Discover your true value at Gathering

through the day. The University of Edinburgh’s Design Informatics team have a system of “Social Value Cups” for the Gathering.

Every delegate will receive a designer ceramic cup (to keep) with a smart tag at registration. The cup will be a means of communication and collaboration as well as being used to enjoy tea or coffee. The delegate will use it to build up social “credits” which can be “spent” in the Social Value Marketplace at the end of the day on social value projects.

For social value to become business as usual requires a step-change in the way social value is reported and

measured, with recognisable standards that express social value as a common currency. This will enable people and organisations to collaborate across sectors to create “networks of social value”, rather than isolated initiatives.

The Gathering aims to build on what Scotland has achieved so far. It starts with a keynote from Josh Littlejohn, founder of Social Bite, a business that has built social value into its DNA, supporting homeless people by giving them jobs, homes and coordinating major fundraising efforts. The Social Bite Village at the event will be supported by the Social Value Portal.

Josh is followed by Nathan Goode, Head of Strategy and Consultancy at the Social Value Portal, who will talk about how a standardised and transparent measurement system can unlock social value. There will also be a roundtable discussion involving leaders from large business and social enterprise about where business can make a real difference.

Balfour Beatty, the conference’s lead sponsor, will share experience of building social value into the way projects are delivered and the business is run, and Professor Ken Gibb from the University of Glasgow’s Centre