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If you're looking for a way to boost your community's sense of place, researchers at Gustavson University in Sweden have just the thing.
They've developed a set of five principles that community leaders can follow to "revitalize their communities despite socio-economic and environmental challenges," in the words of their book, Revitalizing Place through Social Enterprise.
The five principles are: Promote community leaders: They "play a critical role in catalyzing others to help drive positive changes and nurture pride in the community," the authors write.
They also "often do so by launching social enterprises or other initiatives to advance the community's interests by, for example, building leadership capacity in others."
Embedding compelling stories: Positive stories "can provide hope and counter negative, self-defeating discourse in places impacted by economic decline," the authors write.
On Fogo Island in Newfoundland and Labrador, for example, the Shorefast community group "often repeated positive messages about Fogo Island's history and culture in presentations and in interviews with media," the authors write.
Be financially viable: "Social enterprises recognize the value in the assets of their place and leverage them, even when others do not," the authors write.
Selected Grant News Headlines
A customized collection of grant news from foundations and the federal government from around the Web.
Asset manager Nuveen says it has raised $170m for a new fund that aims to make a positive impact on the world, the Guardian reports. The fund, called the Nuveen Climate and Social Credit Fund,...more
When Danielle Biggs graduated from North Carolina's Elon University in 2014, she planned to pursue a career in dance. Instead, she became a senior director at Aon Corp., a role that allowed her...more
"We've spent the last few years putting into place a stellar team of professionals to guide Linc into our next phase of growth, bringing innovation and new ideas that will carry our mission...more
Foundation: Friedman Charitable Foundation
Chicago'sbel Friedman is known for his philanthropy, but it's what he and his wife, Avi, have done for Chicago's Jewish community that's caught the attention of the Chicago Tribune. The couple...more
Susy Struble is running for a seat on the Piedmont Union School District Board of Education in Northern California, and she's making a point to say she's not running for the money. "I'm running...more
Foundation: MacArthur Foundation
"We are thinking about the whole arc of what it means to support an artist," says Creative Time CEO Jill Magid, "not just the final product, but those moments of community building, those moments of...more
Square Financial Services, a Utah state-chartered industrial bank, opened applications for the 24 Squared grant initiative in partnership with the Community Foundation of Utah.The program will award...more
When Stan Rosenberg founded the Arts Extension Service at the University of Massachusetts in 1960, he envisioned it as a way to "develop and nurture arts and culture in communities and community...more
The Zilber Family Foundation has been around for more than a decade, focusing on affordable housing and community development in Milwaukee. Now it's adding two new members to its board,...more
When Jack and Joseph Mandel decided to donate $10 million to the United Way of Greater Cleveland in 2022, they didn't just give it to the cause. They gave it to the endowment they started in...more
Community Building News from...
Wells Fargo Foundation
New Hampshire Charitable Foundation
Community Foundation of Southeast Kansas
Dallas Foundation
Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation
Greater Washington Community Foundation
Rhode Island Foundation
Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta
California Community Foundation
Arizona Community Foundation
Social Entrepreneurship
Spotlight
Colombian Social Entrepreneur Hopes to Shake and Change the World
Young at 24, Juan David Aristizabal Ospina is a social entrepreneur who founded Buena Nota, a platform that accentuates social entrepreneurs and citizens in Colombia making positive changes and raising awareness about social problems that need to be addressed.
