlantic Social Lab project and beyond will ensure that we have a strong social enterprise sector and that social enterprises can emerge, grow and develop to meet the needs of the city.”

For further information on the Atlantic Social Lab project and the “Introducing Cork’s Social Enterprises” Workshop please contact juliette_crowley@corkcity.ie