LabforCulture starts the autumn with a feature on Social entrepreneurship. Following on from the review of the financial crisis and the cultural sector, it wanted to focus on new trends in working practices, applicable in and out of the cultural sector.
In the cultural field, more people are working together across sectorial disciplines and in innovative ways. Bas Ruyssenaars from The Beach says in our featured interview, "We need to find new actions, more sustainability, we are in a cultural crisis, not only in a financial crisis, [and] because there is a lack of trust in institutions and organisations, and the values we agree on, there is a lack of shared meaning." Can cultural professionals play a role in changing that, it seems so according to the feature.
The Research in focus feature, prepared by Lidia Varbanova, editor of the Resources for research section, also looks at social entrepreneurship policy-making and the long term impact this may have on society and culture. With a breakdown of the leading social entrepreneurs you get an idea of whose at the top of the table and why. Added to this, we have another thought-provoking interview with Eva Moe from Swedish Knowledge Foundation examining entrepreneurship in society, and how this is a sign of the times. Cultural initiatives are examined and there is a section with a list of resources including videos, publications, organisations, online platforms and education programmes.
So is Social Entrepreneurship really a new phenomenon in the Year of Creativity and Innovation and are we all really facing up to solving and creating in different ways? Either way, you cannot afford not to read this feature.