5th CIRIEC International Research Conference on Social Economy Lisbon, Portugal | 15 – 18 July 2015 0004 FINANCING AND FINANCIAL SUSTAINABILITY OF MICROFINANCE: Review of Literature Innocent Bayai, Sylvanos Ikhide USB, Cape Town, South Africa Financial sustainability has remained critical for the survival of MFIs which is a condition necessary for the continued fight against poverty. However, MFIs are on record of folding up with the recent shocking curatorship of the African Bank (Largest microfinance bank in Southern Africa) being an experience least expected. Indications are that, failing MFIs either lack adequate funding or further funding has to be injected to proffer sustainability of MFIs. Exploring the ideal funding structure and defining the relationship between funding and sustainability, by reviewing literature on the subject is the reason for this paper. The study acknowledges the limited literature and evidence in this field of microfinance. The study notes a surge in MFIs seeking commercial funding and pursuing financial sustainability. However, there is no distinct financing structure that can proffer financial sustainability. Studies investigating the reverse causality between funding and financial sustainability have not been popular and there is a literature and evidence void in that regard. 1 5th CIRIEC International Research Conference on Social Economy Lisbon, Portugal | 15 – 18 July 2015 0005 SOCIAL AND COMPLEMENTARY CURRENCIES (SCCs) AS A TOOL TO STRENGTHEN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT Yasuyuki Hirota Universitat de València, Valencia, Spain This paper’s main goals is to show the SCCs’ potential as an instrument to stimulate the sustainable development which is quite often hampered by the very design of our official currencies. Thousands of SCCs, such as LETS, Timebanks, Chiemgauer and commercial barters, are used in different parts of the world as a parallel means of exchange to be used among a limited number of individuals, local businesses and SMEs. They are usually self-managed by social and solidarity economy players, such as co-ops and non-profits, whereby their fundamental values, such as democracy, autonomy and concern for community are not only taken into account but also exercised and promoted at their day-to-day operation. Sustainable development is usually defined by the Brundtland Report which states it as “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. But it is still little known, if any, that the very currency system which we have today is incompatible with this sort of development. This paper will begin with depicting a number of structural failures of current official tenders (Euro, US dollar, Sterling Pound etc.), such as money creation as bank credit = debt, amplification of boom and bust cycles, short-time thinking and compulsory growth imposed by compound interest rate, concentration of wealth and devaluation of social capital, as hurdles to the above-mentioned definition of sustainable development. Then various SCCs are classified into categories and depicted in detail as alternatives to show how these failures are overcome. 2 5th CIRIEC International Research Conference on Social Economy Lisbon, Portugal | 15 – 18 July 2015 0006 THE IMPACT OF FINANCIAL VULNERABILITY ON THE FUNCTIONING OF NGOS: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF UGANDAN NGOs Berta Silva1,2, Ronelle Burger1 1University of Stellenbosch Business School, Cape Town, South Africa, 2Aga Khan Foundation, Maputo, Mozambique The objective of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), particularly in the development sector are wider ranging and vary but most pursue long-term goals and seek to improve communities'well-being. Because NGOs are limited in their ability to raise capital and engage in profit-making activities, financial vulnerability may constrain the pursuit of long and medium term organizational commitments, resulting in decreased, interrupted or terminated programmes when funding dries up.This article takes an empirical approach and examines a selection of the existent literature on NGOs and financial vulnerability, using data from 295 NGOs in Uganda to understand the relationship between organizational characteristics and financial vulnerability. The study also contributes to the existing empirical literature on the topic by identifying alternative proxies for non-profit sector financial distress including donor conditionalities, endowments and savings. This work is also of practical significance because it can support organisations that seek to mitigate the impact of financial vulnerability on program delivery. 3 5th CIRIEC International Research Conference on Social Economy Lisbon, Portugal | 15 – 18 July 2015 0007 ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE: MOVING TOWARD SOCIAL INCLUSION IN TORONTO’S EMERGING GREEN ECONOMY Cheryl Teelucksingh, Laura Zeglen Ryerson University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada In light of evidence of growing inequality in the City of Toronto, together with the recognition of the local and global environmental crisis, Toronto is in a key position to benefit from a transition to a green economy. The question explored in this research and paper, is whether a potentially new economic structure will simply reproduce the same structural barriers for diverse populations or incorporate new opportunities for a “just transition” to the green economy in keeping with the principles of environmental justice. Using scholarly and grey literature research and drawing from insights gained from an ongoing research study focused on equity and the green economy, this paper will argue that in order to achieve a green economy in line with environmental justice’s goals of social justice and sustainability, green employment initiatives in Toronto should give greater consideration to the integration of the best practices learned from the following “tools”: employment equity legislation, community benefits agreements, and social enterprise. Employment equity is a policy/regulatory approach with the potential to mandate inclusive hiring practices across all sectors; community benefits agreements work to engage industries with local grassroots groups in the communities in which they are based; and social enterprises offer alternative business models in the private sector. Such a multi-pronged approach is arguably the best way to elicit buy-in from stakeholders (state, private sector and non-profit sectors) with diverse aims, toward building an equitable, low-carbon, resource efficient, and resilient economy in Toronto. In short, this paper considers the best practices for fostering environmental justice in stakeholders’ transition to the green economy. 4 5th CIRIEC International Research Conference on Social Economy Lisbon, Portugal | 15 – 18 July 2015 0008 MANAGEMENT OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS CASE OF STUDY: PROJECT OF GREEN AREA IN MAHOTAS Jose Guamba Eduardo Mondlane University, Maputo, Mozambique The countryside has always lived large transformations in the productive and social dynamics. To a greater or lesser extent, these changes have been due to more or less planned interventions by agents who were somehow linked to this universe named. Whereas this intervention process is dynamic and that its format change to the same extent that promotes changes in social reality, in this article we will analyze the elements that make up the path of rural development projects and set their different conceptions. We will emphasize that the intervention process in the countryside can be conducted in different ways, with different objectives and by a great diversity of social actors. The research-action proved to be the most appropriate method since the idea was participatory intervention in the social reality of the researched group. Is an appropriate method to understand and intervene in social reality, thanks to its ability to stay in touch with the real problems. In it, participants play an active role and, recognizing the complexity of social reality, all variables are considered in the research. The case study: Project of Green Area in Mahotas, dealt with how the solidarity economy can be the path to the generation of work and income for the population of the informal market. It is important to note that without the partnership between academia, the Municipality and civil society in this work would not be possible. Among other conclusions and recommendations the experience of the project in the neighborhood of green areas, domestic vegetable gardens in Mahotas and community has shown that the formation of popular cooperatives through partnership, encourages people to improve the quality of life, not only for the families involved, but also for the local community. Key Words: community, participation, rural development, Green Area in Mahotas 5 5th CIRIEC International Research Conference on Social Economy Lisbon, Portugal | 15 – 18 July 2015 0010 THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL ACTIVITIES THROUGH LABOUR COOPERATIVES Irene Escuin Ibáñez Universidad Politécnica de Cartagena, Murcia, Spain The need of combining an economic model which guarantees the economic growth, productivity and employment with social policies which enable a more just society is for the Stare by constitutional mandate. Nevertheless, the involvement of private sector in the development of social policies is increasing in recent years. As a result, the formerly named "welfare State", is giving way to a "welfare society", in which particulars, organized in different ways, try to solve the social needs of the