Irene Bengo

Innovation systems are increasingly oriented towards the solution of societal and environmental problems. Social entrepreneurship can be regarded as a market-based actor, inherently aimed at finding solutions for these problems. The development of technologically advanced social entrepreneurship represents an outcome of problem-oriented innovation systems, requiring a closer link between social and technological innovation. Nonetheless, the literature has not yet explored a key element of these innovation systems: the technology transfer processes, which may enable social entrepreneurial organizations to act as innovation actors leveraging on technology. This paper investigates the relationship between the technology transfer processes targeting social entrepreneurship and different models of problem-oriented innovation ecosystems. The paper relies on a multiple-case-study design, including two problem-oriented innovation ecosystems in the Italian context, namely, MIND and Torino So...

This chapter aims to contribute to the debate about performance measurement and management in the social business sector through the analysis of the critical issues that arise in the implementation of impact assessment models in social business organizations. To this aim, the social impact measurement approaches, which are suggested in the literature, are analyzed and the strengths and weaknesses of different frameworks are highlighted. Then, the critical issues that could emerge in the implementation of social impact assessment practices are identified and discussed base on the case of an Italian social enterprise working in the education field, Cometa. Finally, the paper provides some guidelines and recommendations aimed to mitigate these critical issues.

Recent debate on VET, at both institutional and academic levels, points out the need for new approaches able to face the current and future challenges: (technical and social) innovation, attitude to lifelong learning, internationalization, literacy, among the others (Dato, 2017). A stronger partnership between the industrial and the educational systems is increasingly suggested (WEF, 2016). However, it is clear that rather than rooted only on work-based learning, the needed competences for the "unknown future" (Mulder, 2017) depend on new approaches able to stimulate in the students/apprentices a lifelong learning attitude (Pouliakas, 2017). This research, based on a case study analysis, aims at outlining the main elements of originality of a new approach called "reality-based learning" developed by Cometa Formazione-Oliver Twist School and measuring a set of KPIs to evaluate outcomes and social impacts of the approach. In this approach, both the professional tra...

The commitment to generating a blended value is increasingly spreading in the business sector. At the forefront of this movement, impact ventures are organizations born to produce value for the society, i.e. social impact, while engaging in commercial activities to sustain their operations. On the other end, we have observed an increased emphasis on more responsible, sustainable practices that traditional for-profit businesses have been called to establish. Accounting for and reporting on social impact has become increasingly of interest to a range of institutions and sectors, with the result that many competing methodologies, approaches, guidelines and standards have been introduced. The chapter performs a comprehensive review of existing approaches for impact measurement and management implemented by socially-oriented ventures (both not for profit organizations and for-profit businesses) focusing on both methodological, governance and operational barriers and enabling factors of t...

Over the last years, the Social Impact Bond (SIB) model has emerged as a new and innovative way for financing social programs. This work aims to assess the extent to which SIB model actually realizes its potential to overcome some of the shortcomings characterizing the public purchasing of social services. Therefore, the analysis has considered two aspects, which may affect the design and implementation of a Social Impact Bond: the specific needs of a policy maker in organizing the provision of social services and the social problem the services intend to tackle. After having (a) identified the motivations, which coexist in triggering the creation of a SIB and (b) several dimensions, which characterize the SIB design, the study, provides a review of the experiences in which the SIB model has been already applied, exploring the specific configuration used. Then, the study investigates the relationship between (c) how a SIB has been designed and the motivations that have triggered its...

Today there is an increasing need for Rare Earths (REs) due to their usage in numerous high-technology applications. Each of these applications requires specific RE elements and they are not all interchangeable. Increasing demand for the different products containing REs has resulted in a restriction of supply from producing Countries, particularly China, which currently produces 97% of the world’s REs. This constriction of supply is being met by the development of many new REs mining projects which are characterized, however, by technical, economic and environmental problems (Binnemans et al., 2013). Currently each EU citizen produces about 17 kg of Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) per year. According to European Union estimates, this value is expected to rise to 24 kg by 2020. These wastes are rich in precious and strategic metals and, in many cases, are characterized by higher REs contents than those of natural minerals. Accordingly, recycling can be considered a va...

Material complementari del cas estudi "Do-it-yourself approach as appropriate technology for solar thermal system: the example of CDF Medina, Dakar (Senegal)", part component del llibre "Case studies for developing globally responsible engineers"

Political and policy professionals responsible for the evaluation and improvement of Further Adult and Vocational Education (FAVE) are currently faced with a number of pressing problems. The first is that top-down, micro-managed approaches to the evaluation and improvement of teaching, learning and assessment in FAVE system, such as those currently used widely in England by the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted), incur expensive overheads which are becoming increasingly difficult to justify in terms of empirical and robust evidence of educational improvement. The second is that despite significant levels of public investment in FAVE in England, the return on this financial outlay has not yielded discernible value for public money in terms of actual improvements in the form of raised levels of achievement for learners. The former suggests that systemic approaches to the external evaluation and improvement of educational practice in FAVE are in urgent need of review. The latte...

