In the summer of 2024 we connected with a couple of new colleagues who were brave enough to embark on a shared project in pursuit of creating a proposal for a program which would allow us to sustain experimentation with social innovation, organizational design, and much more. The submission of our proposal in the platform for funding required that we significantly reduce the amount of work that we had done to quasi-tweet length responses. Consider this and the tendency for sentences in English to expand in word count when translated to German. So, we share this here for the sake of documenting and sharing our vision for a theory of change in which social innovators and social entrepreneurs are supporting in imagining organizations beyond the limited frame of Neoliberal Capital. What ways might we educate economic actors towards creating more equitable and just enterprises that solve social problems while also creating livelihoods that are respectful and sustained?

ENGLISH VERSION

Implementation concept

6.1 Problem description

What specific problems will be solved by the project? How are they to be solved? To what extent do these problems relate specifically to enterprises for the common good (see definition in section 2.2 of the funding guideline) or entrepreneurship for the common good? Why is the measure applied for and the funding via “Nachhaltig wirken” necessary?

Imagine; there’s a professional culture that emerges to turn crisis and public harms into elegant innovative solutions. Now imagine that there is an economic system that rewards those who are brave enough to take initiative and create change in their communities and regions. Now, even further, imagine that the global economy encourages people to do such brave entrepreneurial endeavors – not alone and overwhelmed, but in the presence of, and in mutual benefit of the people whom it employs to drive those transformative systems spurring a transformation towards less-harmful business practices, sustained life-long means of shared livelihood creation, and an unending growth of community wealth and stability. What might be the outcomes?

• A vision of a theory of change towards a sustainable future ✅
• Overcoming oppressive systems starting at the organizational scale
• Initiating urban and country-side renewal – environmental and social
• Stimulating the creative and cultural economy centered economic development
• Making activism and human rights self-sustaining industrial complexes
• The restoration of centuries, millenia (even!), of local indigenous knowledges
• Deconstruction of labor markets that exploit and extract
• Healthier happier people who sustain normalized peace and democracy
• Systems of migration that are welcoming, open, beneficial, and convivial
• World-systems of acknowledged interdependence, transparency, and respect
• The flourishing of cultures of direct democracy and a decreased dependence on national statehood to regulate and prohibit
• Productively redundant systems of recursive industrial syndicates fit for bio-regional contexts and cultural situatedness

Our organization hopes to lead the way towards a globally-expansive sandbox for the establishment of socially innovative enterprises which can be shining examples of what community-led practices can do. Our transdisciplinary design toolkit allows us to use the same creative methodologies, frameworks, and cultures to launch a new economy. An economy led by care, respect, soft-skills (like repairing relationships after conflict), and customized for bio-regional constraints, opportunistic without being harmful, and inspired by systems with millions of years of innovation distilled in their very existence (biomimicry, and bio-inspiration). Overcoming the stories that limit our capacity to drive and implement change is the first step towards proving that it is feasible to bring together the production of economic value and respect social and environmental systems. Not only acknowledge and value those systems – but to work within them and even support their existence; their and our own thriving.

We have learned through our practice and research that sustainable impact entrepreneurs face specific challenges compared to entrepreneurs whose business is not designed around social and ecological impact, and thus have a competitive disadvantage in legacy entrepreneurship ecosystems. Studies stress that next to administrative-structural barriers there are major cultural-educational as well as behavioral and psychological barriers (e.g., Abdolhosseinzadeh, Mohammadi, and Abdolhamid, 2023). In the following, examples of these three types of barriers are listed. Our program is innovatively shaped to address these specific barriers. We will curate knowledge contributions in community-centered design, democratic workplaces, regenerative design, environmental sustainability, social & solidarity economy, workplace democracy, equity-centered measurement & evaluation, SDGs, inner-development, principles of inclusion, and other relevant topics from our contributing network.

1.  Administrative-structural challenges and barriers:

• Entrepreneurs driven by a strong desire to solve a social issue they witnessed in their social systems, often face discrepancies between creation of private value and social value (Dean and McMullen 2007; Groot and Pinkse 2015; Mair and Mart ́ı 2006; Pacheco et al. 2010; Santos 2012). Scientists such as Hoogendoorn, Peter Van Der Zwan, and Roy Thurik (2019) argue that this brings various additional challenges. Namely, these entrepreneurs typically (1) exploit opportunities in markets that are characterized by imperfection and failure, (2) need to initiate institutional change to realize changes to existing rules, public policy, norms, and legislation and (3) require a broad knowledge base and be able to cope with more varied and more complex stakeholder relations.

• Established funding structures trigger short-term focus and leaves founders little time to develop the organization and its products & services.

