Bridging the gap : from “friends of” groups to social enterprise land

managementKate Swade

December 2013

A developing knowledge base

• Shared Assets’ work:– Woodland Social

Enterprise– Local Authority

woodlands & community management

– Collaboration – Community energy– Community led social

innovation– Project support

Growing and varied interest• Locality• Community Land Advisory Service• Co-ops UK• Plunkett Foundation• Transition Initiatives• National CLT Network• Social Enterprise UK• Woodland Social Enterprise Network• The Land Magazine • Stir Magazine • New Economics Foundation• Academic researchers

• Centre for Local Economic Strategies• National Association of AONBs• TCV• Woodland Trust• Soil Association• Oxford Real Farming Conference

What do we know about demand?

• Large numbers of small groups wanting access to land & resources

• Often informal• A range:– Traditional “friends of groups”– Organised, values-driven groups – People wanting to meet their own needs – Unorthodox groups

What do we know about supply?

• An openness to new approaches from (some) public landowners

• Linked to austerity and budget cuts • Localism agenda is helping provide legitimacy

& a framework• Enthusiasm from (some) individuals within

landowning organisations • Barriers to implementing new practices

What’s the gap?

• The big supply opportunity is on public land• Much of the innovation is informal • Bureaucracy and procurement procedures put

up barriers• Local authorities more used to dealing with

voluntary groups • General scepticism among landowners about

sustainability of social enterprises

How does growth happen?

• Innovation in land management and collaboration is happening

• How can this “scale up”? Different models… – Diffusion– Dissemination– Organisational growth – Supply side changes

How can we bridge this gap to really create new ways of managing land?

• Support replication of small organisations & business models?

• Support the growth of larger organisations?• Do we need new forms of governance and /or

legal structures? • Do we need new ways of supporting these

activities?