1.
Project Update September 2019
1
Our Foundation focuses on the promotion and support of social entrepreneurs which is reflected in our daily
project work as well as in different communication channels, e.g., website, social media and articles. There, we
highlight a wide range of challenges which social entrepreneurs are facing: 2015 Migration and its consequences,
2016 Investment instead of Consumption, 2017 Digitization and in 2018 UN Agenda 2030 of the Sustainable
Development Goals and the contributions that social entrepreneurs can make in the communities. This year, we
are focusing on the topic circular economy and the impact of measures on the climate.
Overall, we like to emphasize that social and environmental challenges of our times should be taken up in a self-
responsible manner, that innovative solutions are sought out and implemented in order to achieve a more
sustainable world. This is where social entrepreneurs come in. They are sensitive to social and/or environmental
challenges in their communities and realize that solutions are lacking. In their own responsibility, they begin to
address these challenges with an entrepreneurial approach. Our experience and studies show that they often fail
during the solution implementation phase because they, for example, underestimate the resource management
or financial means to reach sustainability.
Nevertheless, well-thought-out social entrepreneurial initiatives and solutions are suitable for many societal and
ecological challenges. However, they might need targeted coaching and, if necessary, start-up financing in order to
achieve the desired positive impact. Have you ever wondered, dear reader, what a social enterprise is and does?
Do you know one in your environment?
Follow us into the world of social enterprises and how they approach projects, especially regarding the
opportunities related to circular economy. Thanks to the Eos ECIS Navigator, the Foundation has the possibility to
offer effective support for social entrepreneurs in Switzerland and Latin America. Also, in this Project Update you
read about how the cocoa project, i.e. the smallholder farmers’ cultivation in agroforestry, significantly
contributes to CO2 reduction which is therefore an important measure for climate protection.
All this is possible only thanks to your meaningful support and commitment to our projects, be it as funding
organization, private donor, as a member of the advisory boards and as coach. Thank you very much!
Sincerely,
Dr. Erna Karrer-Rüedi Dr. Urs Karrer
Managing Director | Co-founder Vice-President | Co-founder
Eos Entrepreneur Foundation
Eos Stiftung für UnternehmerInnen | Fundación Eos Emprendedores
Purpose of the Foundation
Support social entrepreneurs who
address environmental and social
challenges in order to achieve a positive,
sustainable impact.
Geographic Focus
Latin America, Switzerland
Eos = greek goddess of dawn, announces the
new day, transforms the dark into light
Circular economy
approach to sustainability
Eos ECIS Navigator
self-assessment
Cocoa in agroforestry
CO2 reduction/sink capacity
Genuine hope
social entrepreneurs

2.
Project Update September 2019
2
Social entrepreneurs are predestined to tackle solutions for a circular economy
The circular economy is a regenerative system in which the use of resources and waste production, emissions and
energy waste are minimized by slowing down, reducing and closing energy cycles as well as material cycles; this
can be achieved through durable construction, maintenance, repair, reuse, remanufacturing, refurbishing and
recycling (Martin Geissdoerfer et al: The Circular Economy – A new sustainability paradigm?, 2017). The principles
of circular economy are
based on the awareness that,
in a world with finite
resources, only production
processes with a real
material circuit can be
continued without
restriction. Thus, the linear
economic model of mass
production, mass
consumption as well as the
resulting mountains of waste
clearly stands against the
planetary boundaries and
the idea of sustainability.
The path to a circular economy is all about
us; we all are responsible. Within the
framework of the Foundation, we therefore
place a focus on raising awareness in society
and promoting accelerators, specifically
social entrepreneurs as actors in our society,
who can achieve great impact in small steps.
We are convinced that change usually is
initiated on a small scale, exploratory,
innovative and characterized by above-
average commitment of people who
perceive the challenges but are also willing
to tackle the problem itself, i.e. want to
improve the current situation. Social entrepreneurs embody this badly needed commitment - as has already been
shown and referred to in various publications - in order to move towards a circular economy effectively. It is
obvious that these types of initiatives must be scalable in order to achieve a positive environmental and socio-
economic impact.
The Eos Entrepreneur Foundation works with social entrepreneurs on various initiatives and projects, thus makes
an important contribution to realize a circular economy. For example, during the next 12-18 months, the
Foundation will be holding Kickstarter Action Days on the topic of social enterprises leading toward a circular
economy. The canton of Zug is one of the many Swiss regions where action days are hosted – see more about this
in »Being active made easy» on page 6. The initiative contributes to more responsible consumption and
production patterns which is a focus of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular SDG #12, of the
UN Agenda 2030. The cocoa project with agroforestry cultivations significantly reduces CO2, therefore is a relevant
measure to climate protection (SDG #13).

