This year’s Social Enterprise Summit, Scotland’s largest annual social enterprise event, is on Thursday 7th of November, 2024. The event will take place at the Surgeon’s Quarter Quincentenary Conference Centre, Edinburgh, from 10am until 4pm. The theme of the conference will be “Catalyst for Change: Social Enterprise Driving a Wellbeing Economy”.
This year’s summit is part of a broader programme of events running from the 6th to the 8th of November. On the 6th of November, a number of partners will host a series of Community Learning Exchanges, with spaces for up to 45 participants. The Social Enterprise Summit and the Social Enterprise Scotland Awards will take place on the 7th of November. The celebrations will conclude on the 8th of November with a special EDI Social Enterprise Celebration and Showcase, an event dedicated to honouring the outstanding contributions within Scotland’s diverse social enterprise community.
Join Social Enterprise Scotland for a day of dynamic conversations, powerful presentations, and real-world insights from some of the most inspiring leaders in Scotland’s social enterprise sector.
Speakers include:
- Tom Arthur MSP, Scottish Government Minister for Employment and Investment
- Neil McInroy, Global Lead for Community Wealth Building at The Democracy Collaborative
- Calum MacPherson, CEO of Inverness and Cromerty Firth Green Freeport
- Miriam Brett, Co-Director of Future Economy Scotland
- Barbara Elborn, from Newcastleton & District Community Trust
Plus, don’t miss the Social Enterprise Showcase, featuring speakers from; Tayside Upcycling & Craft Centre CIC, Studio Lutalica and The Usual Place!
Whether you’re a seasoned social enterprise professional or just starting out, this event is packed with actionable insights and opportunities to collaborate.
For more information, click here.
This webinar session is designed to help social enterprises better understand the intricacies of working with the construction industry, explore procurement opportunities locally and nationally across Scotland, and learn how to effectively integrate into construction supply chains. Ultimately, this fosters stronger sustainable partnerships and contributes to the social, environmental and economic wellbeing of our communities.
Why the Construction Sector?
The construction sector is a significant growth area for social enterprises, offering numerous opportunities to engage in major projects and supply chains. The sector’s expansive reach and increasing demand for diverse services create an ideal landscape for social enterprises to thrive. By integrating social enterprises into construction projects, can deliver not only high-quality goods and services but also generate considerable social and environmental benefits, contributing to the broader goals of sustainability and community development.
Join Social Enterprise Scotland for this online session to:
- Understand the intricacies of working with the construction industry
- Explore local and national procurement opportunities
- Integrate effectively into construction supply chains
Hear from industry experts including Steven Whitton, Associate Director at the Scottish Futures Trust and Jim Johnstone, Head of Communities and Social Impact at Morrison Construction, to learn about key players and procurement processes, and connect with potential partners.
The Challenges Group, an international enterprise development organisation that delivers enterprising solutions to global challenges celebrates their 25th anniversary with a day of meaningful collaboration and inspirational learning, designed to be outcome and action-oriented, with the aim of making real progress towards ‘enterprising solutions to global challenges’. Forge new partnerships, engage in insightful discussions, participate in hands-on workshops, and take advantage of networking opportunities, as well as celebrating their 25th anniversary.
Event Details:
Date: Thursday, September 19th, 2024
Time: 9:15 AM – 5:30 PM
Location: 18 Brunswick Street Lane, Edinburgh (My Edinburgh)
Attendees: Leaders from the Scottish social economy, venture building, and international development sectors
Panel Discussions:
• Productivity, People, and Impact in the Social Economy
• What is Venture Building?
• How Can Scotland Lead On Sustainable International Economic Development
Keynote Panel & Q&A: Enabling Edinburgh to Thrive (Speaker details to be announced)
Lunch and Networking
Breakout Workshops:
• Productivity, People, and Impact in the Social Economy
• What is Venture Building?
• How Can Scotland Lead On Sustainable International Economic Development
• Enabling Edinburgh to Thrive
Special Session:
• The Challenges Group Past, Present, and Future – Eoghan’s Big Moment
Celebration: Prosecco and Cake
For more information go to their website : Challenges Group | Enterprising solutions to global challenges (thechallengesgroup.com)
Get ready to revolutionize your social enterprise by harnessing the power of AI in a webinar organised by Impact Hub Inverness. For more information and to register click below.
On 27 June CivTech will unveil innovative tech solutions to real-world problems at CivTech 8 Demo Day, and will also launch the biggest CivTech Accelerator to date, CivTech 9.
The in-person event which takes place at the Assembly Roxy in Edinburgh, is an exclusive opportunity to hear about the latest developments and opportunities from the CivTech Accelerator. Attendees of CivTech Demo Day have the opportunity to attend the morning or afternoon session, or both sessions.
At Demo Day you have the chance to hear from the CivTech 8 companies who have created Challenge solutions for: the most vulnerable people facing energy crisis, Scot Gov Agriculture and Rural Economy systems, and protection of Scotland’s marine and land wildlife and environments as part of Innovate for Nature which launched during COP27 last year as part of our ‘Innovate for’ series.
Artificial intelligence, design, biodiversity tech, and photogrammetry all feature across solutions in CivTech 8. Demo Day gives the companies the opportunity to pitch their products to key stakeholders in the public, private and third sectors, and demonstrate their solutions’ potential for wider-scale use and commercialisation.
Not only will there be the opportunity to see the work developed by the CivTech 8 companies, but also hear updates from some of the previous Challenge Sponsors and Companies as well as having the chance to network with key decision makers from across Scotland.
