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Based on individual and organizational relationships, social impact communities birth innovations through synergistic connections. These innovations include solutions to some of the world’s most pressing problems, such as inequality and climate change. Read on to learn about the objectives, organizations, and relationships that make social impact communities thrive. You may even discover roles that you can play!
What are the objectives of social impact communities?
The primary purpose of social impact communities is to create social innovations, which are new and improved methods for meeting social needs. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide an effective mechanism for understanding high-priority social needs. They also act as an excellent starting point for aspiring social innovators who are looking for problems to address. Overall, the UN SDGs capture social innovation opportunities in a comprehensible manner that encompasses common social impact objectives.
UN Sustainable Development Goals
First envisioned in 2012, the UN SDGs were designed and adopted by all UN member states in 2015. Serving as universal goals, the SDGs were crafted to meet the urgent environmental, political, and economic challenges that our global population currently faces. The SDGs replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which were created in 2000 to guide the global fight against poverty. Here is an overview of the UN SDGs:
- No Poverty: End extreme poverty in all forms by 2030.
- Zero Hunger: End hunger. Achieve food security and improved nutrition. Promote sustainable agriculture.
- Good Health and Well-Being: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all ages.
- Quality Education: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education. Promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
- Gender Equality: Achieve gender equality. Empower all women and girls.
- Clean Water and Sanitation: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
- Affordable and Clean Energy: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all.
- Decent Work and Economic Growth: Promote sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth. Provide full and productive employment with decent work for all.
- Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure: Build resilient infrastructure. Promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization. Foster innovation.
- Reduced Inequalities: Reduce inequality within and among countries.
- Sustainable Cities and Communities: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable.
- Responsible Consumption and Production: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.
- Climate Action: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
- Life Below Water: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development.
- Life on Land: Protect, restore, and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems. Sustainable manage forests. Combat desertification. Halt and reverse land degradation. Halt biodiversity loss.
- Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development. Provide access to justice for all. Build effective, accountable, and inclusive institutions at all levels.
- Partnerships for the Goals: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.
How Are Social Impact Communities Organized?
Social impact communities function as ecosystems, which are complex networks. According to Merriam-Webster, the medical definition of an ecosystem is “the complex of a community and its environment functioning as an ecological unit in nature.” The key term here is “ecological unit” because ecosystems are interconnected networks. Similar to how humans are interconnected networks of cells, social impact ecosystems are interconnected, living networks of stakeholders.
Who Are the Key Actors in Social Impact Communities?
The key actors in social impact communities can be broken down into ten categories, which are depicted below:
- Startups = early-stage social enterprises driving social innovation
- Support Providers = startup support organizations, such as incubators and accelerators
- Large Companies = established corporations that engage with social enterprises through co-innovation and/or funding partnerships
- Educational Institutions = universities and schools that provide social entrepreneurship education, as well as research & development
- Service Providers = professional service firms and individuals, such as lawyers and accountants
- Research Organizations = NGOs and think tanks that provide new insights for the social impact community
- Impact Investors and Foundations = organizations and individuals that primarily provide financial support to social enterprises
- Public Sector Entities = local, regional, and national governments that create and enforce relevant laws
- Customers & Beneficiaries = organizations and individuals that directly benefit from social enterprise products and services
- External Stakeholders = organizations and individuals that experience indirect effects from social enterprise activities
What Activities and Interactions Take Place Among Key Actors?
The ten key actors in social impact communities engage in a variety of activities that lead to social innovation. Activities fall into three main categories: research & education, funding & co-innovation, and support services. The diagram below shows which activities are most common among different types of actors.
Social enterprise startups reside at the center of the diagram, but they are no more vital to social innovation than the other ecosystem actors. Needs and desires of customers, beneficiaries, and external stakeholders dictate possibilities for social enterprise startups. Furthermore, these startups cannot evolve without support services, research, training, funding, etc. Every actor impacts the system, opening or closing possibilities for social innovation.
What Role(s) Will You Play?
Every person plays a part in the collective pursuit of social innovation, but where exactly do you fit into the system? Impact-oriented individuals often face difficulties identifying and obtaining their ideal roles within social impact communities.
Luckily, Social Sector Network is here to help you navigate the complex networks in front of you. We have created Design Your Impact, a free micro-course to help impact-oriented individuals determine how to make a difference in their communities.
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