The Social Enterprise and Biosphere Reserve (SEBR) Development Framework can be applied to any protected area and aims to provide a living document that will be flexible and adaptable in different countries and contexts, within their own norms, values and approaches. As such the Framework is designed as a route map towards the emergence of social enterprise as a means to promote sustainable economic development, in harmony with social and environmental sustainability. For this reason we have developed a Framework that looks at the importance of four key Factors - Public Participation, Social Enterprise, Social Investment and Sustainable Public Procurement.
The Framework can be used to plot the current context in a protected area, highlighting local strengths and weakness in relation to 4 key Factors. Once this mapping process has been carried out an Action Plan can be designed, relevant to the particular country and BR. It is likely to take around 3 years to establish the momentum necessary for this approach to become self-organising and so sustainable into the future.
Social capital underpins the whole Social Enterprise and Biosphere Reserve Development Framework (SEBR-DF). Social capital shapes the quantity and quality of our social interactions and how well we can act collectively to tackle issues in our lives.
It is therefore a critical resource for any intervention aiming to deliver lasting benefits.
The four factors which are key to the success of the SEBR-DF are: Social enterprise; Social investment; Sustainable public procurement; and Public participation.
Often protected area management staff hold core skills in conservation research and when it comes to an approach which includes sustainable economic development, there can be barriers to gaining support for its implementation within these areas.
Assist Social Capital have built strong partnerships within the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve community since initiating work in this sector in 2011. In order to accelerate this process ASC Co-leads and is Secretary of a MAB Thematic Network which is composed of experts in the field and meets quarterly to discuss progress and strategies to get social entrpreneurship on the MAB agenda.
ASC has also influenced the International Action Plan of the UNESCO Man and Biosphere Programme, the Lima Action Plan 2016-2025. The Lima Action Plan now includes supporting and including social entrepreneurs in the activities of UNESCO Biosphere Reserves. This has allowed ASC to have an officially recognised remit within the UNESCO MAB Programme, however progress to be accepted into such work streams has remained slow.