MYP Individuals & Societies • Unit 3
Social Enterprises
Exploring how enterprise, innovation and action can be used to address social and environmental needs.
Time, place and space — social enterprises respond to needs in particular communities while connecting local action to wider systems.
Original AdornGeo sequence
Unit learning
It’s All Connected!
Service connection — the five stages & UN SDGs
Introduction to Social Enterprises
Social enterprise examples
KOTO & Jimmy Pham
The Circular Economy
Stage 1 — Investigation
NISTpiration — Rescued Glass & Fairnist Coffee
Finding your social-enterprise sweet spot
Stage 2 — Preparation
Mission Statements
Stakeholder Analysis
SWOT Analysis
Pitching Your Social Enterprise
It’s All Connected — service and the UN SDGs
The original unit begins by locating social and environmental needs in time, place and space, then connecting local enterprise action to the five stages of service learning and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Introduction to Social Enterprises
Define the social or environmental value created, the trading activity that supports it, and how success can be measured. Use the original analysis activity to compare mission, beneficiaries, revenue and impact across examples.
Thai Social Entrepreneurs — Thammasat University
The entrepreneurial mindset — Kim Cope
Ben & Jerry’s: purpose, business and branding
Ghana’s eco-friendly bamboo bikes
KOTO & Jimmy Pham
The original regional example examines KOTO — Know One, Teach One — and how a hospitality enterprise combines trading income, vocational education and long-term opportunities for disadvantaged young people in Vietnam.
The Circular Economy
Compare the linear take–make–waste model with circular systems that design out waste, circulate products and materials, and regenerate nature. The restored resources lead from explanation to real enterprise examples.
Explaining the Circular Economy — Ellen MacArthur Foundation
What sailing solo taught Ellen MacArthur about finite resources
The Story of Solutions
A plan to recycle the unrecyclable — Ashton Cofer
Stage 1 — Investigation & NISTpiration
Inventory the team’s interests, skills and talents; investigate an authentic need; analyse existing enterprises; and identify what makes their impact and business model credible. The original NIST examples were Rescued Glass and Fairnist Coffee.
The surprising habits of original thinkers — Adam Grant
The single biggest reason start-ups succeed — Bill Gross
Stage 2 — Preparation & enterprise tools
Develop the idea into a workable plan: clarify the mission, identify stakeholders, test strengths and risks with SWOT, assign roles and responsibilities, and decide what evidence will show social impact.
Start With Why — Simon Sinek
Measuring social impact: mission statement
Stakeholders in social enterprise
How to conduct a SWOT analysis
Pitching Your Social Enterprise
Conclude the restored sequence by communicating the need, solution, beneficiaries, value proposition, revenue model, evidence of impact and a clear request. Use the pitch to test whether the idea is understandable and viable.
Winning Shark Tank pitches