The afternoon session will announce the first Challenges from CivTech 9, the biggest CivTech Accelerator yet with £10million funding from the Scottish Government this year.
Companies can join us to find out about how the CivTech Innovation Flow is creating tech solutions with a positive and practical impact on Scotland, and the lives of people across the country. You will also hear from previous CivTech companies on how their experience in the Accelerator has propelled them to further funding and successes, and what the programme could offer for you.
If you are working in the public or third sector in Scotland and want to know more about how you can bring a brand new Challenge to the CivTech programme, this is a fantastic opportunity to meet with Challenge Sponsors face-to-face and find out how the Accelerator has transformed their services through bespoke tech-for-good solutions.
With digital increasingly driving transformative new national and international opportunities for the creative and heritage sectors across the Highlands and Islands, Shared Perspectives offers a thought-provoking one day conference exploring what this could mean for your business, project, organisation or network.
Delivered by XpoNorth Digital, this free event will take a practical look at how digital technologies are unlocking ambitious new areas for regional businesses. It will also offer a platform for creative and heritage networks to meet with other sectors, make new connections and discuss collaborative approaches to shared challenges and opportunities.
Hear from a range of inspirational speakers and take part in workshop sessions on how digital storytelling can drive key parts of your business, regional impact and opportunities around the use of AI, crowdsourcing for the heritage sector and how creativity can power rural economies. There will also be an opportunity to meet 1-2-1 with XpoNorth Digital’s specialist advisors, HIE’s Creative Industries team and members of local development networks.
One-to-one sessions are now available to book on the day with our XpoNorth Digital Sector Specialists:
-Jessica Fox, Screen and Broadcast Specialist Advisor
-Nicola Henderson, Heritage Specialist Advisor
-Tim Wright, Digital Specialist Advisor
Email info@xponorth.co.uk to secure your space!
Produced as a hybrid event, attendees can connect with the programme in-person or online.
Social enterprises are considered to be ethical and responsible businesses, but how do you develop a social enterprise that is committed to inclusive governance, diversity, and equality?
Join the next Fine Tune Your Social Enterprise event to hear from experts in these areas and get inspired by social entrepreneurs who are building their businesses with fairness, inclusion, and diversity at their core.
Sessions on the day will be run by professionals who are leading the way in inclusivity and best practice. They’ll be exploring essential topics for social enterprises including Board Diversity and Ethical Supply Chains.
Agenda
9.30am Arrival
10-10.30am Intros
10.30-11.20am Session 1 – Board Diversity Lindsay Wake (SIS)
11.20-11.30am Comfort break
11.30am-12.20pm Session 2 – Ethical Supply Chain Hannah Dent (SES)
12.20-2pm Networking LUNCH
2-3.30pm Panel
• Zara Todd
• Kalpana Ratnam-Roarty
3.30-3.45pm Final remarks
4.00pm Close
Meet the speakers
Lindsay Wake
Lindsay has been Head of Impact at Social Investment Scotland since October 2019. She worked within and alongside businesses, social enterprises, community organisations and charities across Scotland, and London and the South-East for over 20 years.
Hannah Dent
Hannah is Director of Services at Social Enterprise Scotland, the national membership body for Social Enterprise. She is responsible for operational oversight, partnership development, strategic leadership, and a range of corporate support functions.
Zara Todd
Zara Todd is a disability activist, researcher, trainer and facilitator. She is setting up a social enterprise to support disabled people’s leadership in the not-for-profit sector after carrying out a Churchill Fellowship looking at inclusion, disability and leadership, and co-authoring ACEVO‘s hidden leaders report on disability leadership in the third sector.
Kalpana Ratnam-Roarty
Kalpana is the CEO of User and Carer Involvement (UCI) and a Director of Easy Read For CIC, based in Dumfries and Galloway. Over 50% of UCI’s board comprises people with learning disabilities, and Kalpana saved the charity from closure in 2019.
Places are allocated on a first come first served basis so make sure you register early to secure your place.
This event is free to attend with lunch provided.
It promises to be an engaging and reflective day.
A unique opportunity to showcase your social enterprise/social business initiative.
On May 18th-19th Glasgow Caledonian University will be hosting a Social Innovation Fair as part of its annual Research Celebration. At the Fair Changemakers and Pioneers will be brought together from across Scotland and beyond to help strengthen ties between organisations and to encourage lively interaction and knowledge exchange. There will also be related talks and workshops highlighting especially how universities and social innovators can work together.
This opportunity is absolutely free!
The Fair will take place at Glasgow Caledonian’s Alex Ferguson Library between 9.30 and 5.30 on Thursday 18th May and 9.30-12.30 on Friday 19th May.
Interface will be exhibiting at this event so come along to our stand and meet Lorraine Thomson and Mari Findlay.
In order to book a place at the event, register at the link below:
Local communities are leading the change to help shape an economy that works for people, places and planet, and Moray is no exception.
With focus and urgency, communities are showing that it is possible to take practical action, to continue to shift to new ways of doing things, and ensuring, that along that way, it is truly, a just transition.
As Moray’s Local Action Group develops a new vision for community led local development, the time is also right, for communities to come together to shape this vision and how it is rolled out in Moray.
Join tsiMoray, with a panel of changemakers at Join the Dots this year, to:
Deepen our learning and take inspiration from others so that we can continue to take practical action where we live and drive forward this place-based change.
Explore how community led local development can accelerate the move to a Wellbeing Economy through a just transition.
Inform and inspire a Community Led Vision for Moray.