The Geddes Institute Research Seminar Series

1. The Geddes Institute Research Seminar Series Knowledge Exchange for the Social Economy Scotland and Japan Deborah Peel 26 November 2004

2. Objectives • To map the emerging Japanese research network between The Geddes Institute and international partners • To outline the social economy research programme • To disseminate the research activities to date

3. I. Japanese Connections: Background 2. Research Activities to Date Community Planning Capacity Seminar, Tokyo - Greg Lloyd, Deborah Peel (April, 2004) Newcastle – Japan-UK ‘machidukuri’ – community planning and capacity seminar Greg Lloyd, Deborah Peel (September, 2004) Local Knowledge exchange for empowering community capacities in small rural communities HIE and Deborah Peel (October, 2004) 1. PhD students University of Newcastle Dr Kayo Murakami Community development through partnerships Fieldwork HIE University of Dundee Dr Kit Weddle Real estate and development 3. DAIWA Research Applications 1. Deborah Peel + Kayo Murakami Rural Social Enterprises in Japan and Scotland: Spreading the Word 2. The Geddes Institute, Scottish Enterprise Tayside, Dundee City Council and the Advanced Research Institute for Science and Engineering (RISE) Waseda University

5. II. Research AgendaThe Social Economy: Context • Bottom-up initiatives (eg Community Development Trusts) have recently been given considerable backing for their work through a significant shift in government policy in support of social enterprise, and the launch of the government’s national Strategy for Social Enterprise. • The social economy sector, and social enterprise in particular - ‘at an all time high in terms of prominence on the UK political agenda’ (Brady, 2003).

6. Social enterprises on the agenda? • Social enterprises are businesses with primarily social objectives whose profits or surpluses are principally reinvested in the business or in the community, rather than being created for shareholders and owners. • They address a wide range of social and environmental issues, and operate in all parts of the economy. • In essence, they are characterised as offering the potential to: • drive up economic productivity and competitiveness; • contribute to socially inclusive wealth creation; • enable individuals and communities to work towards regenerating their local neighbourhoods; and • build an inclusive society and promote active citizenship.

7. A Research Gap? • Social enterprise is ‘a term that increasing numbers of people have heard but know precious little about’ (The Social Enterprise Coalition, 2002). • The UK government has asserted ‘an urgent need for research’ (DTI, 2002) - and are seeking to map the scope and scale of social enterprise. • Various studies have confirmed the need for more research to establish the value of social enterprise (Paton, 2003; Social Economy Taskforce, 2002). • In sum, whilst there has never been greater enthusiasm for social enterprise, there has also never been a greater need for further clarity (Peter Lloyd Associates, 2003).

8. Refining a research focus • An important part of the current agenda is to raise awareness and celebrate the success and entrepreneurial achievement of the social economy (DTI, 2002). • In part, this is because there is a lack of a social enterprise "brand“, and a limited awareness of social enterprise outside the sector (Brady, 2003). • In this context, it is particularly important to be able to demonstrate how social enterprises meet both their ‘financial’ and ‘social’ bottom lines. • Part of the difficulty facing social enterprises is the difficulty of pinning down ‘what’ has been achieved. • This is, in part, due to the problem of measuring the ‘social performance’ of social enterprises, since, as Paton (2003) argues, this is socially constructed in certain circumstances.

9. Theoretical Framework • How societies socially construct or derive meaning for social reality provides a useful theoretical framework. • Attracting investment and business support is currently an obstacle to the development of social enterprises (Leslie, 2003). • Working Hypothesis: How successful informal approaches or formal strategies are in socially re-constructing the value of the social economy in the context of a more formal economic system will be crucial to the long-term success of social enterprises.

10. Indicative Research Questions • What is the scientific authority for social enterprises? • To what extent is society at large sufficiently aware of the activities of social enterprises through the activities of popularisers, the media, or other ways of dramatising the issue? • What, if any, economic incentives exist to stimulate behavioural change? • Does an institutional sponsor exist so as to ensure legitimacy and appropriate intervention for the purposes of promoting social enterprises? (Hannigan, 1995)

11. Rural Social Enterprises • There is evidence that local collective action is being mobilised in Japan in the pursuit of rural development (Lowe and Murakami, 2003) and that similar innovations are being tried out in Scotland (eg CDTs in national parks). • The work of Highlands and Islands Enterprise. • Potential for international comparative work?

13. Issues for Knowledge Exchange • How robust is our Awareness of the conditions, context and local success of the intervention? • How robust is our Assessment of the comparability of the problems being addressed and the local capacity? • How Adequate and Accurate is the available information and how robust is our interpretation of it? • How Applicable is the experience in its new setting? (Wolman and Page, 2000)

14. A Typology of Policy Learning Styles • Direct copying • Inspiration • Adaptation • Hybridisation • Synthesis (Rose, 1993)

15. III. Research Activities Hayakawa Town Yamanashi Prefecture October 2004 Local Knowledge exchange for empowering community capacities in small rural communities

16. Characteristics of Hayakawa • Demographic and Social Change - declining (only 1700 inhabitants) and ageing population (45% over 65). • Economic Change - a shift away from forestry and related craft-work, mining, and farming.

17. 4. Support for regional development activities Links with other research programmes 1. Identify and capture local resources with community study groups 3. Opportunities to influence policy (capacity building though student engagement) 2. Opportunities for interaction and sharing information Japan Upper River Culture Institute Hayakawa, Yamanashi

18. Fieldwork

19. Projects

20. Seminar

21. DAIWA • The Foundation seeks to promote links between the UK and Japan through projects of mutual interest and benefit. • Professional and Grass-roots Exchange • Project Title: Community Planning: Finding Innovative Ways Forward • Partners: RISE, Dundee City Council, Scottish Enterprise Tayside

22. Action Research Project • Community planning in Scotland is an attempt to better reflect community needs in the provision and delivery of public sector services, and regenerate excluded communities. • Building on the work of the Dundee Social Inclusion Partnership, Dundee Community Planning Partnership, and the Tayside Economic Forum, this project will share research and experience of communities in transition towards self-governance. • In particular, the study will focus on the skills, knowledge and pre-requisites of community leadership.

23. Study Approach • Participants in each city will be drawn from the host community and will target experienced community leaders and protagonists. • Teams of five (one academic, two practitioners, and two community leaders) will participate in the international exchange. The specific events comprise: • Seminar-workshop and conference in Dundee (April, 2005) • Seminar-workshop and conference in Tokyo (October, 2005). • The seminar-workshops will show-case local community projects and initiatives, and explore the potential for transferring lessons between east and west. • The applied work will then be theorised in terms of the social construction of community in an uncertain and changing world.