• Barriers to measuring the impact of social innovation, namely (1) lack of stakeholder awareness in the field of social innovation, (2) difficulties in selecting the metrics to assess social innovation, (3) problems in selecting criteria to identify best-fitted indicators to social innovation, (4) lack of beneficiaries engagement, (5) lack of financial and public support, and (6) lack of consensus in the social innovation definition.

• It’s often not the innovator who profits from the innovation.

 

1. Cultural-educational barriers

• On a societal level we miss cultural readiness for more equitable and just organizations, as we were socialized by more hierarchical structures in our private and organizational environment. Consequently, social innovation initiatives often face a passivity of society/lack of beneficiary engagement.
• Sustainable development endeavors are characteristically based on highly generalized models and linear thinking, that pay too little attention to human intentions, motives, preferences, and fundamental values that frame the constitution of societal institutions and structures, as well as individual and collective behaviors. 
• Organizations lack holistic strategies that also consider restructuring individual roles to incorporate additional skills and competencies, creating expert groups, and even outsourcing specific tasks.
• Lack of understanding of how to transform business models  for sustainable development  as well as of the potential of alternative business / ownership models. 

1. Behavioral and psychological challenges and barriers:

• Resistance to change: Transformation is inherently risky and unpredictable. They often are accompanied by the belief that inaction would fail or, in the worst-case scenario, destruction (Muller et  al., 2018). This often triggers worries and resistance in those involved, leading to skepticism and sometimes attempts to boycott.
• Sustainable entrepreneurs show greater fear of personal failure.
• More negative perceptions of financial, administrative and informational support.
• Narrative barriers with regards to social and solidarity models prevent their exploration and implementation.

Research on sustainable innovation increasingly investigates the coevolutionary process in which technologies, social practices, and institutions change towards sustainability (Boons et al., 2013). Scholars also conclude that “organizations can only be sustainable when the whole societal system is sustainable; both structural and cultural changes are required to facilitate firm- and system-level sustainability” (Stubbs & Cocklin, 2008). To enable social impact organizations to achieve their vision and become vehicles in the societal transformation we offer holistic program that combines:

1. Knowledge transfer to close the narrative and information gap.
2. Process guidance to assist in the development of a customized organizational design and strategy.
3. Cultural transformation to fuel and ground the change process in upgraded mental models and behavioral patterns.

 

6.2 Description of the objectives and content of the measure

6.2.1 What is the aim of the measure? 

What are the objectives of the measure? (Formats / methods; content)

We are a prototype for the social and solidarity economy – testing cooperativist principles within our organizational structures and culture. We aim to support a closing of the gap between sustainable enterprises and the creation of social and environmental good. Our Trans(form)ation program exposes young impact entrepreneurs to alternative organizational forms and cultures while preparing them through applied learning and leadership development for the next economy. The objectives of our transdisciplinary and transsectorial approach for sustainable impact solutions is to address root causes and facilitate holistic societal transformation from the organizational scale outwards. This entails:

1. Closing the gap between capitalist business values and social and environmental impact.
2. Providing guidance in challenging processes to enable social innovators to identify the ideal organizational structures and processes for their specific purposes.
3. Facilitating deeper and faster transformation processes by combining 1-to-1 support with peer learning formats. 
4. Ensuring both structural and cultural readiness by addressing the inner and outer world – from knowledge, belief systems, and culture to organizational design.
5. Inspiring and encouraging pioneering approaches to social innovation by educating participants about alternative methods and organizational structures and creating a brave space that allows the pushing of boundaries in pursuits of entrepreneurial solutions to big social and environmental problems in an applied-learning environment.

 

We tackle these objectives through a 3-pillar approach with a total of 4 recurring formats:  

Pillar A: Knowledge Transfer

Format 1: Virtual speaker series for knowledge transfer, inspiration, and exchange around transformative business forms, structures, and cultures (Module 2)

What it is: Virtual learning containers that expose participants to a variety of organizational forms, legal structures, and organizational cultures and stimulate inspirational conversations around these topics.

What it looks like: 

• minimum of 6 online sessions with experts in alternative organizational forms, legal structures, and organizational cultures
• interactive peer-learning format (Module 2)

Pillar B: Process Guidance

Format 2: In-depth guidance and systemic process support in the development of strategy and structures to implement the participating group’s vision and mission (Module 1)

What it is: Social innovation requires navigating a large amount of complexity. With this measure participants will benefit from direct consultation and systemic coaching to bridge the inspiration and ideation phase of their organizational design, processes and culture to implementation. Our program will achieve this by creating psychological safety to push boundaries and pursue solutions to big social and environmental problems.

