The Finnish Social Enterprise Mark in a nutshell

The Finnish Social Enterprise Mark (Yhteiskunnallinen yritys) was launched in 2011. The mark can be held by companies that have been set up to solve social and environmental problems and dedicate most of their profits to this purpose.

Transparency and openness of activities are crucial. In its articles of association or rules, the company must have defined its social objective and the way it spends the profits. For more detailed award criteria, consult The Finnish Social Enterprise Mark terms.

The Finnish Social Enterprise Mark is awarded upon application by an independent committee with expertise in the field. The mark is normally awarded for a term of three years but the Committee may award it for shorter periods where necessary.

The right to use the mark has been awarded to dozens of businesses. For all holders of The Finnish Social Enterprise Mark, visit Sinivalkoinenvalinta.fi (in Finnish). Below are a few examples of companies that have been awarded The Finnish Social Enterprise Mark.

What are social enterprises?

Social entreprises are economically viable and sustainable businesses that are strongly committed to upholding certain values. In Finland it is estimated that there are thousands of social enterprises in various sectors of the economy.

Social enterprises may:

• reform service structures;
• produce welfare services in a manner that is sustainable for the economy and the people;
• create jobs and develop services locally and dedicate their profits to improving wellbeing in the local community; and
• develop viable solutions for environmental problems.

Globally, social entrepreneurship is a growing trend. The United Kingdom, for example, has introduced the Social Enterprise Mark which corresponds to The Finnish Social Enterprise Mark. Even though Finland has a tradition of social entrepreneurship through cooperatives, the concept of social entreprise remains a relatively unknown concept.

Along with the Association for Finnish Work, social entreprises and the conditions of social enterpreneurship are promoted by the Arvoliitto trade association, the Ministry of Employment and the Economy, the Finnish Social Enterprise Research Network FinSERN and the Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra.