Social Enterprise Mark CIC, the champion of social enterprise standards and the body responsible for the only internationally available social enterprise accreditation, has recently expanded its global network of accredited social enterprises.
AUARA EMPRESA SOCIAL, a Spanish social enterprise selling premium bottled water to generate profits for investment in social projects to provide clean water to people in need, has recently been awarded the fourth international Social Enterprise Mark. AUARA joins C3, FLOCERT, and Northdoc in the growing network of organisations outside the UK accredited with the Social Enterprise Mark, proving a commitment to trading for people and planet.
From the experience of assessing and accrediting these organisations, Social Enterprise Mark CIC now has a tried and tested international assessment process that can be applied anywhere in the world. In addition, the organisation offers an international consultancy service to advise global counterparts looking to set up similar accreditation schemes for social enterprise within their own countries. Following a consultancy project with the Russian Foundation, Fund our Future, in 2015, which has led to more than 30 Russian social enterprises now holding the Russian Social Enterprise Mark, Social Enterprise Mark CIC completed a similar piece of work for the British Council in China this year, advising on the development of a Chinese social enterprise accreditation system.
AUARA seeks to turn the everyday act of drinking water into an extraordinary act – to bring clean drinking water to those who have no access to it. To achieve this, the organisation sells premium branded mineral water and invests 100% of distributable profits in projects providing access to clean drinking water to those in need across the world. AUARA also seeks to minimise the environmental impact of the consumption of bottled water, and is the first water brand in Europe to use 100% recycled plastic (rPET) for its bottles, which have been specifically designed to be as efficient as possible in terms of transport optimisation.
Antonio Espinosa, CEO of AUARA said: “The Social Enterprise Mark is a way for a social enterprises like AUARA to certify all of our social and environmental commitments. In a country like Spain where the social business model is still unknown by the most, having this accreditation means credibility and transparency. It is an easy way of expressing the core and the mission of our social enterprise.”
Lucy Findlay, Managing Director of Social Enterprise Mark CIC, added: “We are delighted to welcome AUARA as our newest international Social Enterprise Mark holder. AUARA has come up with an innovative concept of turning an everyday activity into a means of bringing clean drinking water to those in need.”
“It is exciting to see our network continuing to expand across international borders. We are seeing a growing interest in social enterprise at a global level, and it seems that the UK is acknowledged as a pioneer in this model of business and we at Social Enterprise Mark CIC are the world pioneers of social enterprise accreditation.”
“We are proud to act as a global champion of credible standards for social enterprise and hope to play a continuing role in influencing the destiny of social enterprise on a global scale.”
Social Enterprise Mark CIC is the accreditation body responsible for assessing applications for the internationally recognised Social Enterprise Mark and Social Enterprise Gold Mark. It ensures the social enterprise business model remains ethical, credible and commercial through accreditation. It is not a membership body and approval is not automatic: around 30% of organisations who pursue Social Enterprise Mark accreditation are assessed as ineligible. Existing Mark Holders’ are regularly reassessed, to ensure they still meet the criteria.
This robust accreditation process enables organisations that are awarded the Social Enterprise Mark/Gold Mark to stand out from the crowd, as proven social enterprises which are independently guaranteed to be trading for people and planet.
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