3.
Project Update September 2019
3
The Eos ECIS Navigator as a starting point for the promotion of social entrepreneurs
The Eos ECIS Navigator is a good instrument to support social entrepreneurs in the realization of their projects,
e.g. related to the circular economy. This, because the Navigator provides social entrepreneurs a pragmatic and
comprehensive feedback about their initiatives, among other, through the Peer Group Comparison.
In this context, the question arises how a social enterprise defines itself and to what extent it differs from a
traditional, purely for-profit enterprise. A social enterprise is different from a traditional enterprise because it
focuses on addressing social and/or environmental challenges with innovative solutions or products/services and
does not primarily or only focus on profit generation. Of course, an enterprise must be financially viable, only this
way can it sustainably maintain or scale the positive impact realized for and to beneficiaries. In this context, we
are talking about Triple Bottom Line as it seeks social, environmental and economic sustainability.
What exactly is the Eos ECIS Navigator? The Navigator is an analytical tool, represented as a radar profile (see
illustration), which is the outcome of an Eos ECIS Online self-assessment completed by a social entrepreneur. The
Navigator forms the basis to discuss and validate the strengths, weaknesses and problems of a social enterprise
during an initial workshop. This profile is also
used as an input for coaching that is offered by
the Foundation.
The Eos ECIS Navigator depicts seven
dimensions based on 70+ underlying questions
– the comprehensive Online Self-Assessment
pragmatically highlights critical areas of
enterprise management. While personal traits,
lifecycle and financing, as well as risks are
important dimensions that all companies are
facing, including for-profit organizations, the
social-environmental motivation, the social
business model and the ambition to make a
positive impact, i.e., the impact dimension, are
primarily relevant for social enterprises. The
Operating Model includes well-known
operational management aspects but
embedding the social business model as well as
measuring and monitoring of the positive impact achieved for beneficiaries requires social enterprise-specific
considerations.
The Eos ECIS Online Self-Assessment has established itself among social entrepreneurs and those who aspire to be
one, since the self-assessment supports a qualified self-reflection which, in turn, is a critical prerequisite for having
a lasting effect and impact as a social entrepreneur. The online self-assessment is available in German, English and,
as of now, also in Spanish. This provides a good basis for the Foundation's continued work in Switzerland and Latin
America.
Below links to the Eos ECIS Online Self-Assessment can also be found on the Foundation's website under the
section "I am a change maker, I am a social entrepreneur".
German https://www.eosentrepreneurfoundation.org/aktiv-sein
English https://www.eosentrepreneurfoundation.org/en/be-active
Spanish https://www.eosentrepreneurfoundation.org/es/involucrarse

4.
Project Update September 2019
4
Women social entrepreneurs are bearers of hope for sustainable change
The Eos ECIS Navigator shows that more than 50% of all participating social enterprises are run by women. Other
international organizations with a focus on social entrepreneurship support this finding. The Eos Entrepreneur
Foundation has recognized the importance of women as changemaker since the very beginning and supports them
as an important force in thriving for social and ecological sustainability. Today's challenges reinforce the relevance
of empowering women to take on leading roles and facilitate change.
In the Cocoa Project, the Eos Entrepreneur Foundation supports women from the communities in Colombia to
gain access to fair and decent work in the cocoa sector, especially in their communities and rural areas, but also
throughout the cocoa value chain. At the same time, we support women as team leaders in order to integrate the
women into the professional network of the cocoa value chain as well as to enable them as coaches or trainers in
the cocoa sector.
We can only expect to
accelerate change if women
witness that they are
actually changing their
living conditions at home,
making a strong
contribution to sustainable
cocoa production and a
significant contribution to
sustainable cocoa
production, e.g., to the
environment in which they
live, hence, increase the
productivity and quality of
their life and of their
cooperatives.
In the project Access to Health Services, the Eos Entrepreneur Foundation, with the support of a wide range of
organizations, provides coaching of several social entrepreneurs who provide basic health
services, including home visits to their communities. These social entrepreneurs are associated
with medical clinics already working in underserved zones, from where they also receive
supervision – supported by the Foundation.
Over time, we realized that the social entrepreneurs needed additional coaching on-site to overcome hurdles on
their path to auto-sustainability. We were looking for a specialist in financial planning with experience abroad,
especially in Latin America. After various evaluations and preparatory discussions with the social entrepreneurs,
coaches/supervisors on-site and some candidates, we decided to engage Sonja (name changed and known to the
Foundation) who committed herself to the Foundation to go to Nicaragua for three months.
Sonja: «Meine Arbeit in Nicaragua hat mir gezeigt, dass die grundlegenden Bausteine und Prinzipien des
Marketings gleich sind wie bei gewinnorientierten Unternehmen; es gibt jedoch einen sehr wichtigen Unterschied:
Sozialunternehmen haben einen sozialen oder ökologischen Zweck und verfolgen nicht die Gewinnoptimierung.»

