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There are a lot of things you can use video telephony for: discussing business strategies with external advisors, staying in touch with your partner who currently lives on the other side of the world, randomly getting connected to strangers at Chatroulette. In such cases you normally already speak the language of your counterpart. But why not use the full power of such trans-boundary websites and try learning a whole new language?

Glovico.org connects you with native speakers in Latin America and Africa via Skype and provides fair-trade, real-time language lessons in French and Spanish. This new approach offers some advantages, compared to a “normal” language lesson. First, you don’t need to leave your house – instead you just have to log in with your Skype account. Second, the lesson is a private face-to-face session, where only you and your teacher interact with each other via webcam and headset.

Third, a lesson is pretty cheap and costs around seven Euros per hour. Fourth – and probably the best argument for choosing Glovico.org – you provide an additional income for people who really need it. Plus, you learn a lot of about the culture of the country your teacher lives in. Well, as you can see, I’m quite enthusiastic about the idea. So maybe, at this point, it makes sense to hand over to Tobias Lorenz, founder of Glovico.org, to find out more about the business concept and his plans for the future. Let’s get started!

Could you tell us in a few words what Glovico.org is all about?

The idea behind Glovico is to combine a social cause – to help people in developing countries – with a business case that will allow us to work sustainably. We want to draw upon the specific competencies of these people and therefore offer private language classes in Spanish and French via Skype with native speakers. Some of our teachers already work in language schools; others get teacher trainings from us to develop their competencies. Apart from providing additional income to our teachers we also want to foster intercultural dialogue and make the case for a more entrepreneurial development cooperation.

How did you get the idea?

I am doing research on social entrepreneurs at the base of the pyramid (people turning over less than $2,50 per day). And what I find particularly distressing in that environment is that, although there is a bunch of entrepreneurs with good ideas, they struggle a lot to get access to our markets. Furthermore I was very inspired by the whole idea of using information technologies to alleviate poverty. Then it just struck me one night that language skills are a real win-win opportunity. The teachers can earn money with their particular competencies while the students get a decent service at an affordable price point.

How long did it take to set up Glovico, all in all? How did you find teachers?

It took us about a year and I had help from so many friends and colleagues that I can’t even name them here (thanks to all of you once more!). And although it was a very work-intense year I felt energetic as rarely before. Once you are really burning for an idea it becomes highly addictive. Better be aware of that right from the beginning [Laughter].

Regarding the teachers I followed two strategies: In Latin America I contacted language schools where I myself had been learning Spanish before when I had been travelling there. The French teachers were harder to find: I wrote a job description for E-French teachers and sent it out to my colleagues and friends. Some weeks later I had some 20 applications. Unfortunately internet connectivity is still a major bottleneck in Africa and we couldn’t admit all of them to the platform. Yet, I found it amazing how easy it is these days to get in touch with great people all around the world.

Who is mostly using Glovico? Do you have a certain/typical kind of student?

As we are still at the start we don’t have “typical” users yet. Some students are at university, others are young professionals. In general they are aged somewhere between 20 and 40, concerned about social issues and interested in foreign cultures. By the way, a trial lesson is free on Glovico.org so why don’t you just give it a try and get to know our teachers yourself?

What kind of feedback do you get?

The feedback is amazing and people from all over the world send me emails and encourage me. This is really something that gives me a lot of energy. What I find particularly interesting is how other people are still very hesitant regarding the idea of social businesses. Some don’t get the idea of being a business that needs to sustain itself while still having the primary intention to change the world. Others seem to consider it slightly dumb to not want to make profits with the idea. It is very inspiring to challenge these old-fashioned polar worldviews.

Is learning French via Glovico a bit like learning English while living in Australia? After a while, you can speak the language, but you’ve got an accent that differs from the Oxford English you usually learn at school?

Well, of course African French differs a little bit from the French spoken in Paris. Nonetheless, the accent is rather minor. In my experience the accent is far stronger if you look to Canada for example. We included the accent in the rating of our lessons. In this way it will become obvious over time which teacher has least of an accent.

Glovico.org provides fair, cheap and intercultural language courses. On the other hand, not all of your teachers are fully educated…

Sorry for interrupting you on that one but this is something I am very sensitive about. The teachers that sign up for Glovico.org are part of a global middle class and have some educational background. Some even have quite an impressive teaching experience, while others have worked in office jobs and are now looking for additional income opportunities. Clearly, we are not (yet) out for the poorest of the poor, but rather for individuals that are very talented and just can’t fully capitalise on their skills in the countries they are living in. Apart from that our teachers are offered teacher training to fully realise their potential.

Do your teachers provide advanced French/Spanish courses on a special subject, like Management or Business English?

This is an area we want to move towards in the future, but we are not yet fully equipped for at this point in time. Our strength lies in conversational classes as well as lessons on various grammar and vocabulary issues. But if you look at the classical situations where you might need business Spanish, such as negotiations, you see that the real crucial part is to understand the culture of your counterpart. And in intercultural issues we can be of excellent assistance to somebody intending to do business in Latin America or Africa.

Teachers get an appropriate payment; students get the opportunity to learn from native teachers at a reasonable price. But how does Glovico.org profit from that? Where do you make your money?

We charge the teachers a per lesson fee for arranging the classes, taking care of the financial transactions, billing and marketing the service. Our main cost block in that respect at the moment is the money transfer. For the African countries we still have to rely on Western Union to disburse money to our teachers which costs us around about 15% of the sum to be transferred. Therefore at the moment we charge a teacher 2€ per lesson. Yet, if we ever made profits these would go into financing microcredits for future teachers to acquire netbooks, webcams and internet connections as well as further teacher training and school projects. We want to spice up high school French lessons through free video conferences in order to sensitise high school students to the world’s economic inequalities. The intention is to offer this to the schools for free while still paying the teacher.

Do you have any plans to expand your range of languages?

Indeed this is in the pipeline, so stay tuned. Apart from that there are some other recent developments that we are really looking forward to and want to roll out in the second half of the year. We are looking forward to an exciting summer!

What a small place the world can be! In the course of her field research, Kerstin Humberg from Hamburg met Samantha Morshed, who, as some of you might know, writes for our partner blog “ClearlySo in Bangladesh”. Both of them are excited about social business, and they exchanged lots of thoughts and ideas. Some of those we would like to share with you, but before we start, some information about Kerstin and her research project:

After finishing secondary school, Kerstin completed a journalism education facilitated by the Catholic Journalism School in Munich. Before studying Economic Geography, Politics and Psychology in Hamburg she worked five months for the German Press Agency (dpa) and the Second German Television (ZDF) in South Africa. Since January 2006 she has been working for an international business consulting firm. Up to April 2011 she will be on educational leave from her job in order to focus on her Ph.D. in Economic Geography at Cologne University, which is where Muhammad Yunus comes in…

In the context of her research on “Poverty Reduction through Social Business – Lessons Learnt from Bangladesh” Kerstin is collaborating with the Yunus Centre in Dhaka. Actually, Kerstin just returned from a 5 months field research in Bangladesh, where she prepared two social business case studies  on “Grameen Danone Foods Ltd.” and “Grameen-Veolia Water Ltd.”. Her research is financed through a Cusanuswerk scholarship for doctoral studies.

Our interview with Kerstin will show the similarities and differences between the German and Bangladeshi understanding of social business. But in the first place it is an article about Kerstin and her exciting research project.

Why did you decide to write your doctoral thesis on “Poverty Reduction through Social Business - Lessons learnt from Bangladesh”?

Inspired by Muhammad Yunus’s book, Creating a World without Poverty - Social Business and the Future of Capitalism, I realized that a dissertation on social business would be a fascinating opportunity to combine my interest in development topics with practical business skills and knowledge. I got really excited about the potential opportunity of social business as a new market-based approach to reduce mass poverty in developing countries.

Could you briefly tell us something about your field research in general?

Sure. At the heart of my dissertation are two case studies; one is covering Grameen Danone Foods Ltd. (a social business trying to fight malnutrition among children in rural Bangladesh) and the other Grameen Veolia Water Ltd. (another Grameen social business addressing the high incidence of arsenic poising and other water born diseases in Bangladesh). The case studies’ purpose is to explore the ground realities of high-profile social business examples in order to generate lessons learnt for future social businesses working in similar contexts. In both cases, I am conducting a business model analysis as well as a livelihood outcome appraisal. While the business model analysis aims to identify major challenges in business operation and mitigation strategies, the livelihood outcome appraisal employs rapid appraisal techniques including focus group discussions with all relevant stakeholder groups (e.g., suppliers, residents, customers).