What it looks like:

• 5-6 weeks program with 1-2 days per week 
• Individual support (Module 1)

Pillar C: Cultural Transformation

Format 3: 3-month transformative workshop series for Organizational and Inner Development (Module 1)

What it is: Interactive workshop series (1 day per month) that fosters facilitation of future-ready mental models and behavioral patterns along with other transformative skills needed to realize outer change.

What it looks like:

• Workshops that allow guided, experiential learning
• Combination of transdisciplinary design frameworks, somatics, and art that allow in-depth learning

Format 4: Peer-learning format to accelerate learning among all organizations that participate in the Transekt programs (Module 2)

What it is: Sandbox to experiment with democratic leadership and distributed ownership of their services. Here we explore the social and environmental benefits of cooperative business models and structures designed for the 22nd century. Given limits of growth and impending environmental transformation, we support organizations in finding sustainable interventions and solutions to their business needs.

What it looks like: 

• Monthly in-person gatherings with the representatives of all participating organizations serving as a brave space where individual struggles can be shared and innovative approaches can be tested.
• co-created space for reflecting on lived experiences incl. struggles and individual responses and peer supervision / case lab 

6.2.2 Implementation and timetable 

When will which measures be provided?

Each measure will be one component of the overarching program offerings to each of the 6 cohorts. Additionally, a co-design process will initiate the program design and development and a closing event will serve to document and display exemplary projects/initiatives which emerge from the process as well as to collect data regarding the ongoing initiatives of participants. We would like to host the closing event with participants and civil society organizations in attendance.

Desired Timeline:

– Spring 2025 — co-design of the program with partners and expert contributors (Mar.-May)

– Summer 2025 — first cohort (July-Sept.)

– Winter 2025 — second cohort (Nov.-Feb)

– Spring 2026 — third cohort (Apr.-Jun.)

– Fall 2026 — fourth cohort (Sept.-Nov.)

– Spring 2027 — fifth cohort (Mar.-Jun.)

– Fall 2027 — sixth cohort (Sept.-Nov.)

– Winter 2027 — exhibition & reunion (Dec./Jan.)

Each cohort will follow a journey that is imagined to take the following journey:

1. Screening of recruits for Social and Environmental Impact orientation.
2. Expert-led exposure to alternative business forms, models, and cultures (post- and pre-capitalist configurations).
3. Leadership and inner development (how do we work in these structures differently?).
4. Testing, research, insights (community-first approaches to common good enterprises).
5. Refine and define (committing to an alternative organization and institutional purpose and approach).
6. Measurement & Evaluation Design (equity-centered approaches to documenting impact).
7. Peer-learning formats, Expert Coaching, and Community-approval processes (applying what you have learned).

Outputs: design artifacts — service blueprints, organograms, system maps, stakeholder journeys, platform design toolkits, prototypes, social contracts, visual models, etc.

Next Steps: participant teams are prepared with strategies to move on to their MVPs, pilots, and launches.

 

6.2.3 Presentation of the novelty and added value of the measures

Format 1: Virtual speaker series

• Novelty: 
  • Alternative models of business form are often under-visible to potential social innovators
  • Our offer exposes entrepreneurs to a variety of strategies and methodologies to strengthen their capacity to focus on social and environmental impact and avoid the pitfalls of profit-centered institutions
• Added value: 

• overview and a better understanding of how redistributed ownership can be operationalized as well as what their potential is
• shifted perceptions of available options driving an expansion of possibilities from empirical examples and alternative narratives
• inspiration on how to adopt organizational designs and approaches which are appropriate for achieving their social and environmental goals
• access to a global network of experts
• opportunity to exchange with their peers and additional network actors who are implementing alternative forms of business to achieve socio-ecological impact

Format 2: In-depth guidance and systemic process support

• Novelty: 
  • Coaching provided by our networks of expert contributors to allow participants to get in-depth leadership through their specific cases challenges
  • This concept allows for uniquely customized support to ensure an appropriate fit for impact entrepreneurs and their beneficiaries 
• Added value: 
• Customized and in-depth process guidance towards customized organizational design, operating model, and culture (incl. new practices and principles) that meet the specific needs 
• Access to specialists network for individual advisory

Format 3: Transformative workshop series

• Novelty: 
  • Our program uniquely exposes impact leaders and organizations to less-visible, yet proved legal forms and organizational cultures
  • Participatory design approaches engage our participants in applied learning and allows for a practice-based pedagogy

• Added value: 
  • Better understanding of dysfunctional behavioral patterns and more equitable and just alternatives 
  • Expanded inner capacity to face mental, emotional, and cognitive challenges on individual and collective levels
  • Meta perspective that reveals alternative solutions to business-as-usual approaches proven to lead to mission drift and harmful outcomes

Format 4: Peer-learning format

• Novelty: 
  • Based on our research insights we have included this format to overcome negative social dynamics inherent in educational contexts
  • Peer-learning is also a means of deepening the knowledge of participants by encouraging them to work through their problems at eye-level
• Added value: 

• Broadened perception on individual possibilities 
• Inspiration and encouragement for alternative approaches
• Supporting didactics which further the learning process
• Adds a layer of community to the program experience which might otherwise be less concrete

6.3 Target group

6.3.1 Description of the target group and the planned approach (communication concept, channels, etc.)

We target impact entrepreneur teams (3 to 5 people per team) or initiatives which are driven by a strong vision to create social and environmental impact. These groups can be either early in their formation, or still yet to have established a legal structure for their organization. Our participants will need to have members that are competent in both English and German at a minimum level of B2 in order to receive the complex programming we will offer from both within and beyond the boundaries of Germany. We have access to some of the most informed and experienced social & solidarity economy experts and professionals from a wide array of disciplines. 

We intend to drive social innovation towards more social justice and equity. Impact driven entrepreneurs struggle to compete within established systems designed for traditional entrepreneurial pursuits. By supporting them in identifying legal/organizational forms as well as fit-for-purpose cultures that are appropriate for their intended impact, we believe that we can build their capacity to sustain the early stages of enterprise development. Characteristic to this group is a strong vision and purpose-driven orientation. They are also pioneers in their sectors with (disruptive) social innovation approaches.

Our program offering will consist primarily of digital delivery with some opportunities for in-person or hybrid events to facilitate the best degree of accessibility possible to participants from all regions in Germany. To find and approach teams who have the goal of building their own enterprises for the common good which can benefit from our services, we will leverage our network(s) and those of established accelerator programs that target similar organizations. 

Examples are:

• Previous applicants of accelerator programs such as “Kultur- & Kreativ-pilot_innen” that were not winners of the contest
• Participants of design prizes such as Saarland Design Prize
• Platforms such as F6S 
• Purpose Foundation, Doughnut Economics, Project Together, WEAll – Wellbeing Economy Alliance, Gemeinwohl Ökonomie, RegensUnite, MOOS, Biomimicry Germany, Platform Coops Germany, Genodigital, and Worker’s Buy-Out Brandenburg
• Other relevant partner organizations / networks (see below)
• Connect with IHK to identify new “Handelsregistereinträge” that pursue socio-ecological goals 
• Social Media ads targeting social entrepreneurs across Germany

We will use a mix of communication modalities:

• Direct 1-to-1 conversations (with partners and their networks)
• Participating in community calls of our network partners 
• Attend conferences for social innovation, platform coops and steward ownership (Spring / Summer 2025)
• Via our own Social Media pages / website
• Our partner OK Sorted will also be engaged in shaping our communication strategy

6.4 Planned impact and concept for its measurement / monitoring

6.4.1 Are there measurable target values?  What specific target values (e.g. number of participants) will be achieved by the measure? How are these measured/tracked?

Impact Statement and Measurement Plan

Our organization prioritizes equity-centered measurement and evaluation. Each of our participant teams will be guided through the design of their own context-specific approaches of M&E. Enterprises for the common good have many varied purposes and therefore require specially shaped approaches to understanding the impacts of their work. Aside from business metrics, our primary focus will be on supporting each initiative in identifying fit-for-purpose means of measuring their work from participatory evaluative frameworks to qualitative ethnographic methodologies.

• Enrollment, Attendance, Completion
  • We aim to enroll 5 to 7 project teams per cohort (30-42 teams across 3 years – preference given to teams of 3 to 5 co-founding members)
  • Teams will be required to have a minimum participation of at least one team representative in each of the program offerings
  • All assignments given throughout the program will be documented and stored to be eligible for completion of the program offering
• To evaluate the impact of our own program, we aim to measure and evaluate the change in readiness for Social Innovation using an Entrance Survey & Exit Survey designed to measure the confidence levels of our participants
• We aim to increase the # of Impact Entrepreneurs using alternative business forms and organizational cultures. To do this we intend to implement a longitudinal impact assessment – groups formed and sustained to 5 years mark (the average breaking point for traditional enterprises) will be compared to those who have enrolled, attended, and completed our program so that we can track the success of our program approaches 

6.4.2 What contribution does the measure make to increasing the overall social impact of enterprises for the common good? What methods are used to measure impact?

