Putting farmers at the centre of industry innovation
As the world’s population grows there is increasing pressure on the agriculture sector to produce safe, high quality food in production systems that are climate smart, transparent and ...
Dr Narayan Gopalkrishnan has been appointed to the Board of Directors of the Queensland Social Enterprise Council (QSEC), the peak body for social enterprise in Queensland.
Dr Gopalkrishnan, Fellow of the Cairns Institute, has been responsible for mobilizing the social enterprise eco-system in Far North Queensland and is currently the Chair of the Social Enterprise Network for the Tropics, an organization that brings together stakeholders from across the region. He is excited about his new role in QSEC and his key focus is on ensuring sustainable and long term resourcing of social enterprises in FNQ. His appointment is at an opportune time for this, as the Queensland government is increasingly supporting social enterprise in the state through the Queensland Social Enterprise Strategy and the Social Enterprise Jobs Fund.
As Dr Gopalkrishnan says, “Social enterprises can play a very significant role in working with the social, ecological and economic issues that we face in the region. Unlike traditional business models, social enterprises do not only work for profit, but view profit as a means towards achieving their overall mission of social good. This is of particular relevance in Far North Queensland where our unique demographics and ecosystems also leave us vulnerable to global and local forces with negative impacts. Social enterprises can provide local place-based solutions that draw on the best aspects of the profit and not-for-profit sectors. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, communities and organizations are particularly well placed to work in the social enterprise space due to the close alignment with value systems and sustainable practices”.
2022 is a very important year for the growth of social enterprise in Queensland as the Social Enterprise World Forum (SEWF) is being held in Brisbane on the 28th and 29th of September this year.
James Cook University is one of the supporters of the bid to bring this flagship event to Australia, one that brings together individuals and organizations from around the world towards a common purpose. The last two events were held virtually, and the Brisbane event is the first face-to-face SEWF after Addis Ababa in 2019, which had 1,312 delegates from 71 countries. Despite the impacts of the pandemic, SEWF 2022 promises to be an exciting and game-changing event for Queensland social enterprises. Dr Gopalkrishnan is also the Chair of the Indigenous Enterprise theme at the Academic Forum of the SEWF and looks forward to building stronger collaborations between academia and the social enterprise sector.