What were/are your experiences with social businesses in Bangladesh?

Bangladesh can be considered as a laboratory for social business. Yunus’ Grameen Bank and his joint ventures with multinational companies such as Danone, Veolia or BASF might be the most famous examples. However, alongside Yunus, a vast number of private social entrepreneurs is exploring new sustainable models in the fields of waste management, information technology, rural employment generation, tea production or education for street children. Check out the websites of Waste Concern, CellBazaar, Hathay Bunano, Kazi Tea or StreetWise.

Do they all have the same understanding of social business?

No. The general idea of finding sustainable business solutions to societal challenges is an appealing, but extremely broad concept. Everybody seems to have a slightly different understanding of the term. While Yunus is defining his joint ventures with multinational companies such as Danone or Veolia as “no loss, no dividend” businesses with a social purpose, the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) is running its own profitable “social enterprises”. BRAC is describing them as a “unique model of sustainable business that defines corporate social responsibility”. The biggest debate is however not around the wording, but around the distribution of profits: Where does the profit of a social business go, and what proportion (if any) should be distributed to investors?

Do you think social businesses can actually contribute to fighting poverty?

Yes, they can. My research indicates that they can contribute to poverty reduction in terms of the sustainable livelihoods approach. They can create access to economic opportunities, positively affect poor people’s economic, human or social capital and reduce their vulnerability to stresses and shocks. To give an example: Although the net income effect for Grameen Danone’s sales ladies (distributing yogurt in rural villages) might be limited to 50-100 Taka (i.e. 50-100 Euro Cent) per day, they benefit from having a regular source of income, new social capital related to their formal job, more freedom to move in public space, and an improved self-concept. During one of our focus group discussions one sales lady said: “I had never been to our neighbouring villages before. Now people know my name and invite me for lunch”. Another woman said: “If you contribute to your family’s income, your husband will love you”. However, as early social business examples are still struggling to achieve profitability, their reach and impact is limited so far.

In the course of your research, you met Muhammad Yunus, the often-called “Banker of the Poor”. What impression did he make on you?

Professor Yunus is an extremely charismatic man with impressive communication and marketing skills. At the same time he is very much down to earth. Whenever we sit together to discuss my research, he behaves like my former Economic Geography professor – asking challenging questions, giving advice, making jokes. But he always stays focused on his overall goal: Creating a world without poverty.

What is the difference between social business in Bangladesh and social business in Germany? Is there a difference at all?

In Germany the term social business is strongly linked to Yunus’ way of thinking and collaboration with multinational companies such as BASF, Otto or Adidas. This is however only one kind of social (business) entrepreneurship – which is why I would prefer to call it “Grameen social business”. In Bangladesh, Yunus’ concept seems to be less famous than in Germany. When I asked Yunus for the reason, he said: “It’s not surprising, because people in Bangladesh basically think knowledge always came from the west. They don’t pay attention to somebody who is doing crazy things next door”.

Let’s say I wanted to set up a social business, but had to choose to do this either in Germany or in Bangladesh. Which country would you recommend?

It depends on your social mission and networks. If you want to reduce mass poverty, you might want to go to Bangladesh. But make sure that you find local partners with market and customer insights. Otherwise it’s extremely challenging to create a low-cost driven social business model with a promising value proposition for the poor. If you want to combine your philanthropic motivation with a professional future in Germany, try to connect with social entrepreneurs or get in touch with institutions such as Ashoka.

Social businesses: a replacement or a supplement to charities?

A supplement; social business is a new way to overcome societal challenges in addition to existing business and charity approaches. Projects based on philanthropy will always depend on external support. Once the money is spent, it is gone. In a successful social business the money can be used much more effective in the long run. However, traditional charity has its own value and will always be needed for ultra poor that do not have a single cent to spend on a social business product or service, or in response to natural disasters, famines, etc.

What is your view on a social business concept that integrates social (environmental/ethical) and commercial objectives (like profit maximization) and therefore differs from Muhammad Yunus’s approach?

