On 14 March British Council launched Developing Inclusive and Creative Economies (DICE), an ambitious programme that will support the development of creative and social enterprises in the UK and five key emerging economies: Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan, and South Africa.
Aiming to foster inclusive growth and progress on the Sustainable Development Goals , DICE will take an innovative, cross-sectoral approach which draws on UK expertise in the creative and social economies.
DICE will operate at policy, institutional and individual levels. It will be co-designed and co-delivered by UK enterprises and sector support organisations such as impact hubs, accelerators and universities working in partnership with counterparts in these countries.
Through DICE, we will engage with policymakers and key influencers to help participating countries identify systemic barriers and promote legislation, strategies and funding that enable social and creative enterprises to flourish.
Research
The programme will be informed by new research on the social and creative economies in each of the participating countries. These surveys will enhance our understanding of the contributions these sectors make to sustainable and inclusive development as well as the challenges and opportunities before them.
We will also produce a report on UK social and creative enterprises that operate in emerging economies. It will identify the barriers and opportunities for such organisations to operate internationally and offer recommendations to support more of them to export, franchise or work overseas.
DICE Fund
In addition, DICE will provide funding to UK intermediaries and social/creative enterprises, enabling them to collaborate with like-minded organisations in the five partner countries. Investment will focus on the development of creative and social enterprise and initiatives that are designed specifically to empower women and girls, foster youth employment and support people with disabilities and other marginalised groups.
About the DICE Fund
The programme is managed by the British Council’s new Arts and Society Unit, which brings together dynamic teams delivering some of the British Council’s most pioneering work to address major global challenges.
The British Council will offer grants to qualified UK organisations working to support the development of creative and social enterprises in the five DICE countries through a £2m DICE Fund.
The grants will be offered in two stages.
From 3 April 2018, the British Council will solicit applications from UK organisations for ‘Scoping and Business Development’ grants worth £3,000-5,000 each. Up to 50 UK organisations and intermediaries will receive such grants.
The funding will support recipient organisations to form partnerships with compatible enterprises and intermediaries in the five DICE countries. Together the international partners will co-develop initiatives that strengthen both individual enterprises and the overall creative and/or social enterprise ecology in the countries.
Organisations that secure a Scoping and Business Development Grant will then be eligible to bid with their overseas partner for a ‘Collaboration Grant’.
The Collaboration Grant is designed to provide the partners with the resource to co-develop and co-deliver activities that strengthen creative and social enterprises in the participating countries. The ultimate aim is to build social and creative enterprises that empower women and girls, foster youth employment and support people with disabilities and other marginalised groups
In total, 20 Collaboration grants of up to £25,000 and five grants of up £50,000 will be made available to UK/international partnerships in two stages.
Interested in applying for a grant?
A link to the grant application page, which will include details of the timelines, application guidelines and assessment criteria, will be added to this web page by 3 April.
Read more about this opportunity here.
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