Jamie Graham
Mark Hughes
Taylor McGinnigle
Robbie Carter
Lewis Grierson
Glasgow Caledonian University
Alec Wersun
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Invisible Cities is a social enterprise based in Scotland’s capital city of Edinburgh, determined to shift the negative stigma surrounding homelessness. It aims to do so by running alternative tours of Edinburgh, conducted by individuals previously affected by homelessness or social injustice. In 2016, 35,000 homeless applications were received by Scottish authorities. Statistics like these provided motivation for Zakia and her team to combat homelessness and contribute to eradicating the problem within Edinburgh. The key points of this case study will outline Invisible Cities’ inspiration, their impact, innovative practices, as well as the social and environmental benefits.
Founder, Zakia Moulaoui, stated that “The main goal for us is to break down the stigma (surrounding homelessness) and empower people to grow their skills”. Amplifying this belief through guided tours encourages people to change their perceptions of homelessness, a clear example of paradigm innovation. The enterprise focusses on empowering individuals traditionally excluded from the labour market, by teaching them them how to positively repurpose their personal experiences and knowledge as a basis for working as a Tour Guide. The innovation encourages the wider public to think of homeless individuals as worthy citizens that have the ability to change their lives for the better. For the innovation to be successful, the tour guides had to be fully committed to bettering themselves. This ability to improve their skillset enabled them to make a difference to society.
By offering unique tours of interest to the tour guide, it helps to build the confidence of the guide. Zakia’s main goal is to improve the employability of tour guides, viewing the individuals that gain further employment as a “success story”. Due to the success of the organisation in terms of positively changing tour guide’s lives – such as Sonny and Biffy – this has driven the expansion into other areas of the UK.
For Invisible Cities, the future of the organisation relies on their ability to believe in the people they work with. Looking forward, Zakia aims to “develop into a sustainable organisation”. To gain a foothold within the tourism industry, the organisation looks to expand, further supporting the homeless and removing the stigma throughout the UK.
Zakia had previously worked as a director for the Homeless World Cup Foundation. This role took her around the world to see how organisations were using football and sports to help disadvantaged groups and what homelessness looks like in different contexts. Zakia felt apprehensive about providing support to those who were experiencing homelessness when she had never been affected herself.
On a trip to Athens with the Homeless World Cup, she saw the Greek equivalent of The Big Issue, Shedia. The Big Issue is an award-winning street magazine operating within the UK which offers employment opportunities to people in poverty. She was interested in how effective this organisation was in terms of empowering the vendors and increasing their living conditions and wellbeing. To her surprise, she soon realised that as well as selling street papers, the vendors also gave tours of the city. She went on a tour and loved it. Instantly she thought “Okay, we can do this in Edinburgh. It’s small enough to give a whole city tour and has loads of tourists”. On her return to Edinburgh, she met with managers from The Big Issue and articulated what Shedia were doing in Athens and proposed that vendors in Edinburgh could potentially do a similar thing. The Big Issue thought it was a good idea! However, they were unable to finance the idea, as they did not have the resources to do so.
Zakia took this as her opportunity to start doing something she felt would help benefit her local community. She quit her job in 2015 at the Homeless World Cup Foundation and since the summer of 2016 she has been running Invisible Cities. To recruit tour guides, she went to various organisations involved with homelessness, such as The Big Issue and Social Bite, and enquired if they knew anybody that would be suitable for the role of a tour guide. Once the guides were recruited, she teamed up with CRISIS – a charity which aims to eradicate homelessness. CRISIS were able to offer free initial training which developed the guides confidence, public speaking and group management skills. Each tour was selected based on the tour guide’s interests. This allowed the guides to be more passionate about their topic and provide personal anecdotes on the subject. Zakia claims that seeing her volunteers develop personally and regain their confidence after struggling with homelessness is the highest point in her life. She believes that everyone has the potential to be great and the reason she started Invisible Cities was to “create change around the stigma surrounding homelessness and bring people together, no matter their backgrounds, stories or problems.”