Any social business requires a profitable business model, but in a “Grameen social business” the social mission always comes first. With reference to other concepts, the question is to what extent profits are maximised within the boundaries of the social mission and how they are used. Who is benefiting how and why? As soon as economic value creation (e.g., shareholder value) starts to dominate, I would rather call the organisation a socially responsible business or a business practicing corporate social responsibility.

Sebastian Backhaus is a German social entrepreneur and marketing specialist. On his blog www.sebastianbackhaus.de, he regularly writes about media, marketing, sustainability and innovation in Germany. He founded the company ‘Backhaus Marketingberatung’, a PR and advisory firm based in Freiburg, Germany, with focus on sustainable marketing for social businesses, NGO’s and charities. Mr Backhaus gladly agreed to be featured with an interview on our blog and to share his insights of the development and innovations in the sustainability- and social business sector in Germany.

Mr. Backhaus, could you introduce yourself and your enterprise ‘Backhaus Marketingberatung’ in a few words?

I hold a Masters in business administration with a focus on media and communications and I am the founder of ‘Backhaus Marketingberatung’. My work essentially involves two basic components: On one hand I create communications concepts for companies, charities and NGO’s as well as providing advisory services. On the other hand, as the project manager, I apply those concepts and implement them via a well established network of consultants. As regards to contents, I specialize on sustainable businesses and enterprises. We provide all traditional communications aspects and recently broadened our focus to the online and social media sector.

Your focus lies on sustainable products and services, that is, you primarily advice social and ecological start-ups. Do those companies have special needs that you intend to satisfy?

Generally, social and ecological start-ups require the same support and advisory services as traditional companies. However, there can be differences. For example in terms of the basic inventory we provide. A number of questions arise here: How can a company find an internet provider that hosts their website carbon neutrally? Or how can I find ecologically produced office equipment?

Furthermore, it is important to have the know-how of the relevant target groups that demand social and sustainable products and services. For several years, I’ve not only been involved in the development of media in this regard but also with the respective target groups and their needs.

How do you proceed in creating publicity for such sustainable companies? Is there some sort of ‘best practice’, a formula that guarantees success?

I don’t think there is a formula for success. Alongside the more traditional fields such as PR and advertising, marketing measures that aim for a dialogue with potential customers have proven successful. This can be corporate blogs or social media channels, such as Facebook, Twitter and Youtube - just to name a few.

Those new modes of communication are valuable for a number of reasons: First, sustainable companies are generally interested and willing to communicate honestly and to create transparency, as well as being thankful for feedback from customers and partners. In addition, [online marketing using web 2.0 tools] is relatively fast and low cost compared to traditional ways of advertising. By using web 2.0 applications the target group is able to distribute the contents further. After all, people enjoy telling their friends and relatives about products or companies they like.

What comes to your mind when you think of the term ‘social business‘?

Spontaneously, a number of terms come to my mind: Future, Fairness, Profitability and Sustainability. In principle, a social business integrates commercial with social targets. A social business not only aims to sustain itself but to provide a social asset, too. Its objective is that of serving humans.

The social business model was primarily introduced by Nobel Peace laureate Mohammad Yunus, founder of (among other things) the ‘Genesis Institute for Social Business and Impact Strategies‘.

What do you think are the strengths and weaknesses of these social businesses?

I believe that social businesses enjoy a high credibility on the market as well as trust among consumers. The major aspect surely is the social benefit of this business model. Companies that bridge the gap between commercial targets and social objectives (and ideally integrate ecological aspects), are in the long run more successful and more resilient to crisis than traditional companies.

The weaknesses lie, in my opinion, in the initially higher prices of products or services of a social business. That is either due to more cost-intensive production or lack of experience in a certain field.

What are the themes of your blog www.sebastianbackhaus.de?

When I started this blog I chose ‘Marketing‘ ‘Media’ and ‘Sustainability’ as umbrella terms. Principally, those terms still apply to this day.  The themes I use are manifold, but mainly center around ecological or social impact. Posts range from from interviews with companies, to reports on organizations, events, conferences and products and to introductions of campaigns, videos, e-petitions and book reviews.

In general I write about things that interest me and which I think the public should know about. My  sources include newspapers, magazines, TV, radio, blogs, websites, recommendations by friends, Twitter and Facebook, just to name a few.

What is the aim of the two maps depicting ‘sustainable blogs and journals’ and ‘sustainable businesses’ on your blog?