Two natural smectite clays (STx-1b and SWy-2) were studied as solid sorbents for uptake and release of lanthanum. Since the obtained global efficiencies of lanthanum recovery were about 30-35%, the same considered natural clays were modified by intercalating a PEGylated ethylene diamine having chelating properties, in order to evaluate a possible improvement effect of the polymer. The pristine and the organo-clays were characterized by XRD analyses while the amounts of intercalated polymer and captured lanthanum were estimated respectively by COD and ICP-OES analyses. The results showed that pristine clays and modified clay had similar lanthanum uptake efficiencies while modified clays presented a better behaviour towards release processes, ensuring a recovery global efficiency of 43%.

Entro il 2015 la domanda globale di terre rare potrebbe raggiungere la cifra di 210000 t/anno [1] e, dal momento che la Cina detiene il 50% delle riserve mondiali, per poter soddisfare la domanda, la produzione annua non-cinese dovrebbe aggirarsi tra le 45000 e le 70000 t. Date, quindi, la criticità e la strategicità di questi materiali, nel testo si proporrà la raccolta dei RAEE ed il recupero delle terre rare in essi contenuti come contributo alla soluzione del problema, si riassumeranno i benefici che il recupero apporterebbe alla sostenibilità e all’economia e ci si focalizzerà, tramite analisi bibliografica critica, sulle tecnologie di separazione attualmente disponibili. Global demand for rare earths could reach the value of 210000 t/year by 2015 [1]. From the moment that China holds 50% of world reserves, non-Chinese annual production is expected to reach values between 45000 t and 70000 t in order to meet demand. To face the criticality and the key role of these materials, WEEE collection and recovery of contained rare earths will be proposed as a contribution to the solution of the problem. The work will summarize the benefits that the recovery could bring to sustainability and to economics and will focus on the separation technologies, through a critically literature review

In recent years, car-sharing models have undergone relevant changes, leading to the emergence of different operational models, managerial and technological solutions, and more in general different vehicle-sharing configurations. These models are able to answer in different ways to potential mobility needs, put forth by both individual citizens and firms, leading to the idea that vehicle sharing should be not conceived as a standard service. In this context, this chapter outlines the evolution of different car-sharing models emerged from the literature review and discusses Green Move configurations with specific reference to the condominium car sharing, the network of services, and the new business fleet.

This paper contributes to the current debate about Benefit Corporations, presenting the development of this organisational model in Italy, the first country to introduce this hybrid form after the US. Grounded on an institutional logic perspective, it provides a picture of the institutional dynamics that have characterised the rise of this new entrepreneurial form outside the US. The analysis provides an in-depth foundational study of the Italian case and highlights the relevant influence of different institutional pressures in explaining the rise of and constraints in the diffusion of Benefit Corporations. Empirically, it combines secondary data, available from different public sources, and primary data collected through interviews with a series of knowledgeable informants. Based upon the analysis, two aspects appear peculiar for the development of Benefit Corporations in Italy: the interplay between the Benefit Corporation legal form and the certified B Corp model, and the rise of...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to perform a critical analysis of the relationship between small- and medium-sized social enterprises (SMSEs) and banks. Based on the conceptual framework for the analysis of SME’s credit availability developed by Berger and Udell (2006), this study aims to contribute to the current debate in two ways: first, outlining the characteristics of the lending technologies currently used by banks and financial institutions to evaluate SMSEs when they apply for credit; and second, discussing, based on the results of the empirical analysis, the coherence of these systems from the social ecosystem perspective and identifying areas for possible improvement. Design/methodology/approach The paper develops a conceptual framework based on the model proposed by Berger and Udell (2006), which defines the characteristics of lending technologies that banks use to evaluate SMEs, and applies it to the case of SMSEs. To study the interplay of these lending technologie...

This paper presents a roadmap to support the development of social impact bonds (SIBs) in Italy. Current barriers and opportunities are explained. SIBs should be piloted in areas where the cultural, ideological, technical and governance barriers are low. Accurate measurement systems will be necessary and an effective governance structure needs to be agreed. With careful piloting and follow-up, the SIB model could be a solution to welfare and public service funding in Italy.

In order to develop an effective method for appropriate technology diffusion, as in the solar water heater (SWH) case, the technical aspects (appropriate technology) and the planning aspects (stakeholders participation, training, and skills transfer, etc.) are both fundamental. Appropriate technologies must always take into consideration many aspects beyond the purely technical so that they can provide beneficial social, economic, and environmental impacts on the local context. This paper examines a multi-stakeholder participative approach that is focused on SWH technology diffusion and application. The integration of multiple stakeholder roles in the local context has been proposed and applied to the “Centro di Formazione Medina” (CdF Medina) or the “Medina Training Center” project and extended to the Medina neighborhood in Dakar (Senegal). The introduction of a codesign method involving engineers, engineering students, local stakeholders, and migrants, coupled with the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) technique, has been tested and recently implemented locally to permit the start-up phase of diffusion and local repeatability among trained artisans. Furthermore, with the involvement of local partners, stakeholders, and Senegalese migrants, the idea of creating a local and artisanal enterprise of SWHs has been developed, and a feasibility analysis has been carried out.

