From research to the real world: how can academics develop social ventures to benefit society?
By Ana Lemmo Charnalia, Senior Business Manager at UCLB
There are many ways to describe what a social venture is - and most definitions carry the basic idea that it is a business that uses its surpluses to achieve social objectives, for instance by reinvesting the profit into the business or donating it for the benefit of the community. Social ventures are increasingly recognised as one of the key mechanisms for addressing the world’s most pressing social and environmental challenges, as well as helping to maximise the impact of research. Well-known examples include: The Grameen Bank, founded by Nobel Peace Prize Winner Professor Muhammad Yunus, which offers access to small loans (microcredit) without the need for collateral; The Big Issue, which aims to dismantle poverty by creating opportunity through self-help, social trading and business solutions; and Divine Chocolate, a Fairtrade chocolate company co-owned by farmers in Ghana.
With the support of UCL Business (UCLB), more and more UCL researchers are exploring social ventures vehicles or partnering with social ventures across the themes of UCL Grand Challenges to bring about social change. I explore some of the most recent ones below.
Paint from coal mine waste
Few people would have seen exciting potential in waste residue from polluted mine water — but UCL artist and academic Onya McCausland was inspired to develop a unique and innovative range of paints from this waste. With the support of UCLB’s social ventures offer, she created a Community Interest Company (CIC) helping to connect former mining villages with their heritage.
Onya’s interest was sparked through visiting former mine sites whilst studying for a PhD at UCL’s Slade School of Fine Art. She discovered that polluted water from decommissioned coal mines, when treated, leaves behind an iron-rich sludge that can be turned into ochre pigment. Working with an inter-disciplinary team that included scientists from UCL, the Coal Authority and paint manufacturers, the ochre was refined, milled and burnt, and then tested to examine its potential as pigment colour. Using ochre by-product from the Six Bells site in Wales, Onya created the first ever mineral-based exterior grade wall emulsion, as well as working in collaboration with Michael Harding Paints to produce a limited-edition range of artists’ oil paints. Residents in Six Bells have been highly engaged with the project, which has helped to connect people with the cultural, social and industrial history of the village.
Turning Landscape CIC was incorporated in December 2020 with support from UCLB Social Ventures proof-of-concept funding. The company plans to invest income from paint sales back into local projects. Despite the current COVID-19 crisis, Turning Landscape has invited local people to take part in the project online; led by video tutorials, local residents have been encouraged to participate in walks and artworks using watercolour paint made from residues generated from the mine water treatment at the Six Bells scheme. The company also pledged that up to 50 tins of Six Bells emulsion paint will be given to local people and organisations to paint buildings, houses, doors and gates within the local community.
A healthy lifestyle programme for pre-school children and their families
Obesity is a growing global problem, with around 39 million children less than five years of age worldwide currently classified as “having overweight or obesity”. Children who have overweight or obesity in early childhood are more likely to have overweight as adults; this is a concern given the associated increased risk of heart disease, diabetes and certain cancers in later life.
To address this challenge, Dr Julie Lanigan and Professor Atul Singhal from the Childhood Nutrition Research Centre, UCL Institute of Child Health, worked with a team made up of dieticians, paediatricians, physical activity professionals and clinical psychologists to develop Planet Munch — a healthy lifestyle programme for preschool children and their families. Currently, Planet Munch is the only evidence-based programme shown to be effective in the prevention and management of obesity in preschool children evaluated using the gold-standard Randomized Control Trial (RCT) design, and follow up studies over two years have also shown sustained BMI reduction in children who participated.
Planet Munch has been successfully delivered in 11 children centres; the company Trim Tots was subsequently spun-out as a Community Interest Company to offer the Planet Munch programme and services to commissioners such as local government and charities. Since its launch, the company has received investment from the Health and Social Innovators’ accelerator programme — a partnership between UCL Business and Trafford Housing Trust, with backing from the Cabinet Office’s Social Incubator Fund — and delivered healthy lifestyle programmes to children and their families across Camden and Hammersmith.
These are just two examples of how and why researchers should consider how their work can be translated into entrepreneurial solutions to some of the world’s challenges. Through social ventures, academics can disrupt the traditional research narrative by working for the benefit of the community — from creating solutions to environmental issues to developing technologies for people with disabilities. To get started, UCLB offers UCL researchers comprehensive services from idea to social impact, including idea assessment and support in the development of a business plan, advice on contracts, company formation, intellectual property (IP), and support to help license ideas for social good.
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More about the author
Ana Lemmo Charnalia is a Senior Business Manager at UCLB. She managed the Health Social Innovators’ Programme at UCLB, a partnership with THT Social Investments to support early-stage health ventures, which received backing from the Cabinet Office’s Social Incubator Fund. Her current responsibilities within UCLB include developing social enterprise opportunities arising from UCL’s research base.
