From Scotland to Taiwan, and back again? How SEWF 2025 can be an ‘engine for change’ in delegates’ home countries
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.
At the end of this month 1,200 delegates from more than 50 countries will arrive in Taipei, Taiwan, for 2025 Social Enterprise World Forum 2025.
The event’s two-day programme features speakers including Taiwan’s former digital minister and a TIME100 “Most Influential People in AI” honouree Audrey Tang (pictured), Kuan Chen, founder of sustainable fashion social enterprise Story Wear and Åsa Skogström, managing director of Ikea Social Entrepreneurship.
And that’s just the two-day conference itself. Over the course of the rest of the week delegates will take part in social enterprise tours of Taipei and surrounding areas, and a packed day of fringe events, including sessions on empowering Indigenous-led social enterprises, applying a gender lens to impact measurement, and food and agri innovations.
There’s even a demonstration of martial arts, led by the UK’s InPower Academy and Lead for Taiwan, as part of a workshop on how combat sports can be a vehicle to support underserved young people.
Social Enterprise World Forum, which takes place every two years and is now in its 17th edition, is one of the biggest regular gatherings for social entrepreneurs and others involved in the impact economy around the world. The 2023 edition was held in Amsterdam, and previous editions have been held in Australia, Ethiopia and Rio de Janeiro.
Impact Hub Taipei, a longstanding partner of Social Enterprise World Forum, is the host organisation of the 2025 event. Co-founder of Impact Hub Taipei Oliver Chang said: “We have witnessed how hosting SEWF can bring more vibrance, collectiveness and policy advancement to the social enterprise sector in the host country. We will provide an unparalleled opportunity to showcase innovative solutions from our local community, fostering the exchange of ideas.”
Creating an engine for social change
Social Enterprise World Forum was founded in Scotland, having been spun out from social enterprise support agency CEIS. The inaugural event was held in Scotland’s capital, Edinburgh, in 2008.
CEIS is now the host of the International Social Enterprise Observatory (ISEO), which supports the growth of social enterprises internationally and helps international enterprises establish themselves in Scotland.
Through funding from the Scottish government, ISEO is providing bursaries for ten social entrepreneurs based in Scotland to attend Social Enterprise World Forum in Taipei.
James Finnie (pictured), ISEO lead, said the bursary programme was intended to enable participants to build their networks, gain insights and bring knowledge back to strengthen Scotland’s social and environmental impact ecosystem.
Speaking to Pioneers Post, he said: “We want them to return enthused about their ability to contribute to having positive social, environmental impact in Scotland. We want to give them an experience that creates that engine for social change in them for decades to come.”
Finnie emphasised the support of the Scottish government for the programme, and said it demonstrated the government’s commitment to developing the country’s social enterprise ecosystem.
He said: “Taking the Scottish delegation to Taiwan could not have been done without the support of the Scottish government’s social enterprise policy team. In times where budget is under pressure, it may have been an easy decision to make not to do that. Scotland, and the ecosystems in Scotland, can only benefit from that.”
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Tickets are still available for Social Enterprise World Forum 2025
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One social entrepreneur attending Social Enterprise World Forum through the bursary is Jawahir Al-Mauly (pictured), founder of social enterprise spice company Ujamaa Spice. Al-Mauly, born in Zanzibar but now based in Edinburgh, set up the business to connect smallholder farmers in Zanzibar to the UK market to ensure they are paid a fair price for ethically and sustainably sourced spices.
Al-Mauly said she saw Social Enterprise World Forum as an opportunity to demonstrate the impact of ethical sourcing of spices, because the UK was known for fair trade practices in other goods, but not in spices.
She said: “I would love to put Scotland on the map and represent [ethical sourcing of spices] in Taiwan. It is about visibility, learning, and collaboration on a global stage, while positioning Ujamaa Spice as part of the wider social enterprise movement.”
Promoting Scotland as a social enterprise destination
Alongside the bursary programme, ISEO is prioritising using Social Enterprise World Forum to identify opportunities to bring social enterprises operating internationally to Scotland.
- Read more: Global Focus: Scotland
Finnie explained the ISEO exhibition stand at Social Enterprise World Forum would be advertising to social enterprises considering entering Europe which would consider basing themselves in Scotland.
He said: “We have a very specific focus, which is inward location of social enterprises or social entrepreneurs who are looking to expand their proven models.”
In June, social enterprise event ticketing platform Humanitix launched in the UK, having chosen Edinburgh for its first office in Europe. Finnie pointed to that example as a success story for a strategy the International Social Enterprise Observatory, the Scottish government and Scottish Development International have been working on for a number of years.
The Scottish delegation’s presence at Social Enterprise World Forum is very much a part of that strategy, and Finnie explained it was an opportunity to continue to position Scotland as a destination of choice for social enterprises.
He said: “There’s only so much we can create from within a population size that we have in Scotland, and we're very good at doing that, but we really want to add as much international experience into that and bring new ideas and new delivery models.”
Pioneers Post is a media partner to the Social Enterprise World Forum 2025, and David Lyons will be reporting from the event.
Image: The Taipei skyline, where the Social Enterprise World Forum 2025 will take place (credit: sama093, Flickr)
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