The appetite to learn about the development of the UK’s social economy has become increasingly popular with a number of countries around the globe.
The British Council, the United Kingdom’s leading agency for cultural relations and educational opportunities, has been actively leading the charge and encouraging a number of individuals and organizations from various international countries to explore the UK’s social economy in an attempt to build engagement and stimulate thinking to build secure, more prosperous and sustainable futures for us all.
Earlier this year, the British Council funded a group of senior delegates from China to visit the UK to understand the latest developments in the social enterprise sector and asked Volans to develop a tailored learning program for the visit.
The delegation included participants from the following organizations: China Social Entrepreneur Foundation, Narada Foundation, China Youth Development Foundation, The Amity Foundation, Centre of Civil Society Studies, Jet Li One Foundation and individuals from various organizations in the private sector.
The overall objective was to showcase a cross-section of the various UK organizations and changemakers involved in the social enterprise space and to facilitate a better understanding of programming initiatives that contribute to its reputation as a global leader from which key learnings could be applied to initiatives in China.
Within this challenge, four areas were identified as being critical pillars to social innovation generation and became the framework for a series of events and presentations in London: 1) Social Enterprises 2)Enablers of Social Enterprise Development 3) Social Finance 4) Public Policy.
With these priorities set, ten delegates from China participated in a four-day tour in London & Oxford that included a total of twenty-seven speakers, various ‘field trips’ to organizations involved in this sector, and exposure to nearly a dozen innovative entrepreneurs.
“Volans put together a high quality professional programme of meetings with some of the UK’s key players in the Social Enterprise field in relatively short notice and ensured a smooth execution. It is obvious that Volans is well connected and respected in this field and they have the capacity to deliver this sort of high quality, tailored program.” Yanni Peng, British Council in China
We are pleased to be continuing our work with the British Council and look forward to establishing a two-way information exchange that will allow both the UK and international organizations to share best practices and stimulate new thinking on how we can build innovative solutions for some of today’s pressing global issues.