In the last decades, the issue of energy access has attracted increasing attention from both academic and practitioners and the debate has gone beyond purely technical issues, raising the interest of the public opinion and private citizens. Particular attention has been given to the question: how private and public organizations can ensure energy access to everybody? From this perspective, this Chapter aims to analyze and discuss three cases of social proactive organizations in the energy sector in order to highlight how they have succeeded in combining social values with environmental and financial sustainability. New business models aiming at reaching low-income communities with efficient and sustainable energy systems should take into account all social aspects linked to the energy supply chain from production, distribution to final use and ensure the active participation of local communities. This ensures that energy access initiatives lead to effective results in terms of industrial and manufacturing activities but also contribute to improve health, education and livelihoods.

Poverty is widely considered as the major problem in the socioeconomic development of Pakistan. The main objective is the alleviation of poverty through the start-up of a microcredit system in the Walled City of Multan for the promotion of income-generating activities and the rehabilitation and strengthening of local arts and crafts. A theoretical and practical research methodology is applied to investigate the most suitable microcredit model for the local context. The study briefly analyzes economics of microcredit affecting the efficiency of the market as well as its improvement mechanisms and their applications. Subsequently the conventional microcredit lending methodologies (interest based) and their potentials in Multan were examined. Authors have conducted two levels of analysis to explore the strategic environment and the peculiar aspects of local context. The former is a field research to observe the unsatisfied local needs and the cultural and religious norms influencing the success of the initiative, and the latter is a desk analysis to assess the macroeconomic factors affecting program achievement and its sustainability. The study deepens the Islamic financial principles and related lending methodologies for tailoring the proposal on the cultural, social, and economic characteristics of the potential demand. The study suggests two different models to guarantee not limited access to loans. The first model is the “Poverty Reduction Project” aiming at poverty eradication and social inclusion promotion. This model is oriented at satisfying the needs of the lower market segment including “ultra poor,” poor, and vulnerable people (almost 55 % of Pakistani population) through the adoption of Akhuwat’s model. The “Poverty Reduction Project” has the double aim of preventing vulnerable people to fall into poverty and helping poor people to rise from poverty by providing interest-free loans for the promotion and support of income-generating activities. Proposal products are of two sorts: infrastructure loans and business loans. The second model is the “Handicraft Model,” developed by an interdisciplinary team of work, that has the purpose of financial inclusion of craftsmen. It is oriented at the higher market segment composed by “quasi nonpoor” and provides loans through the adoption of Murabaha model. The clients served by the Handicraft Model are small entrepreneurs. Main objective is supporting, aggregating, and promoting best practices of handicraft production for exporting opportunity. In this case the full cost of loan provision is charged to the borrower. Akhuwat is chosen as local partner for its social innovative business model, based on the vision of interest-free loans to economically poor. Both models are based on individual lending methodologies. By means of family loans, Akhuwat demonstrates that it is possible to reach very poor people through individual loans. Furthermore, individual lending seems to better fit the needs of people working in a productive urban context as the Walled City and allows to reduce inefficiencies nested in group loans historically applied in Pakistan.

Social impact investing (SII) is a strategy of asset allocation that aims to generate social and environmental impact alongside a financial return. Compared to other approaches of sustainable finance it holds an enormous potential of generating solutions to societal challenges. However, scholars have claimed that social impact often just employs logic upheld by the mainstream investment approach. Therefore, the paper investigates the assumption that SII has not developed a distinctive implementation strategy able to translate the prioritization of social impact into practice and how to overcome this issue. The thematic analysis of data collected through 105 interviews with Italian SII financiers and the top managers of social ventures allowed us to identify three features of an SII tailored practice: promoting a cultural shift of intermediaries, adopting a coopetition approach, and integrating the social impact in the terms of the financial transaction. Lastly, the paper drafts a re...

This paper presents a systemic methodology by which engineering is put to use in vulnerable communities through applied technological research and the main results of its application. The methodology presented corresponds to one implemented and designed by two groups of Engineers without Borders in Europe and Latin America, to integrate technical know-how with local context in communities with water problems in Colombia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The main results of this methodology are related to the improvement of the living conditions of vulnerable groups thanks to the integration of the communities’ knowledge with engineering know-how, leading to autonomous communities and engineering professors and students learning from real life problems to enrich applied sciences.

Department of Management, Economics and Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, Milano 20133, Italy E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] *Corresponding author ... Department of Industrial Engineering, ...