Applied Knowledge Exchange

GCU has received a valuable addition to its archives, with the donation of the Social Enterprise Collection (Scotland) by John Pearce, one of the UK’s founding figures in social enterprise, following his retirement.

The papers and documents on Community Development, Community Enterprise, Social Enterprise and Social Accounting and Audit were accumulated over the course of John’s 35 year career. They are joined by the Community Business Scotland archive of papers and reports from 1981 onwards.

The collection ranges from the early roots of community business in the urban west of Scotland to the establishment of development units throughout the former regions; from the founding of the Scottish Social Enterprise Coalition to the spread of self-help structures for evaluation and reporting on social, economic and environmental performance; and from Community Co-operatives in the Highlands and Islands to community economic development projects in India. 

Once catalogued, it will be made accessible to the wider community.

John Pearce said: “I am very pleased that the university has decided to establish a Social Enterprise Collection and that I have been able to donate my accumulation of papers, books and reports to get it started.

"For me it is important that practitioners, students, researchers and others can access the materials which have helped shape the social enterprise movement since Ken Alexander launched the community co-operatives in the Western Isles back in 1976. I am sure that, once the collection is established and organised, there will be other individuals and organisations willing to contribute materials to what I believe to be a unique resource in the UK.”

Professor Cam Donaldson, who holds the Yunus Chair in Social Business and Health at Glasgow Caledonian University, is Academic Champion of the collection. “The Social Enterprise Collection provides GCU with a wonderful asset for exploring the history and context of social business and social enterprise in Scotland and is a great fit with our research priorities in these areas as well with our academic strengths in history and social policy. It will help both staff and students in their academic endeavours and we are honoured to have been chosen to host it.”

John Pearce played a pivotal role at the heart of Scotland’s community and social enterprise movements, and his work has had a global impact. He was a founder of the Scottish Co-operatives Development Committee (later Employee Ownership Scotland and now the Co-operative Development Agency), of Community Business Scotland Network and of the Scottish Community Enterprise Investment Fund (now absorbed into the Charity Bank). He was actively involved with the Commonwealth Association for Action and Local Development (COMMACT) and was a founder of the UK Social Audit Network.

He has also worked with Nepal Red Cross and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and taught at the University of Nigeria. 

The Social Enterprise Collection (Scotland) builds on GCU’s ongoing commitment to social enterprise, through Scotland’s first MSc in Social Enterprise, developed with the Social Enterprise Academy. This is a result of GCU’s recognition that social enterprises are a growing sector of profitable businesses, and agents for positive change defined by their social and environmental missions.