5.
Project Update September 2019
5
The day-to-day on-site mentoring invigorated the motivation of the social entrepreneurs, supported the
supervisor in her endeavors and increased the social entrepreneurs’ likelihood to become financially sustainable.
This will continue to
help beneficiaries in
the underserved
community not only by
continuing to benefit
from these services in
the future, but also to
offer the possibility of
scaling this social
enterprise model in the
existing zones as well as
to adapt it to other underserved communities in Nicaragua for the provision of a wide variety of basic services.
Cocoa agroforestry makes a significant contribution to CO2 reduction
As mentioned in the introduction, in this update we focus on the topic of the circular economy and the effect of
measures on the climate. The cocoa communities in Cauca/Valle del Cauca, Colombia are depending on the
climate, as well as many other industries do, definitely all
producers of agricultural field production. More or less
predictable weather patterns are a prerequisite for the
successful production of agricultural goods. Climate protection
measures are a necessity in this area, adaptation a must.
With the continuous support of the
Swiss Re Foundation and the Eos
Entrepreneur Foundation, the cocoa cooperatives have
planted/injected (seed or genetic material) almost 100,000
new cocoa trees in recent years. The regional association
Fedecacao is assisting the cooperatives with advice on the
selection of the most suitable genetic material under today's
regional climate conditions and, of course, with regards to the
resistance to plaques and diseases.
In view of the fact that the young cocoa trees have a higher
carbon dioxide (CO2) intake than older trees, as well as that the
growing cocoa trees significantly increase the carbon dioxide
absorption in the soil overtime, the three Cooperatives and
thus the "Buen Cacao - Vida Buena" project makes an
important contribution to the UN Agenda 2030, the
Sustainability Development Goal number 13 (SDG #13):
Measures for climate protection. In addition, the technical
assistants of all three cooperatives promote good agricultural
practices in order to improve good cocoa production in a
healthy agroforestry.

6.
Project Update September 2019
6
Interestingly enough, a recently published study on agroforestry systems for cocoa and their carbon uptake or
storage capacity shows that cocoa trees store about 31.1 tons of carbon per hectare (ha). Depending on the type
of cultivation, the authors distinguish between a "traditional" and an "innovative" agroforestry system.
"Traditional agroforestry" has 30 to 40 tree species, "innovative agroforestry" 5 to 6 tree species. The total carbon
stock is estimated at 138.1 tons of carbon/ha in the “traditional agroforestry” and 46.9 tons of carbon/ha in the
“innovative agroforestry” (see publication: Carbon storage potential of cacao agroforestry systems of different age
and management intensity, 2018). In other words, cocoa production in agroforestry systems is a strong measure
to protect the climate.
Thus, cooperatives are taking initiatives towards combating poverty for cocoa smallholder farmers, i.e., small
farmers can improve their income by improving the quality of cocoa beans and by increasing productivity, as many
additional cocoa trees have been planted and are now productive to improve their income. The planting of disease
resistant cocoa trees combined with other multifunctional trees (agroforestry production) strengthens the
ecological resilience of the cultivation system, helps to diversify income flows while at the same time is an
important measure to protect the climate due to high CO2 absorption and CO2 storage capacities. All this
contributes to the economic sustainability of the cocoa industry in Colombia.
Get in touch with us
info@eosentrepreneurfoundation.org
www.eosentrepreneurfoundation.org
www.twitter.com/Eos_EFoundation
www.facebook.com/EosEntrepreneurFoundation
www.linkedin.com/company/eosentrepreneurfoundation
Raiffeisenbank Thalwil, 8800 Thalwil
IBAN: CH04 8080 8006 2460 4983 4
BIC: 808080 / SWIFT: RAIFCH22
Pictures : Eos Entrepreneur Foundation, Triodos Bank, Francesc
gambus, Dialogue Café
Being active made easy
Do you know someone who has an
initiative or suggestions related to
advancing the circular economy?
We are planning Kickstarter Action
Days in several regions of Switzerland
on the topic of the circular economy.
We look forward to your engagement
and will be happy to include you in
our action days!
About us
The Foundation was established in 2012 by Erna
Karrer-Rüedi, Dr.sc.nat. ETH and Urs Karrer, Dr. oec.
and can draw on many years of experience in
consulting, strategy development and implemen-
tation, including 25+ years of international
experience in microfinance and socially responsible
investment as well as in environmental sciences and
sustainable development.