Invisible Cities innovation contributes to achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s). The goals relevant to Invisible Cities are:
Biffy and Sonny arrived at Invisible Cities with problems in their lives. Both had suffered with homelessness and drug addiction. Biffy and Sonny showed a desire to combat their troubles and better themselves. Through the opportunity that Zakia provided them, they were able to get their lives back on track. This was achieved through the aforementioned training provided by CRISIS, enabling them to carry out tours of Edinburgh. Through their endeavours, both have been able to successfully reintegrate into society. These developments have been showcased in their recent achievements. Biffy has enrolled in a college course, whereas Sonny recently won a public speaking award, gaining £500 for Invisible Cities.
As previously touched upon, Zakia’s main objective is to change the stigma around homelessness. She explained that “currently, if you’re a homeless person and you come to me and I’m a social worker, you will become my client and I will support you. What I want is for a shift in mentality so they’re no longer the clients, they are actors within the community.” This is a mentality that Zakia hopes will be conveyed to the customers who take part in the tour. This seems to be working, as 92% of the 1,400 customers who went on one of these tours feel that their opinion of the homeless was changed by the experience. Furthermore, 97% of customers said they were more informed regarding homelessness in Scotland after the tour. If these strong views continue to be imparted onto customers, Zakia’s goal of changing the stigma towards the homeless may be very achievable.
Invisible Cities has built a reputation as a responsible business that re-invests in the community. This has been done through their continued support of other social enterprises in the local area, such as the Grass Market Community Project and the Edinburgh Women’s Aid. This was reinforced in the interview as the founder Zakia stated that the company had made a turnover of “£30,000 but spent £29,800”, she also stated that as a “social enterprise you should spend all the money”. This continually allows Invisible Cities to create valuable relationships with other local businesses and authorities. This has resulted in the business being presented with opportunities which they may not have been otherwise - such as the Leith Chooses award in which the company has an opportunity to be awarded a £2000 grant if selected. However, Zakia believes the value gained from recognition within the local community is far greater than the grant money. As Invisible Cities continues to operate, Zakia aims to become more sustainable by “becoming less dependent on grant money”. This allows the organisation to sustain further development training and support which they provide to those affected by homelessness, ultimately contributing to the eradication of the aforementioned negative stigma.
The method in which volunteers are paid is a flexible matter. The volunteers all collect state benefits. These benefits are only given on the basis that the volunteer does not earn a monetary wage. If Invisible Cities opts to pay their volunteers a percentage of the revenue gained from the tours it results in their benefits being cut. However, Zakia has devised a method whereby if a volunteer is interested in a particular hobby, she will reward them with equipment related to the hobby. Therefore, technically the volunteer is not getting paid. However, they are receiving a valuable asset which creates “a way to develop their skills towards a professional path”.
The enterprise helps give the tour guides purpose in their lives. It helps give them hope and aspirations where there was perhaps none before. Zakia views her enterprise as a “stepping stone” to a better life. It allows the public to have an insight into a quirky, alternative tour of the city. This also allows the tour guide to express themselves, their interests and show the public that people that are homeless are also a part of society. It will encourage people to remove the label that society puts upon homelessness and will help increase awareness of the huge issue that Scotland is currently facing. Although Invisible Cities has performed tremendously well in raising funds for their enterprise to flourish, Zakia truly believes that the greatest achievement is the work that they are doing to shift the harsh stigma surrounding homelessness. In 2017, CRISIS carried out a study into members of the public’s opinions on homelessness. The study concluded that many members of the public believed that homeless people were victims of either bad luck or bad decisions.
Due to the nature of the organisation’s operations, there are few environmental impacts. However, Zakia highlighted that all the tours are led on foot throughout Edinburgh. Thus, cutting Invisible Cities carbon footprint and keeping vehicles off the busy city streets.
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Invisible Cities is a social enterprise based in Scotland’s capital city of Edinburgh, determined to shift the negative stigma surrounding homelessness. It aims to do so by running alternative tours of Edinburgh, conducted by individuals previously affected by homelessness or social injustice.
