Welcome
to the project page for the UK-China Collaborative Partnerships in Employability and Entrepreneurship : PMI2 Connect project
This project identifies Social Enterprise as a focus for a collaborative partnership between the University of Northampton and the Capital University of Economics and Business, Beijing. Social enterprises are a significant contributor to the UK economy, and are increasingly providing new models for entrepreneurial activity in a range of key employment sectors (e.g. public, NHS). In China, social enterprise is part of their history, but has recently been given a sharpened focus with the emphasis on creating a ‘harmonious society’. In both countries, dissemination of ‘best practice’ social enterprise approaches can potentially provide significant additional employment for a wide range of individuals not normally included in ‘traditional’ entrepreneurial activity Based on our successful and established partnership with CUEB in Beijing, China, we are undertaking a one year (12 month) scoping project in the area of best practice social enterprise establishment and management. Connect funding is particularly appropriate for this project as both partner institutions have complementary experience and expertise in the areas of enterprise and social enterprise creation, and in the subtly different area of entrepreneurial competence development. Each side will learn from the other. Our
intention is to develop a joint UK/China post graduate programme in best
practice social enterprise establishment and management as a response to the
increasing demand, in both countries, for public services to be delivered via
the social enterprise model. The development of this programme will meet, head
on, the objectives of the Connect initiative in that it will : * Develop and test ideas and concepts for a high-level UK/China forum on employability and entrepreneurship * Further promote mutuality and complementarity between The University of Northampton in the UK and CUEB in China We intend that following the first year scoping phase, the second phase will be the delivery and testing of joint curricula and teaching/learning/assessment methods and strategies. The third phase will be the launch of a sustainable, income generating post-graduate programme and practitioner workshops in best practice social enterprise establishment and management. Our initial market research indicates substantial and growing demand for this product in the East Midlands region of the UK and in China. PMI2 Connect Bill Drayton from Ashoka suggests in this report that everyone can (and should) become a changemaker. Whilst the democratic history of thje UK suggests that this is commonplace, Draytons thesis is that structures (and changing the structures) is still predominantly governed by a relatively small elite of professionals. He suggests that the pace of change in modern society makes it impossible to govern change, and that everyone should be encouraged to contribute to social change themselves. This form of social entrepreneurship has enormous implications for the west and provides a challenge to China in its current political structure. The challenge presented by Drayton is how to achieve social change, not for its own sake, but to increase social value (or justice or harmony in Chinese terms) through innovating with structure, organising and activities, without causing the confusion and social fragmentation that come from rapid social change? The scoping stage of this project is designed to explore the differences in the way in which UK and Chinese social entrepreneurship functions and the implications of those differences in teaching and learning. Proposed outcomes |