This is
SEWF. This is business. This is social enterprise.
As the
train pulls away from the wonderful city of Edinburgh I’m still wearing my Social
Enterprise World Forum (SEWF) conference pass round my neck. In the rush to
make it to the station I’ve forgotten to remove it.
Edinburgh,
city of enlightenment, of castles, miles royal and dancing. Of crags and tails
and granite. Of festivals and fringes. Of rugby and politics and a seat of government.
Of holy stones, elegance and palaces. Now Edinburgh is a global city of social
enterprise. Alive with colour and diversity of fourteen hundred people from
nearly fifty countries. We are called, we are absorbed, we are engaged and
energized. Imbued with hope and reassured: we can build a better future.
I turn to
my notebooks to being writing this article. I have taken pages and pages of
notes. Motivational quotes, calls for action, wise words, policy insights and
wild ideas gleaned from a dizzying array of vibrant speakers from all parts of
the globe. Here are a few of my highlights in no particular order:
- “We need more AI and regulatory tech social enterprises and less chocolate” - Indy Johar of Dark Matter Labs challenging us to be audacious and create a raft of digital social enterprises.
- The 83 strong New Zealand/Aotearoa delegation standing and singing a song in the opening ceremony.
- “We will wash down the walls of oppression” - Mike Curtin of DC Central Kitchen.
- Bruktawit Tigabu of Whiz Kids in Ethiopia illustrating the deep societal issues of lack of literacy and domestic violence that her social enterprise is tackling.
- School children explaining social enterprises in the simplest forms: “businesses that help people.”
- Phillip Ullman, brilliantly odd, of the converted £880 million Cordant Group urging us to be whole, disintermediate and look for covenants not contracts.
- “[Social enterprises can create] a flourishing web of life - Clive Hirst of Social Enterprise Solutions.
- Audrey Tang, Taiwanese Digital Minister and self-confessed ‘conservative anarchist’ calling for radical transparency and more poetic job descriptions.
- “We must be business…and create the future before it gets done to us” - Lord Victor Adebowale.
- The wild, hairy, tattooed men of Clanadonia smashing drums and swirling bagpipes.
- “Scotland is a better country because of social enterprise” - John Swinney MSP and Deputy First Minister.
All these
moments scintillate, coalesce, fly apart and collide. I find at Preston, nearly
200 miles from Edinburgh I am still wearing the conference pass.
I’m left
with another idea inspired by Indy Johar: that business can make us noble or be
a tool for oppression and control.
This, then
is SEWF. This is business. This is social enterprise.
