Welcome to the project website for 'Between Social Activism and Social Enterprise: Socio-legal Support Structures for Grass-roots Responses to Climate Change.'
Concluding outputs, including a full recording of our entire 2016 conference, which subsequently led to the creation of the New Economy Network of Australia
The project timeline 2012-2016 concluded with the launch of the policy discussion paper 'Where are the community enterprise lawyers?', the publication of a law journal article in a special issue on climate change entitled 'The Socio-Legal Implications of the New Politics of Climate Change', and a closing project conference in August 2016 (Building The New Economy: Activism, Enterprise and Social Change). The conference has since occurred annually, and led to, in January 2019, the legal incorporation of the New Economy Network of Australia Cooperative Ltd which is open to the public to join as members. The project also led to collaboration (with Bronwen Morgan and Amelia Thorpe as co-editors plus seven other contributors) on a book-length special issue of the Journal of Law and Society entitled Law for a New Economy: Enterprise, Sharing, Regulation, published in 2018.
Note: the content on the project website below has not been updated since the project end
The project timeline 2012-2016 concluded with the launch of the policy discussion paper 'Where are the community enterprise lawyers?', the publication of a law journal article in a special issue on climate change entitled 'The Socio-Legal Implications of the New Politics of Climate Change', and a closing project conference in August 2016 (Building The New Economy: Activism, Enterprise and Social Change). The conference has since occurred annually, and led to, in January 2019, the legal incorporation of the New Economy Network of Australia Cooperative Ltd which is open to the public to join as members. The project also led to collaboration (with Bronwen Morgan and Amelia Thorpe as co-editors plus seven other contributors) on a book-length special issue of the Journal of Law and Society entitled Law for a New Economy: Enterprise, Sharing, Regulation, published in 2018.
Note: the content on the project website below has not been updated since the project end
- Project Update: December 2016
The project formally came to an end on 31 December 2016. Its outcomes have helped to shape the legal and regulatory environment for ‘new economy’ innovations with a social and ecological focus. In particular, contributions were made to three facets of this environment in particular. First, the project team were involved in ongoing debates about whether Australia should introduce hybrid legal models for companies that make it possible to blend aspects of for-profit and not-for-profit legal forms have appeared in many other countries. UNSW Law collaborated with the Social Enterprise Legal Models Working Group, producing a policy report, templates to assist in choice of legal models and a webinar. A related workstream has now been established in the Centre for Law, Markets and Regulation to continue this work. It will also incorporate the related work of Marina Nehme and Fiona Martin who have shaped the legal and regulatory environment for crowdfunding, indigenous corporations and charities through research, policy dialogue and government submissions.
Second, the project stimulated debate about the gap in affordable legal professional advice for budding social entrepreneurs in Australia, launching the report Where are the Community Enterprise Lawyers? at the inaugural conference on Building a New Economy in August 2016 in Sydney, co-hosted with the Australian Earth Laws Alliance. This conference led to the creation of a New Economy Network for Australia (NENA) who will host a follow-up conference in September 2017, and work on the report’s recommendations will be taken forward by the Law Working Group, one of 13 new working groups created under the Network.
Third, the project made sector-specific contributions to the growing community energy sector in Australia. Declan Kuch worked with Pingala Cooperative, who successfully raised member finance from community investors in renewable energy to erect solar panels on the rooftop of an innovative craft brewery in inner Sydney. Jarra Hicks’ PhD research (2014-2017) is documenting the role of legal structures, economic practices and community engagement in Australian and Scottish community energy projects, which has fed into her sector and policy work in this area, particularly through the Community Power Agency, the Community Energy Congress and the Coalition for Community Energy.
The research also had a comparative dimension based in Bristol, UK. Policy work in the UK led by Caroline Bird mirrored the three contributions made in Australia, producing election-related briefs on plural corporate forms, policy briefs and reports on green social enterprise, a community and policy workshop on the broader new economy landscape and as well as assistance to the community energy sector via co-produced reports and acting as Chair of the Board of Bristol Energy Network.
Project Update: Winter 2015
Our project had – appropriately – a very active few months over Winter 2015, making links with a diverse array of entrepreneurs and enterprises. In May 2015, Bronwen and Declan co-taught the inaugural version of a new option on The Legal Framework of the Sharing Economy, a Masters/JD level option open to students in Law, Public Policy, Development Studies and International Relations. The students developed group projects on topics as diverse as crowd-funding, seed-sharing and impact investing which they collectively presented at the end of the course.
In July 2015, Jarra attended the project meeting of the exciting ICSEM project, which is developing a global qualitative comparative database on social enterprise, with participants from over 90 countries contributing data. Later that month, Bronwen was interviewed by community radio on the sharing economy, and Bronwen and Declan co-hosted two workshops with the Australian Sharing Law Network for sustainability enthusiasts, organisations and projects as well as the professionals that advise and support them, especially legal professionals.
The first workshop, Building the Sharing Economy, brought together 26 organisations and people interested in supporting sustainability through cooperative and sharing projects, for a lively discussion on the challenges related to law and governance experienced by these projects. Held in Brown St Community Hall in Newtown on Thursday 23 July, the participants included indigenous organisations, artists, actors, lawyers, social enterprise consultants and a range of sharing projects related to food, housing and employment.
The next morning, a roundtable on Building the Australian Sharing Law Network held at UNSW Law brought together 8 legal professionals from small firms, solo practice and entrepreneurial support services to brainstorm ways of responding to the felt needs and demands expressed in the community-based workshop of the previous day. Together the two workshops strongly demonstrated a shared sense of a gap in affordable and relevant professional support around law and governance for small-scale community-based cooperative and sharing projects and organisations.
Our project had – appropriately – a very active few months over Winter 2015, making links with a diverse array of entrepreneurs and enterprises. In May 2015, Bronwen and Declan co-taught the inaugural version of a new option on The Legal Framework of the Sharing Economy, a Masters/JD level option open to students in Law, Public Policy, Development Studies and International Relations. The students developed group projects on topics as diverse as crowd-funding, seed-sharing and impact investing which they collectively presented at the end of the course.
In July 2015, Jarra attended the project meeting of the exciting ICSEM project, which is developing a global qualitative comparative database on social enterprise, with participants from over 90 countries contributing data. Later that month, Bronwen was interviewed by community radio on the sharing economy, and Bronwen and Declan co-hosted two workshops with the Australian Sharing Law Network for sustainability enthusiasts, organisations and projects as well as the professionals that advise and support them, especially legal professionals.
The first workshop, Building the Sharing Economy, brought together 26 organisations and people interested in supporting sustainability through cooperative and sharing projects, for a lively discussion on the challenges related to law and governance experienced by these projects. Held in Brown St Community Hall in Newtown on Thursday 23 July, the participants included indigenous organisations, artists, actors, lawyers, social enterprise consultants and a range of sharing projects related to food, housing and employment.
The next morning, a roundtable on Building the Australian Sharing Law Network held at UNSW Law brought together 8 legal professionals from small firms, solo practice and entrepreneurial support services to brainstorm ways of responding to the felt needs and demands expressed in the community-based workshop of the previous day. Together the two workshops strongly demonstrated a shared sense of a gap in affordable and relevant professional support around law and governance for small-scale community-based cooperative and sharing projects and organisations.
Discussion of our Bristol headlines report with some comparative commentary:
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