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Neven Marinovic,
President, Euclid Network
On 11 April 2018, you are going to kick off the Euclid Summit 2018 in The Hague. What are the main goals and outcomes you hope to achieve with the Summit?
We host the Euclid Summit every two years. This year’s event marks the start of a new phase in our work, with a stronger focus on social entrepreneurship, social finance and impact investment.
Lots of governments want to encourage initiatives that have a positive social impact on people and the planet. But so far, this is happening to varying degrees. In Brussels, there has been much discussion about EU policies and infrastructure to support social enterprise and social innovation. So the Summit aims to push the discussion forward – much of our activity in the next years will develop from this. We are excited to have a wide mix of voices contributing, with speakers from the European Commission, the OECD, the EVPA, the Scottish Government, and some big private investors, as well as experienced social entrepreneurs.
The event is also a really valuable opportunity to bring people and organisations from different countries – and often very different contexts – into the same room. We know from experience that great stuff happens when you mix such minds!
What does "taking responsibility" mean to you? How can each individual do so?
A whole host of factors enable social impact to take place: legislation, public awareness, education and training, networks, financial support… So it’s not just up to governments or investors to progress things. All of us play a part. An entrepreneur can share experience of what’s worked. A business can partner with an NGO. A university can integrate social entrepreneurship modules into courses. At Euclid Network, we have an important role too – so the Summit is one of the tools through which we’re looking at the ecosystem, especially from the demand side of social finance (i.e. investment readiness of businesses).
What does The Hague offer as a destination for your event?
Plenty! It’s well-connected, easy to get around, and of course very international.
But it’s not just the practical side of things – it’s also an exciting place to be in. The Hague is now an ‘Impact City’ with a strong focus on supporting exactly the kind of social innovation that we – and our guests – are all about.
We’ve shared some of the reasons to visit The Hague in our blog post here.
How do The Hague and its community benefit from the Summit?
The Hague already has lots of international links and networks as an International City for Peace and Justice. For its local social entrepreneurs it’s a great chance to meet others who share similar passions, but maybe different skills and business models. For policy-makers it’s a chance to compare themselves to and learn from an international context.
On the first evening, our ‘Late Cafes’ will also take our participants out into the city to get to know (and eat/drink in) some local venues.
Do you offer virtual attendance to those who cannot come?
We won’t be livestreaming this event – partly because we’re a small team with a limited budget and partly because we want to focus our energy on the best possible environment for face-to-face interaction. The aim of the two days is really to engage in conversations, not to broadcast. Whenever we run these events the feedback we get always highlights the value of getting together, getting away from the everyday grind, and having those unexpected conversations that only come up when you’re learning or eating or drinking together!
However we do plan to film some interviews on site and write up summaries which we’ll post online. We’ll also be tweeting from the event, and our media partners Pioneers Post will be reporting from the event.
What are currently the main challenges for the Euclid Network as an association, as well as for the Summit?
As a European network, it’s a challenge to serve such a wide membership and to ensure we’re always representing them as best we can.
It’s also a challenge to set our own agenda and adapt EU priorities and contracts to be genuinely useful to members. And there’s a particular challenge now in preparing our relocation from London to The Hague in 2019. But that also brings opportunities to get to know new potential partners in the Netherlands and connect with some talented people who may become part of our growing team to be based there.