Showing 1-2 of 2 results for glasgow caledonian university
Showing 41-60 of 93 results for glasgow caledonian university
The innovation of Crisis was to utilize their previous expertise and provide a counselling service that was affordable for all and caught those “who fall through the nets”. Crisis aims to remove the time and geographical restrictions that are faced by public bodies and to ensure that patients are helped back to full health. Following on, Crisis provides its services to a range of people from children, military personnel, and migrants among others.
The innovation of Crisis was to utilize its founders' previous expertise and provide a counseling service that was affordable for all and caught those “who fall through the nets.” Crisis aims to remove the time and geographical restrictions that public bodies face and to ensure that patients are helped back to full health. Following on, Crisis provides its services to a range of people from children, to military personnel, to migrants.
“We’ve taken professional coaching into a virtual and digital space, making it accessible for young people”
Inspiralba’s emergence occurred via entrepreneurial innovation from the founder, Ailsa Clark. By applying her pre-existing knowledge and experiences from working both freelance and within the local council, to a new, similar context. The business model was simple according to Ailsa, “To still have the same business model working freelance that I did previously, generating income and surplus to reinvest in different projects by simply changing the environment to working within a social enterprise”. Inspiralba’s work exemplifies the real-world application of Sustainable Development Goal 9 “Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure” by fostering innovation within rural communities.
The work of FVSE contributes to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4: Quality of Education, by providing young people in the local community with the opportunity to participate in training programs.
The innovation can also be related to SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth. Annually, FVSE organizes Stirling Highland Games which directly contributes to growth within the local economy through ticket sales for this event. According to FVSE’s own report on The Economic Impact of the Highland Stirling Games, the event has had a direct economic impact on Stirling’s local economy of £379,877.
Finally, FVSE contributes to SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being for people by promoting positive mind-sets among participants on the programs, leading to an improved skillset and greater confidence.
According to Green, the innovation of Instant Neighbour is trying to break the cyclical nature of foodbanks. In the case of Instant Neighbour, its foodbank has seen second and third generation of the same family return. Green’s perspective of this is that “food parcels does nothing but apart from making you less hungry for a couple of days. Doesn’t solve the issue.” She is glad that companies like ASDA or Tesco are investing money into organisations like FareShare, which redistributes surplus food to foodbanks however remains doubtful of this solving the problem. In Green’s eyes, this only kicks the can down the road and does not solve the core issue.
Weekday WOW Factor is an innovative concept built on the principles of public health and occupational therapy (OT). As an occupational therapist Pasna, believes that “healthy occupations lead to healthier outcomes” in terms of people living better for longer.
Pasna uses her OT knowledge and experience to design and deliver fun but meaningful activities to promote better health. The fun aspect encourages clients to participate in activities they would not normally engage in.
Through the assistance of two mechanics, who are former beneficiaries of the café, the project has developed into an enterprise where they develop a product that can be sold to the public with proceeds going to benefit the project.
The Callander Youth Project Trust acts as a Social Innovation, whereby business solutions are implemented to tackle social problems. Through the development of a hostel, cafe and function hall, CYP is able to reinvest funds, along with external investment, to deliver a range of innovative programmes which help to advance the rural community of Callander.
“Unity is a Scottish Charity providing services and hosting catering businesses which operate as Social Enterprises. The cafés provide fresh, low cost food to customers, offer training and work experience to adults and young people with learning disabilities, work placements to young people at risk of exclusion or facing barriers to the labour market, and we also provide food free at the point of need to individuals and families experiencing homelessness and poverty. “ (Unity, 2018)
The innovation is providing access to the arts for people with disabilities who would otherwise be unable to get involved. Studios also provides their services in order to fund the work of the charities behind the studios.
CFINE is an organization driven by the needs and aspirations of the people in the North East of Scotland. At the core of the organization there exists a commitment to the local community, and a belief in social equality. This way of working drives constant innovation and enables CFINE to deliver projects different from many other social enterprises. The organization continually adapts and develops programs and services to meet the changing needs of the community. They began with the aim of reducing food poverty and hunger, and have grown to offer a wide range of support services. Each support service addresses a different social issue and the organization believes all of these issues are connected. CFINEs CEO Dave Simmers believes “this is what makes the organization different from many other social enterprises across the country,” there is no limit to the number of issues they aim to tackle.
In the beginning CFINE set out to improved health and reduce hunger through its network of food co-ops. Now the organization addresses a wide range of social issue through its educational programs such as a community training kitchen and workshop called Cook at the ‘Nook, which offers healthy-minded cooking classes. There are experts on site to offer financial advice on issues like debt and budgeting. The ‘Roots and Shoots’ project supports ex- offenders through, letting them gain work experience. CFINE is also a member of the Syrian Refugees Action Groups in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire. Finally, new for 2017 is ‘Tuk In’, an innovative development using an electric tuk tuk to promote healthy eating and reduce food waste.
In addition to the innovative projects, CFINE has built relationships with several support organizations in the region. This network enables CFINE to give and receive substantial support, significant retailers and their supply chains provide vast quantities of food that enable the organization to deliver its FareScheme.