The map of sustainable blogs and journals is based on a list created by Michael Wenzl for the website www.bioemma.de. Shortly after seeing this list I created a map to show where the different bloggers live. It’s nice to see that it is working and that it leads from online to offline. With this map, I was able to meet some of the bloggers in real life.

The second map of sustainable businesses and organization evolved from a similar idea. I asked myself, whether there are any social businesses in Freiburg and if I could include them in my blog. I began with conducting interviews with those businesses but, due to time constraints, I include business descriptions too, as of now.

Do you think that the number of social and sustainable businesses in Germany will increase within the next years? And if so, why?

Yes – but not only for altruistic reasons. In case of finite resources it is just a matter of time that people will reconsider and change to ecological alternatives. However, that doesn’t necessarily include the social sector. One can only hope that there will be enough reasonable people. I do not have recent figures with regards to the development of social and sustainable business at the moment, however I do know a fair number of people in search for a meaningful work. For some this may lead to the formation of a business which incorporates commercial, ecological and social objectives.

To see more videos, please visit us on YouTube.

Financing, business economics, statistics, accounting, mathematics, human resources, marketing. Subjects like these can be found in the timetable of more or less anyone who has decided to study business at university. It would be in the timetable of someone who will maybe become a social entrepreneur in the future, because he wants to change the way things are and to help others. Or someone who will never get the chance to learn about all the opportunities available in this sector, because he will simply never come across terms like ‘sustainability’ or ‘ecological management’. He will probably learn about CSR and the Code of Conduct and find out that a lot has changed for the better during the past few years. But, sadly, in the course of his studies, he’ll never discover that he can actually help people and run a business all at the same time.

An isolated case, you might think. But guess what: This student is not alone. He’s got a friend. This friend has decided to study Social Work, and learns about mediation, self development, social perspective strategies, social psychiatry and intercultural communication. She likes her studies but, for some reason, she wants to something more entrepreneurial at the same time. She just doesn’t know how to do it. So both students are in a dilemma, because they can’t find the connection between doing business and tackling urgent issues like poverty, hunger or climate change. They know that the concept of social business can work out, somewhere and somehow, and they have heard of Mohammed Yunus…but Bangladesh seems a bit far away. Too far away. As does the idea in general. So they’re going to forget about the idea. And continue studying as if nothing had ever happened. The End.

Hold on: Isn’t it possible to bring together both groups? To teach them how to deal with social and environmental problems in an entrepreneurial way? To describe to future business economists the different social fields of activity in which they can work? To tell the future social workers about the positive side-effects of dealing with poor or handicapped people using words like profit and growth? To really challenge both kinds of student, to encourage them to choose a social problem of their own and to let them come up with a business plan that addresses this problem?
The answer is: Yes, there is.

And where can you find such a possibility? In Nuremberg, Bavaria (state in the south of Germany), more precisely: at Georg Simon Ohm University of Applied Sciences. The seminar is called “socialbusinessideas – Social Responsibility as Business Opportunities”, and Prof. Dr. Susanne Weissman and Alexander Zeitelhack were kind enough to tell me what it’s all about…

If you have a social business you would like interviewed or wish to contact one of the authors in general, please email: schmucker.hans(at)gmail.com or juliansartorius(at)googlemail.com.

To see more videos, please visit us on YouTube.

There was a time when things were not going well for hessnatur. Amidst the dot-com-crash and resulting economic fallout, Germany’s leading manufacturer of natural clothing had to discharge one quarter of its employees. When mail order giant Neckermann took over the company in 2001, people wondered whether hessnatur would really stick to its roots or, more precisely, its sustainable standards.

But today, roughly eight years later, skeptics can breathe again. Despite the fact that a lot of companies have been badly hit by the credit crunch, it seems that the market for organic goods in general is booming. hessnatur, again employing around 320 people, offers a large range of different organic clothing products and has been showered with awards such as the “Positive Award” in 2008 (at Public Eye on Davos, a critical, non-profit-orientated counter-event to the World Economic Forum), the German Sustainability Award 2008 in the “buying” category and the Minne 2009 Sustainable Marketing Award. Having heard so much praise for this company, I wanted to find out why the company from Butzbach (located right in centre of Germany, 40km north of Frankfurt) is considered to be such a pioneer.

