STRENGTH THROUGH SOCIAL ENTERPRISE
At Memorial University of Newfoundland three departments have teamed up to explore and nurture social enterprise projects.
Connecting with community and business leaders the MUN Centre for Social Enterprise is helping people network and share ideas, and driving discussion on how to use social enterprises to build strong communities.
Dr. Natalie Slawinski and Dr. John Schouten are two of the members of the team. They recently travelled to Norris Point for a workshop on the theme of social, economic and environmental well-being of Western Newfoundland.
The following is excerpted from an op-ed that appeared in the Memorial University Gazette:
As strangers driving into Norris Point, N.L. on winter morning, we get an impression of both sleepiness and industry.
The tracks from the previous car are being whisked away by a broom of wind and snow. A bearded man piloting a snow blower raises a hand of greeting as we pass. Not much else is happening but pride and activity are evident.
We see it in the tidiness of the houses, in the neatly stacked firewood, in the shovelled walks. C&J Rumbolt’s general store is open for business with everything from homemade jams to beer and cigarettes to winter coats.
The coats, stacked in a cardboard box, are $50. The conversation is free.
We have come to this village surrounded by Gros Morne National Park to meet with a group of local community champions dedicated to the social, economic and environmental well-being of Western Newfoundland.
The topic of discussion is a “PLACE Model of Community Development,” derived from seven years of research on Fogo Island by a Memorial University-based team in partnership with the Shorefast Foundation.
Our meeting in the old Bonne Bay Cottage Hospital — repurposed into a a hostel, health retreat and community centre — is fuelled by homemade chili and a passion for Western Newfoundland.
As we present our model, the discussion is lively and studded with personal stories. The acronym PLACE signifies five principles for community development that emerged from our research.
It also evokes the primary condition for rural renewal: a deep and abiding love of place. Each step in the model elicits recognition and personal stories from the people around the table. The steps are as follows:
Promote community champions: Community champions advocate for the community and work tirelessly to improve it. They have “an unwavering faith in a path forward,” as Shorefast chief financial officer Diane Hodgins explains.
Link insiders and outsiders: Insiders, including local volunteers, municipal government representatives, business owners and other residents, possess deep knowledge about a place. Outsiders, such as visiting artists, industry experts, media and academics, bring new skills and perspectives, often helping insiders to see their community with fresh eyes.
Assess local capacities: It’s easy to take local treasures for granted when you have lived with them your whole life.
Outsiders can help insiders to better appreciate what they have. Insiders can also take stock of their community’s unique assets by asking, “What do we have? What do we love? What do we miss?” Answering these questions can reveal underused capacities . . . inviting people to explore new opportunities.
Convey compelling narratives: Communities facing long-term challenges can develop self-defeating narratives.
Successful community development depends on finding and sharing positive stories about the place and its people. The right stories can reframe challenges as opportunities (and) ... shift mindsets from scarcity to abundance.
Engage both/and thinking: Community development work is full of contradiction and conflict.
Tensions emerge between the old and the new, between tradition and innovation, between the community’s past and its imagined future, between supporting local businesses and benefitting from global markets. It’s tempting to see such opposing forces as either/or propositions with winners and losers. Successful community renewal depends on both/and solutions.
It is through commitment to place, and the principles of PLACE, that champions muster the energy, creativity and other resources to renew a community’s economy and sense of purpose.
Our model highlights the importance of community champions gathering to share ideas so they can continue to leverage a social enterprise mindset. With this mindset, they harness the tools of business in a way that makes their communities, and indeed the whole province, stronger.