Scotland CAN B exists to build a nationwide culture of business as a force for good, as a catalyst for place-based systems change.
It is the first national programme of its kind.
Scotland CAN B was launched in 2018 in partnership between the Scottish Government and B Lab UK as an initiative to combine a nation’s vision to become a leader in innovation & entrepreneurship, with a growing global movement of business as a force for good.
Since then we have engaged businesses, intermediaries, educators, investors, policy makers, and entrepreneurs on the journey to increasing awareness, understanding and management of business impact.
Inspired by B Lab's Best for Cities, and joined by the new global initiative Cities CAN B we are a programme which widens know-how across cities and nations to foster systemic change - in line with the Scottish National Performance Framework and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
In August 2020 we published our Learnings Resource Deck where we outline what we have learned so far about ecosystem work in Scotland and engaging with place-based approach to economic systemic change. Our current focus and offering for 2020/21 is Impact Trainings for Business Advisors and Consultants.
Please visit our Impact Trainings to learn more.
Impact Expertise and Contributors.
Collaboration and engaging collective intelligence is a fundamental approach to our work.
We thrive ideating with inspiring professionals, and are grateful to those who contribute their time and expertise (as Ecosystem Partners or as part of our Impact Leaders community) to the co-design of our offerings for Scotland.
Programme Team
Delfina Zagarzazú, Innodriven
Elle Adams, Living Alive
Kali Gibson, Impact Consultant
Tim Hartley, Impact Ready
Advisors
Josiah Lockhart, First Impact
Katie Hill, B Lab Europe
Chris Turner & James Ghaffari, B Lab UK
Cities CAN B Global Team
Impact Training Contributors
Sarah Deas, Wellbeing Economy Alliance Scotland
Fran Van Dijk, One Stone Advisors
+ more to come!
Strategic Partners.
B Lab UK is a non-profit that provides B Corp certification for UK-based organisations that use business as a force for good. Values are based on positive impact on society and the environment, and how each business promotes constructive, action-led change towards a fairer and more inclusive economy. This is done by reaching a threshold using the B Impact Assessment, a rigorous set of measures that consider workers, governance, environment, community and customers. Once certified, businesses become part of global community of more than 2,500 other B Corps in over 50 countries.
Scotland CAN DO is a shared statement of intent towards becoming a world-leading entrepreneurial and innovative nation. It articulates an ambition, shared with public, private, and third sector partners, to see Scotland become a world-leading entrepreneurial and innovative nation.The principle that growth and innovation go hand-in-hand with wider benefits to all of society - that growth should be for more than growth’s sake – is embedded at the core and underpins a range of work throughout Scotland’s rich ecosystem.
First Impact supports enterprises to embed social and environmental impact into the heart of their business. Drawing upon the wider knowledge and experience of the Firstport for Social Entrepreneurs Group, which supports entrepreneurs develop over 1100 ideas every year, FirstImpact offers a consultancy service to early-stage and growing enterprises helping them to understand how to embed social and environmental impact whilst remaining a sustainable business.
Cities CAN B is a global movement of cities working to be more prosperous, sustainable, inclusive and resilient, by facing the global challenges embodied in the Sustainable Development Goals, but acting locally, responding to the most relevant issues of each city. Cities CAN B engages all the participating sectors of the city; citizens, companies, government, entrepreneurs, social innovators, academia and civil society, to promote together a cultural change that redefines the way we assume our responsibility and our impact on the cities we build and inhabit.
Our Ecosystem Approach
We have worked to capture the learnings from our last 3 years explaining our methodology and theory of change (see our Learnings report under Resources). This has strengthened our focus to provide a honed offering of two clearly defined, yet interdependent strands; Impact Trainings and Impact Culture, based on feedback and ambition of our stakeholders. At the heart of our approach lies continuous, open and inclusive communication with the entrepreneurial and business ecosystem to deliver collective intelligence. If you would like to get involved don't hesitate to reach out through our contact form below.