Founded way back in 1976 in Bad Homburg by Heinz Hess, the business concept has always been as simple as it was innovative: Provide consumers with pure, natural clothes that have not been chemically treated, ensure environmental sustainability in every step of the supply chain, and design products that not only look good but also meet environmental and hypoallergenic criteria. Sounds quite manageable, but in reality it’s a long process that’s still ongoing. hessnatur is unique, because its whole value added process is unique. Take the creation of a t-shirt, for instance: At hessnatur, this really basic piece of clothing is made of cotton seeds that have not been genetically modified and that have grown up on pesticide-free land. Workers can spin the yarn, cut and sew the clothes under humane working conditions, thanks to a special monitoring system that has been set up together with the Fair Wear Foundation and the Clean Clothes Campaign. Plus, chemicals that could probably contaminate the local environment on site are not used in the process of knitting the fabric and dyeing the t-shirt.

And it’s not only the manufacturing that makes hessnatur such a pioneer. It’s the consistency. The head quarter building in Butzbach, for instance, was built in the mid-90 from an anthroposophical point of view: No toxics, no air-conditioning, 100 % bioenergy. Employees take their lunch in an organic café and customers visiting the store can shop in a pleasant atmosphere, thanks to a stamped clay-wall that cools down the room. Speaking of the customers: They come from Germany, Austria, Switzerland or, most recently from the U.S., and get their products delivered from the catalogue or the online shop. Apart from the store in Butzbach, hessnatur has got two more shops: one in Munich and one in Hamburg. The company also has European expansion plans for its online and catalogue operations.

A couple of months ago, there was again a time when things could have become bad for hessnatur. Neckerman’s and hessnatur’s parent company, Arcandor, had to file for bankruptcy on June 9th. The fear of losing the job returned. But on the very same day, Wolf Lüdge, CEO of hessnatur, gave the all-clear: the company is in the black and neither directly nor indirectly affected by the insolvency. None of its employees will lose their job. Having these news in mind, I met the good humoured managing director at his office roughly one month later. To find out what he thinks about social responsibility, monitoring systems and the social business sector in general, please watch the video.

If you have a social business you would like interviewed or wish to contact one of the authors in general, please email: schmucker.hans(at)gmail.com or juliansartorius(at)googlemail.com.

To see more videos, please visit us on YouTube.

Social business: Such a great word, so many different interpretations. When writing to Max Wittrock (head of PR and one of mymuesli’s three founders) for the first time, he got back to me quite quickly and said: “Well, of course you can do an interview, but we don’t think we are a social business.” He referred to the definition of the Grameen Bank (where an entrepreneur has to approach and solve a social problem in order to become a social entrepreneur) and was quite surprised that ClearlySo uses a slightly different definition of the term. Anyway, I finally managed to get to mymuesli’s well-hidden office on the outskirts of Passau, Bavaria, to talk with Max and the other young and friendly company members.

Before watching the video, some short information on mymuesli:

Founded in 2007 by three former students, mymuesli quickly became Germany’s probably most hyped and frequented Internet start-up and won a whole series of awards: enable2start award (Financial Times Germany start-up award), BayernOnline award and start-up of the year 2007 award (voted by the German Start-Ups jury). The idea is as simple as it is clever: In a country where cereals play such an important role in breakfast culture, why not give the customers the opportunity to customize their own muesli,. And why not offer exotic ingredients as well such as Quinoa Flakes, Goji Berries (regularly sold out, though) or Gummi Bears? In a fast-growing commercial world of customisation and individualisation (just take Nike’s iD shoes as an example), mymuesli’s successful story showed that an idea like this can really work out. Plus, one of the most crucial parts: everything is 100 per cent organic. Since 2008, mymuesli has started to sell its products in the UK, too.

If you have a social business you would like interviewed or wish to contact one of the authors in general, please email: schmucker.hans(at)gmail.com or juliansartorius(at)googlemail.com.

To see more videos, please visit us on YouTube.

I met Dr. Wolfgang Strengmann-Kuhn on a stormy day at his Frankfurt office to discuss the “Green New Deal Tour”, an innovative approach to solving the financial crisis.  Strengmann-Kuhn is a well known figure in Germany but, for the benefit of readers outside Germany, I will introduce him.