Impact Statement and Measurement Plan

Impact Statement:
The goal is to enhance socio-cultural awareness and understanding of alternative forms for Social Impact (SI) organizations through engaging content, thereby fostering a more informed and diverse community.

Metrics for Evaluation:

1. Increase in Socio-Cultural Awareness:
   • Metric: Entrance & Exit Survey Responses
   • Measurement:
     • Conduct surveys at the beginning (entrance) and end (exit) of the engagement period.
     • Compare the responses to gauge the increase in socio-cultural awareness.
     • Questions should assess knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to socio-cultural issues before and after exposure to your content.
2. Increase in Awareness of Alternative Forms for SI Orgs:
   • Metric: Views & Clicks on Media Content
   • Measurement:
     • Track the number of views on videos, articles, or any media content discussing alternative forms for SI organizations.
     • Monitor clicks on calls-to-action (CTAs) within this content that lead to more information or engagement opportunities.
     • Analyze engagement metrics such as time spent on pages related to SI orgs’ alternative forms.

Additional Metrics for Comprehensive Evaluation:

• Engagement Metrics: Likes, shares, comments on social media platforms where your content is shared.
• Conversion Rates: Percentage of viewers who take a desired action after viewing your content (e.g., signing up for newsletters, attending webinars).
• Retention Rate: The percentage of users who continue to engage with your platform or organization over time after initial contact.
• Feedback Forms/Surveys: Collect qualitative data through open-ended questions or feedback forms to understand perceived value and areas for improvement.
• Tracking and Documenting Application of Methods and: Collect qualitative data through open-ended questions or feedback forms to understand how various applications of social innovation regarding social and environmental impact are being used to solve which sectoral problems/challenges. (z.B. circularity, recycling, upcycling, bio-regional sourcing, biomimicry, etc)

Implementation Plan:

1. Develop Entrance & Exit Surveys with clear, measurable questions that can indicate changes in socio-cultural awareness.
2. Create engaging media content highlighting alternative forms for SI organizations.
3. Implement tracking mechanisms for views, clicks, engagement metrics, conversion rates, and retention rates.
4. Regularly review feedback from users to adjust strategies as needed.

By focusing on these metrics and implementing our structured evaluation plan, we can effectively measure the impact of our efforts on increasing socio-cultural awareness and promoting alternative forms for Social Impact organizations.

6.5 Description of the multiplier effect and cooperation with networks, cooperation partners and other regional actors in the ecosystem 

6.5.1 Describe the scalability of the measure. How can the measure be implemented in the long term?

The initiatives undertaken by our organization are designed to trigger a cascade of multiplier effects, amplifying our impact across various domains in Germany. Through strategic pursuits of relationships with foundations and civil society organizations, we aim to catalyze partnerships and sponsorships that not only bolster our financial resources but also foster collaborative environments where ideas and expertise are shared, leading to innovative solutions. Furthermore, our investment in digital capture of appropriate formats and distribution enables us to reach wider audiences, thereby increasing the dissemination of knowledge and best practices. This enhanced visibility, in turn, we hope will fuel business-funded research-oriented activities, driving advancements in critical areas. The outcomes of these research endeavors can then be channeled into publication sales, with authorship opportunities emerging as a byproduct, contributing additional revenue streams. Moreover, the establishment of our experts as thought leaders in their fields may generate speaker appearance revenues, creating yet another avenue for financial growth. As each of these elements flourishes, they collectively contribute to a self-reinforcing cycle of expansion and influence, exemplifying the potent multiplier effects that underpin our organizational strategy and sustainable impact.

6.5.2 Is there already cooperation with different actors in the ecosystem? What cooperation is planned with other (regional) stakeholders, and to what extent has this already been prepared (e.g. through the enclosed letters of intent)?

We are quite well connected in the spaces of cooperatives and social economy actors across ecosystems in Germany and abroad. We have some concrete partnership agreements to engage in the co-design of our program offerings, and upon the receipt of a funding confirmation have the intent to further pursue partners and sponsors for our activities. Contributions from our partners are to be further defined and concretized during our Spring 2025 co-design phase. We have already identified more than 20 organizations with whom we have overlapping mission and purpose but have made steps towards formalizing the following relationships already:

• #Genodigital – expert contributions, workshop provision, coaching
• Travelling University – expert contributions, workshop provision, peer learning formats, curriculum design, coaching, and space contributions
• Migrapreneur – expert contributions, workshop provision, peer learning formats, coaching, and space contributions
• Black In Tech – expert contributions, workshop provision, peer learning formats, coaching, and space contributions
• Hassler: DEI – expert contributions, workshop provision, peer learning formats, coaching, and strategy consulting
• OK Sorted – expert contributions, communication design, coaching, and strategy consulting