Small rural communities are discovering they can generate sustainable income without compromising their traditions and culture. Visitors from around the world discussed ideas at the Rural Social Enterprise Gathering 2025.
Ukraine posts second highest number of climate-focused, blended finance transactions in the world in 2024 – and enters top 10 countries for the first time – as blended finance is identified as a “form of crisis financing” – new Convergence research.
The consensus text criticised for watering down corporate sustainability requirements had been approved by centre parties in committee last week, but MEPs narrowly rejected it in a plenary vote yesterday.
The Rural Social Enterprise Gathering 2025 will take place in Malaysia at the end of October, bringing together hundreds of social entrepreneurs to focus on the distinct challenges faced by communities outside the world’s urban areas. It will be about ‘sharing like family’, predicts one of the key speakers.
Social Enterprise World Forum was founded in Scotland. Now, the country’s government is backing a delegation to head to Taiwan to promote its social enterprise ecosystem to the world.
This week: Syria’s first hackathon unites social innovators to support recovery; UK government backs social enterprise in public procurement rules shake-up; Alfanar’s MENA impact fund launch is “good news for impact investing”.
Is your business making ‘counterfeit profits’? As a new guide shows directors how to prepare ‘true and fair’ financial statements, our columnist says responsibility means accounting for the ‘hidden costs’ on society and the planet.
BRUSSELS BRIEFING: The social economy could face serious headwinds as EU policymakers shift priorities. Now is the time for social enterprises to show they can make the bloc more competitive – with added impact, writes Toby Gazeley.
Women impact entrepreneurs still struggle to raise capital, but they have enormous untapped potential. This week’s view from the Pioneers Post newsroom.
Thirteen representatives of impact investors, local government, asset managers and institutional investors will advise the Treasury on the development of a new social impact investing vehicle – but no social entrepreneurs are included.
This week: impact investors unite against US foreign aid freeze; sustainability gets lukewarm embrace at Paris AI summit; concerns raised about UK government’s social investment advisory group members; and more.
The EU’s position as a leader in building sustainable economies is at risk, warn impact leaders, as complex sustainability laws are threatened by the bloc’s drive to become more competitive.
Women entrepreneurs still struggle to raise capital, and it is because of systemic gender bias, says Marta Zaccagnini. Her experience with impact-focused founders proves that women have enormous untapped potential.
USAID's near-shutdown is a reminder of the importance of catalytic capital in impact investing – and also of the question of whether access to cheaper money is necessary for impact investing to really work.