Who is Dr. Wolfgang Strengmann-Kuhn?
Wolfgang Strengmann-Kuhn is a member of the Bundestag for “Bündnis 90/Die Grünen” (Germany’s Green Party),a party forecast to get around 12-13 % of the votes in the upcoming national elections. Strengmann-Kuhn is also the main spokesperson for the Green New Deal Tour Hesse.

What is the Green New Deal?
The Green New Deal refers to the comprehensive package of economic programs that Franklin D. Roosevelt introduced in the early 1930s as an immediate reaction on the Great Depression. This so-called “New Deal”, which included the deployment of  large amounts of public money, bank and monetary reforms and the introduction of a social insurance system, was picked up on by the UK-based Green New Deal Group and put into a modern context. In July 2008, right at the beginning of the credit crunch, the group published a report that consisted of views and recommendations on how best to tackle the current climate, financial and energy crisis. These recommendations, actually already policy proposals, ask for:

• A new set of regulations international finance
• The creation of “green collar” jobs
• A larger stake of renewables in the energy mix through a large governmental stimulus package
• More realistic fossil fuel prices that include the cost to the environment.

The crucial point, according to the report, is to think of all current crises (financial, environmental, social) as one: a triple crunch that has to be fought collectively. This idea was taken up by Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen, adjusted slightly and presented at last year’s Green Party congress (Bundesdelegiertenkonferenz) as the Green Party’s answer to the breakdown of the economy.

And what actually is the Green New Deal Tour Hesse all about, then?
In the course of the Green New Deal Tour, Strengmann-Kuhn visited numerous businesses in Hesse (a state in Central Germany) that fulfil the expectations of the Green Party in terms of sustainability and green management. Declared objectives of the tour were to network, to learn from those companies, and to show that, even within a credit crunch, “green” ideas can by all means be in the black.

Strengmann-Kuhn told me that he purposely visited a sample of different companies to point out that doing business in a socio-ecological way is already feasible in almost any sector. Furthermore, he added that, on a macro economic level, it’s important not only to back exemplary businesses, but to also visit other businesses that are hit by the crisis in order to sit down together and think about new “green” options to help them in their struggle to survive and thrive.  He has published a position paper asking for a sustainable and effective use of natural resources, a modernization of the industrial policy and comprehensive governmental investments.

In the interview, the politician talks about impressions he gained during the tour, and about educational investments that he considers as a necessary means to combat the credit crunch.

If you have a social business you would like interviewed or wish to contact one of the authors in general, please email: schmucker.hans(at)gmail.com or juliansartorius(at)googlemail.com.

Welcome to “ClearlySo in Germany”! The aim of this project blog is to find out more about the social business and enterprise (SBE) sector in Germany. As well as introducing general issues related to the German social business sector we will ask questions like “Are there more companies that act on a sustainable and organic level in Germany than elsewhere?” and “What kind of social businesses actually exist here?” The content of the site will be both video and written interviews with social entrepreneurs, professors, politicians or experts.

About the authors:

Hans Schmucker finished his degree in Online-Journalism / Online-Public Relations at the University of Applied Sciences Darmstadt and currently lives in South Hesse. After several internships in both journalism and PR- and freelance work at organizations and companies like Hill & Knowlton, Städel Museum, TU Darmstadt Racing Team, Software AG and Echo Online, he decided to do another 4-month internship at ClearlySo to learn something about the social business and enterprise (SBE) sector.

He gained valuable experience during that time and was especially involved in the PR and communications work. He started wondering why so many people were aware of the terms “fair trade” and “charity”, but not of the social business and enterprise world. So he decided to find out if there actually is a SBE sector in Germany and if so, how far it’s already been developed

Having finished his studies as a visiting student at the University of London by the end of May 2009, Julian Sartorius decided to do an internship before returning to Germany to complete his curriculum in Philosophy and Cultural Management as an undergraduate at the Witten/Herdecke University.His keen interest in sustainable and socially responsible business development led him to pursue a two month placement at London based ClearlySo, the worlds’ first online marketplace for social business & enterprise, commerce and investment.

Julian currently resides in his home town in Freiburg and reports on socially minded businesses, conduct interviews and to create public awareness for the social business and enterprise sector in this region.

Contact Details:
If you have a social business you would like interviewed or wish to contact one of the authors in general, please email: schmucker.hans(at)gmail.com. or juliansartorius(at)googlemail.com.