Eden

The

Eden Project as

A

Social Enterprise

Contents

Introduction 3

Social Enterprise 3

Open System 5

Management Style 6

Conclusion 6

Recommendations 7

References 8

Introduction

The Eden project is a Botanical location erected on an old clay mine pit, for educational and conservational purposes. It encases hundreds of tropical plants and flowers in order to educate the public.

It is run under three main principles:

1. As an educational programme

2. As an Operational practice

3. As a Convenor for change

This report aims to outline the factors that associate the project as a social enterprise and the role it plays in the local community and the support it offers to the community both socially and economically. It will then look in detail at the operation as an “open system” in regards to sustainability and how the project adapts and keeps in touch with the external environment. Finally the report will delve into the management style of Tim Smit and the psychological contract between him and his stakeholders and how his management style aids the project in expanding.

Social Enterprise

The Project is considered as a Social Enterprise, because its main aim is for community development and education rather than profit. The money taken in by the project is reinvested into the community and used for expanding the project. They also strive to encourage equal participations of their stakeholders. The project itself has managed to regenerate an area of Cornwall into something that has become a social phenomenon.

“We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect” – Aldo Leopold (cited from Fennell, D. Ecotourism, 1991, pp 106)

The basis on which the Eden project is run is known as the triple bottom line in which the project responds to Social, Economic and Environmental factors to operate the project. Whether this is bringing...