Ships such as the Falls of Clyde have opened the seaways for the new designs of the British Merchant Fleets of the 20th Century. Once up on a time described as the fastest steam ships and turbine powered innovators of their days. They assisted Britain in establishing themselves as the seafaring, trading capital and supplier of goods globally, that put the “Great” before Britain. Ships generally tend to be given a 25-year life span. However, as the 140-year-old “piece of eye candy” that currently resides in Honolulu, it has been said that her iron armour is what has saved her for such a long period of time. David O’Neill sought out to not only bring back a piece of Scotland’s heritage home, but to bring her back to life. Through the means of social platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn, Mr O’Neill has been able to create a high and unexpected level of interest. The plan for this ship, is to bring her to her homeland (Scotland), restore her, not only to return her to her magnificent original state, but to use the latest technology through engineering ingenuity to create a sustainable and versatile vessel. The Falls of Clyde is expected to take between 3-4 years to restore and rebuild. However, during and upon completion, she is set to generate jobs, value, education and wealth. The ship will be equipped with the best equipment, the latest technology in navigation and communication aids and brought back to life to do what she does best, sail the ocean. The project aims to rejuvenate the last surviving member of the Matson Navigation Pacific Fleet. Through innovation and creativity, the possibilities for this 140-year-old ship are endless.
The Hub's innovation is their delivery of service. The utilization of volunteers is unique and provides real change within the community. As a business, The Health and Wellness Hub offers a variety of health and wellness activities within the community, including their own more inclusive versions of popular therapies such as their 'Flow and Slow' initiative. Every aspect of the organization is carefully designed to be as inclusive as possible.
Realising money is an issue for many, especially in areas of multiple deprivation, they looked to make money a non-issue. Money is not the only disadvantage they look to lessen. The organisation runs an intensive Volunteer Development program and support programs aimed at individuals who may have several support needs.
ReJIG, who are in the process of re-branding to Islay Development Initiative, is a social enterprise based on the Scottish island of Islay, dedicated to protecting the surrounding environment and creating jobs for locals. The island’s economy relies heavily on tourism, with the population tripling in size during Fèis Ìle, a festival held during the summer. Many visitors come to enjoy and experience the scenery, unharmed beaches and the surrounding marine life first hand. ReJIG realised that the environment was of vast importance to the tourism and other sectors on the island, and thus identified a commercial opportunity.
Through the collection and re-use of non-cash donations, beach cleans, recycling and pollinator initiatives, ReJIG have successfully met their own targets. In total, 323 tonnes of waste have been collected from beach clean ups and ReJIG have increased their workforce from one employee in 1999 to 13 by 2018. Furthermore, in 2017, ReJIG became a profitable organisation with turnover exceeding £80,000. This was through entrepreneurial initiatives and government grants that have been spent wisely, with any surplus being re-invested in to the organisation, thereby ensuring ReJIG’s sustainability. They have now expanded into a fully-fledged company and undated their constitution to embrace changes in legislation around community right to buy and community asset transfer.
The innovation which occurs at Giraffe in this instance relates to their business model which has been developed and improved since its implementation. One of their main purposes is to offer valuable work experience to those involved and the innovation allows them to do this in a unique way. For example, on their main site there is a training kitchen and a garden centre which offers multiple scenarios in which someone can gain work experience. The organisation also has a smaller secondary location which is strategically located outside of a popular bus station which brings a large attraction to the workplace. Although, it would seem that work experience was the forefront of the company’s mission, in the interview it was emphasised that “As well as the work experience, we aim to have an extremely supportive environment.” There is no single goal at Giraffe; there is a multitude of goals which all aim to achieve one thing: improving an individual’s chance at getting a job.
Their most recent innovation emerged as a result of identifying a method to accurately identify an individual’s needs in terms of confidence, levels of training and employability experience. This innovation is called the Giraffe Journey, an employability program which is set up to gain an understanding of an individual’s specific requirements so they can be focused on more. The reason for this innovation was stated as “identifying an individual’s needs, improving on these, allowing the individual to grow and ultimately get a job in the community.”
ACU's ethos is to create and promote a
culture of tolerance and inclusiveness by providing opportunities, work experience and sustainable employment for people
with convictions and multiple barriers to employment, whilst at the same time delivering quality
services at competitive prices.
They describe their work in the following way “Apex Scotland’s work is about reducing re-offending, promoting desistance, tackling deprivation and making communities safer. In all that we do, we make best use of our resources to bring lasting value to individuals and society”.
‘Car Club’ is an ERAC innovation that automates the car renting process. Through the ERAC Car Club app, customers can rent cars or vans in their area for short periods of time, giving customers a more cost effective and flexible alternative to renting a car in branch for a full day. Customers pay a £20 sign up fee, which is given back to them in credit, and car rentals start from £4.50 an hour.
It directly contributes to solving Sustainable Development Goal 11, as it encourages the use of low emission vehicles in cities making them more sustainable places to live. Additionally, the concept contributes to Social Mobility as it helps to bring communities together through giving people alternative, affordable travel options located where these communities need them most.
Veolia’s innovation involves the implementation of a new Thermal Hydrolysis Plant to break down (human) waste materials with the purpose of harvesting them into clean water and energy efficient power. The concept is based on extreme heat and pressure breaking down input materials and ultimately releasing valuable gases to be utilised/exploited in different ways. As discussed with Veolia representative, Lisa, this transformation from unusable material to a vital and beneficial product has, and will continue to, allow environmentally sustainable power sources to become more commonplace.