In March 2017, the British Council secured £90,000 in funding from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to support a one year extension of its social enterprise programme in Lithuania.
Called Socifaction, and informed by UK experience and expertise, the programme is a key element of the FCO’s ‘People to People’ project in the Baltics. It is designed to stimulate sustainable economic development, engage with Russian-speaking communities, and foster social cohesion between diverse linguistic communities.
Socifaction supports the growth of social enterprises in four ways.
It works with ministries, municipalities and other stakeholders to develop supportive policies and implement a National Social Entrepreneurship Action Plan.
It also operates a social business accelerator programme which offers training and mentoring for social enterprises, notably in ethnically diverse and rural areas.
Additionally, the programme introduces social enterprise education in Lithuanian schools using lessons and activities adapted from the British Council’s Social Enterprise schools pack. The FCO’s funding will, in part, support an expansion of this activity from 10 pilot schools last year to institutions across the country this year.
Finally, the programme raises awareness of social enterprise through a national and local media campaign.
Together, these activities promote the competences, networks and favourable political environment to support the growth of social enterprise in order to deliver sustainable development and support individuals from diverse communities to work together around common agendas.
Find out more about how the British Council works to support social enterprise development around the world.
June 2017
