Kampala, Karlsruhe and Strasbourg join forces to strengthen social entrepreneurship
On the occasion of the 10th anniversary, part IV of the activities and impact of Connective Cities
The Karlsruhe delegation in Kampala at the reception of the executive mayor of Kampala, Dorothy Kisaka (front right) | Photo: Martin Ssekajja
All across the world, there are more and more social entrepreneurs combining their business activities with a commitment to the common good – be it climate or environmental protection, social participation or reducing poverty.
For local authorities, this relatively new target group for local economic development agencies has great potential to contribute to sustainable development. But many cities, municipalities and districts are still in the early stages of promoting social entrepreneurship. Kampala in Uganda, Karlsruhe in south-west Germany and Strasbourg in France have joined forces to promote social entrepreneurship in their cities and help entrepreneurs form networks.
The Kampala – Karlsruhe – Strasbourg triangle of cooperation
‘I see a great deal of potential for collaboration,’ says Khasalamwa Lucia from the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA). Representatives from the three cities have identified that the challenges facing social entrepreneurship are very similar in Kampala, Karlsruhe and Strasbourg – despite their social and economic differences. They each have a lack of needs-based training, mentoring programs, opportunities for exchanging expertise, and start-up financing for (potential) entrepreneurs. Political frameworks such as tax reliefs and suitable legal forms for businesses are also not yet fully developed.
Dialogue event in Kiel, Germany, in September 2021
The cities of Karlsruhe and Kampala already knew each other well through their municipal climate partnership – which began in 2019 – when they took part in a virtual dialogue event on social entrepreneurship organised by Connective Cities and the city of Kiel in September 2021. Strasbourg was also present at the event and also met friends from Kampala, as both cities maintain close municipal relations and work together on projects such as the „Building Sustainable, Learning and Inclusive Cities – Kampala and Strasbourg“ (SLICKS) project, particularly in the area of urban agriculture – a topic that also offers great potential for social entrepreneurship.
Pioneering ideas
During the Connective Cities dialogue event, the KCCA presented its Promoting Social Entrepreneurship Project . The Ugandan capital’s approach was as follows: to support young enterprises to enable them to contribute to solving social challenges. In addition, a foundation in the social sector aims to offer young people career prospects, as youth unemployment in the city is around 30 percent and the local economy cannot absorb the job seekers. The KCCA’s activities include training and advice in the employment office's training centres in Kampala, as well as vocational training and internships at the Kabalagala One Stop Youth Center, which have been able to support almost 12,000 young people so far.
Executive Mayor of Kampala, Dorothy Kisaka (left), with
members of the Karlsruhe delegation | Photo: City of Karlsruhe
Supported by Connective Cities, representatives from Kampala, Karlsruhe and Strasbourg created the idea of building a trilateral online platform for information exchange, market expansion and capacity building in the field of social entrepreneurship. A plan emerged to integrate a joint training program into the platform, devoted to skills such as writing business plans, and classic entrepreneurial skills such as accounting and impact measurement. It will also provide tips on acquiring start-up finance. The platform aims to enable current and future social entrepreneurs to learn from one another, share their knowledge and engage in intercultural exchange.
Joint in-person discussions in Kampala
In July 2022, a delegation from Karlsruhe travelled to Kampala to discuss support for social entrepreneurs and develop opportunities for collaboration. Among the delegates were Lara Prolingheuer from the Karlsruhe Economic Development Agency, and Maria Fritz from Impact Hub Karlsruhe, a cooperative that promotes sustainable innovation and social entrepreneurship, with the aim of strengthening ecosystems for better business. In Kampala, they met representatives from the KCCA, as well as Manon Obarowski, Strasbourg’s representative in Kampala, who manages the SLICKS city-to-city partnership project on urban agriculture, education and green space management.
In meetings with over 20 social entrepreneurs from Kampala and other relevant stakeholder groups, the group had identified how important it was to:
give social entrepreneurship greater visibility in the cities,
support entrepreneurs with training, coaching, and provision of facilities for their activities and the exchange of expertise,
engage in an international exchange of expertise, to incorporate different perspectives into each city’s own strategy development, and
have funding available.
Final stakeholder workshop | Photo: KCCA
The starting point for further cooperation is the similar challenges the partners share in the areas of renewables and digitalisation, which are very well suited to the involvement of social entrepreneurs. The theme of urban agriculture, on which Kampala and Strasbourg currently collaborate, also proved to be a common interest.
There is also scope for working together in creative areas. Many of the social entrepreneurs showed a strong interest in obtaining support to gain access to markets in the other participating cities, for example, for their hand-crafted products.
Kampala, Karlsruhe and Strasbourg began to develop a detailed concept for the envisaged exchange platform. Kampala and Karlsruhe continued this work almost six months later at an online workshop on 29 November 2022, which was organised by the Karlsruhe Economic Development Agency as the start of cross-border networking among social entrepreneurs. Participants sealed their readiness for cooperation with a joint declaration.
However, it was not only at a working level that this tri-lateral kick-off event had an impact. The outcomes from the events sparked a desire for more intensive collaboration even amongst mayors and senior municipal management.
Implementation of initial ideas
Group photo in front of the Innovation Centre in Kampala | Photo: KCCA
The partners in the three cities used their colleagues’ experience to support their individual ecosystems for social entrepreneurship. For example, the KCCA teamed up with local social entrepreneurs to give their activities benefiting urban society more visibility. The idea put forward by Kampala to award a prize for social entrepreneurs, and the concept behind the KCCA's comprehensive training program were also of interest to Karlsruhe and Strasbourg.
The discussion also made the participants more aware of the importance of active communication between the municipality and (potential) social entrepreneurs. The KCCA took up this suggestion and presented its activities at an event organised by the ‘Start Hub Africa’ organisation.
In all their activities, the participants never lost sight of the fact that, while they have the same target groups, they also have different strategies. In Kampala, for example, the KCCA is in charge of the collaboration, while in Karlsruhe the Economic Development Agency sees itself more as the initiator, supporter and coordinator of the project. For the implementation of concrete activities, other stakeholders such as the Impact Hub Karlsruhe are also required to play an active role in the development of the cross-border incubation program.
A compact MBA course on social entrepreneurship was recently launched in Kampala for interested parties from all over Africa. This course will serve as a benchmark for the training course planned by the three cities. The plan is to develop a joint curriculum for the three cities based on the experiences gained.
The concept for the internet-based platform into which the course will be integrated is already in place. All that is lacking now are the funds for its implementation and operation.
“We are just starting out, and are already inspired by what Kampala offers social entrepreneurs, for example comprehensive training and coaching.” Jolly Khasalamwa, Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA)
How have Kampala, Karlsruhe and Strasbourg benefited from the exchange of expertise?
Discussions on various strategies and activities to promote social entrepreneurship
Recognition that the promotion of social entrepreneurship should be anchored in city strategies, plans and budgets
Motivation to imitate examples of good practice from the other cities
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