A true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.
– Laudato Si', 49
FOR PEOPLE
AND PLANET
GREEN ENTRENEURSHIP
FaithInvest worked with partners to develop three faith 'lenses' – Catholic, Hindu and Chinese Traditions (Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism) for UNDP's new Green Entrepreneurship Massive Open Online Course.
INTRODUCING
THE MOOC
FaithInvest organised a webinar to introduce UNDP's new Massive Open Online Course on Green Entrepreneurship and to discuss how different faith traditions can help rethink business in the light of the climate and biodiversity crises. Speakers included:
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Jayshree Balachander, Green Pilgrimage India
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Jamison Ervin, UNDP
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Lorna Gold, FaithInvest
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John Mundell, Mundell Associates
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Alison Prout, INCR
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Dr Jinfeng Zhou, China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation
You can watch the whole webinar here or download the presentations by the various speakers (right).
WHAT DOES IT OFFER?
The Green Entrepreneurship Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) provides its students with all the tools they need to generate, test, and refine an idea for a green business. It also includes faith teachings and values on business, wealth and the planet drawn from Catholic, Hindu and Chinese traditions (Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism) – the first time that a UN course has included religious perspectives.
Our hope is that the MOOC will help create a new generation of faith-based eco-entrepreneurs, and will also enable faith groups to introduce more business-like and entrepreneurial thinking into their own activities.
To provide the faith 'lenses', FaithInvest worked with partners including the Vatican's Dicastery for Integral Human Development, the American Hindu Foundation, Dr Jayshree Balachander, Green Pilgrimage Network India and the China Biodiversity, Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF).
Three faith lenses were developed – Catholic (Laudato Si'); Hindu; and Chinese traditions (Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism).
The free six-week MOOC ran live on UNDP's Learning for Nature platform in November to December 2020. See below for more details of the faith lenses, and for an overview of the course content
CHINESE TRADITIONS
Presentation by Linda Wong and Dr Jinfeng Zhou
China Biodiversity, Conservation and Green Development Foundation
OVERVIEW OF COURSE CONTENT
LESSON ONE
Introduction to Green Entrepreneurship and Sketching Out Your Green Business Idea
Define green entrepreneurship, describe the differences between the green economy, circular economy and business as usual economy, define social entrepreneurship and understand how it differs from other forms of entrepreneurship, understand how underlying drivers affect existing environmental trends and why this is important for green entrepreneurship, and identify the characteristics of a successful entrepreneur.
LESSON FOUR
Developing your business plan
Learn to understand the relationship of your green business idea to existing markets and other businesses, define the specific value proposition of your green business, understand how to engage customers and explore various forms and channels of communication with customers, identify key activities and resources required to succeed in your green business, conduct a lifecycle analysis and assess how green your enterprise might be, and complete a business plan template.
LESSON TWO
Making a positive impact with your Green Business idea
Learn to see environmental challenges as potential opportunities, describe the factors that make a good green idea, conduct a PESTLE analysis and understand the implications for your business idea, define your mission and vision, describe the Sustainable Development Goals and their targets and understand how they apply to your business concept, and define different types of impacts and approaches to communicating them
LESSON FIVE
Testing, refining and financing your Green Business idea
Understand the fixed and variable costs for your business as well as how different direct and indirect costs and revenue generation streams apply to your business. Explore different pricing mechanisms and strategies and identify strategies for keeping costs low. Learn about the different types of finance available to entrepreneurs and the elements of developing a basic financial plan.
LESSON THREE
Building and refining your Green Business idea
Learn to understand the elements of a Green Business Canvas, identify key stakeholders who may influence your green business idea, conduct a stakeholder analysis, analyse and map potential customers, and understand the supply chain of your green business idea.
LESSON SIX
Communicating your Green Business idea
Learn innovative ways to communicate your Green Busiess idea and create an 'elevator pitch' to potential champions, investors and customers.
SUPPORT US
By donating to FaithInvest, your gift helps us develop the free-to-access tools, programmes and resources needed to support faith groups as across as wide a range of geographies and capacities as possible. We are very grateful for any support you can give us.