Nilüfer Social Entrepreneurship Centre

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Türkiye

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Organisation name Nilüfer Social Entrepreneurship Centre

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Contact person: Umut Berker Sevilmiş

umutberkersevilmis@nilufer.bel.tr

Nilüfer is a district of the metropolitan city of Bursa and is divided into 64 neighbourhoods. Here, social entrepreneurship has become increasingly important thanks to its capacity to generate social benefit for a sustainable society, and to contribute significantly to the welfare of the country.

In Nilüfer Municipality, social entrepreneurs agreed on the main requirements needed to produce solutions to social problems and be able to lead social entrepreneurship in the municipality. Hence, they started to support the work of the Nilüfer Municipality Innovation Centre.

As a result of this collaboration, the Social Entrepreneurship Centre (SEC) platform was established. In this context, Nilüfer Municipality and social entrepreneur actors, who implemented social business models, could cooperate and ensure that social projects reach all segments of the society. Sharing know-how and experiences with these partners on social entrepreneurship has ensured the development of the social entrepreneurship ecosystem in the Nilüfer district. Therefore, the SEC platform increased the Municipality’s capacity on social entrepreneurship and brought more effective solutions to the social problems of the society.

The Nilüfer SEC is the first Turkish social entrepreneurship centre in local government. It aims to make social impact in sectors such as economics, environment, climate change, innovation and agriculture, and this is possible by working with the social entrepreneurs’ supports and producing permanent solutions to problems related to the Sustainable Development Goals.

The specific objectives of the project were to:

  • establish an umbrella organisation to empower the social entrepreneurship ecosystem of Bursa city and to increase its capacity in this area;
  • develop and support social business ideas that will create social impact by increasing the capacity of potential social entrepreneurs in Bursa;
  • develop an exemplary model and applicable operating mechanism for local governments on social entrepreneurship;
  • raise awareness about the phenomenon of social entrepreneurship.

As a result of SEC’s actions, potential social entrepreneur candidates could see their capacity increased thanks to the training and activities offered. The centre provides training and activity space, a prototyping area, shared office space for social entrepreneurs, socialising space and administrative offices within a 500 m2 area.

The sustainability of the centre was ensured including the project budget under the main objective of economic development of the 2020–2024 Nilüfer Municipality Strategic Plan. The Nilüfer SEC project and the preparation of the 2020–2024 Strategic Plan of Nilüfer Municipality were carried out synchronously.

As a result of the collaboration and the support of relevant stakeholders and executives, it was decided to include the social entrepreneurship concept in the new generation strategy plan of a local government for the first time in Turkey. In this way, the specific sustainability of the activities carried out on social entrepreneurship was ensured.

The 2020–2024 Strategic Plan of Nilüfer Municipality has set the goal of contributing to the progress of the social entrepreneurship ecosystem in the region, under its strategic purpose No 5: economic development. SEC’s activities and projects strengthen this strategic goal in line with the efforts to support entrepreneurs with innovative business ideas, which will create social benefits and raise awareness on social entrepreneurship.

The concept of a social entrepreneur is relatively new in Turkey and is growing rapidly. New social enterprises and actors are entering the sector constantly; they foster new approaches to social and environmental impact, and promote social inclusion, economic integration and development.

Nilüfer Municipality has been conducting activities in the field of social innovation and social entrepreneurship over the last four years as a groundbreaking municipality on sustainable development. The sustainable business models that will emerge as a result of the activities of the Nilüfer Social Entrepreneurship Centre platform are directly or indirectly linked to the UN Sustainable Development Goal No 17.

Together with the establishment of Nilüfer SEC, the municipality has also carried out a work plan. This includes a feasibility report containing financial, economic, social, technical, legal, organisational issues and risk analyses, made with the support of Bursa Eskişehir Bilecik Development Agency (Bursa Eskişehir Bilecik Kalkınma Ajansı – BEBKA).

The feasibility report has resulted in a method for the establishment of a social entrepreneurship centre, such as Nilüfer Municipality SEC, which showcases all relevant resources and tools that this building process implies.

This method has been shared with all relevant institutions and organisations in the country, and public institutions have started to implement similar platforms.

To increase the capacity of implementing a social entrepreneurship centre in other local administrations, the Social Entrepreneurship Support Network for Local Governments project has been initiated and established between municipalities. It aims to support the sustainable development goals of sustainable cities and communities, and decent work and economic growth in other local governments.

This network is the result of a public initiative; it enables the creation of innovative social business models and contributes to sustainable development in the society, with an exemplary approach for other local governments.

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