SIMPACT SOCIAL INNOVATION
BUSINESS CASE STUDY
Case Study 2016 No 17
RODA – Parents in Action
Advocating for Children Rights and Responsible
Parenting Through Economic Value Creation
Tamami Komatsu
Politecnico di Milano
December 2016
mpact
social innovation
economic foundation
empowering people
SIMPACT Social Innovation Business Case Study
Covers research on the «Economic Foundation of Social Innovation» related to the components,
objectives and principles of the social innovation process and measurement of social innovations at
micro-level to inform policymakers, investors and other interested stakeholders.
SIMPACT
SIMPACT is a research project funded under the European Commission’s 7th Framework Programme
from 2014-2016 and is the acronym for «Boosting the Impact of SI in Europe through Economic
Underpinnings». The project consortium consists of twelve European research institutions and is led by
the Institute for Work and Technology of the Westphalian University Gelsenkirchen in Germany.
Legal Notice
The information and views set out in this report are the sole responsibility of the author(s) and do not
necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission.
Suggested Citation
Komatsu, T. (2016). RODA – Parents in Action - Advocating for Children Rights and Responsible
Parenting Through Economic Value Creation. SIMPACT Social Innovation Business Case Study, 2016 (17).
Gelsenkirchen: Institute for Work and Technology.
The SIMPACT project receives funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework
Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under
Grant
AgreementNo:613411.
RODA
1
OVERVIEW
City, Country
Croatia
Addressed theme(s)
Demographic change, employment, social cohesion
Target Group
Women
Development Stage
Implemented
Established in
2001
Type of Organisation
Association; Social Enterprise (LLC)
Size of Organisation
Medium enterprise (<250 employees)
Rodin let is the social enterprise and income generating activity of its
parent association, RODA – Parents in Action. The company manufactures
ecological, cloth diapers and baby and women accessories through the
employment of disadvantaged subjects. RODA advocates for children and
parental rights through lobbying and educational programs. It also creates
unity and support between mothers through its online platform, which has
over 40,000 monthly visits. Through its various activities, RODA has
become a sort of «parent’s union», promoting attachment parenting, based
on the idea that children need their parents and their greater affection.
RODA and Rodin let represent an interesting hybrid organizational model
of
social
entrepreneurship
entrepreneurship
|4
in
Croatia,
mixing
advocacy
with
2
PROBLEM TO BE ADDRESSED
AND IDEA
Family policy in former communist countries has been heavily shaped by
their socialist heritage. During the communist period, family policy was
designed to suit the needs of public servants, stemming from an ideology
emphasizing worker rights and gender equality, which has led to a twobreadwinner model. This policy has granted Croatia a pretty even
employment distribution between genders when compared with other
European countries. Another inherited trait concerns the citizen’s view
towards childcare, seeing it as the responsibility of the government.
Croatia, however, has never boasted efficient childcare systems, having
depended heavily on more traditional methods relying on family support.
In response, parents coming from smaller towns moving into larger cities,
like Zagreb, are having a harder and harder time reconciling their
professional and private lives, without the practical support from their
families and the lack of the necessary preschools and kindergartens.
Instead of centering public debate on childcare systems, the discourse on
family policy has focused on parental leave and benefits. This is because,
as in other former communist countries, Croatia chose compensatory
policies via cash returns and tax reliefs. Hence issues regarding parental
leave (also in terms of maternal and paternal leave) and the rights to paid
and unpaid leave were hot topics of debate. Croatian mothers are granted
28 days prior to their due date and 6 months following birth of mandatory
leave. They can also extend this until the child is one and take off up to 45
days prior. Following the 6 months of mandatory leave, mothers can take
an additional 6 months and have the possibility of working part-time until
the child is one, or until three should the mother have two or more other
children or give birth to twins, triplets, etc. In 2001, the parliament passed
several legislative regulations concerning parental leave, abolishing the
right to part-time work for mothers birthing twins or their third and every
|5
other child until the child was three to one and the right to unpaid, parental
leave from three years to two years. Moreover, the parental compensations
from the government were also reduced from around €320 to €200.
In reaction to this, several affected parents formed a protest against the
measure. On September 5, 2001, the association RODA – Parents in Action
was founded to lobby on behalf of these parents and regain their previous
compensation. Previously, parent organizations and protests concerning
family policy issues didn’t exist. In 2001, however, thanks to the internet,
women came together to fight to reverse the measure. The association has
evolved and expanded its scope ever since, promoting child’s rights and
encouraging responsible parenting.
Figure 1. RODA’s logo.
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3
CORE SOLUTION AND
MOTIVATIONS
RODA is an acronym for Roditelji u akciji (Parents for Action), which is also
a play on words: it is the Croatian word for «stork», and the first three
letters, «rod», make up the first syllable of the Croatian words for «parent»
and «birth». It hence perfectly fits the mission and values of the
association. From the moment of its foundation, the association has
become an important stakeholder for parental and children’s rights,
advocating for change in public opinion and in institutions calling for
more efficient and modern infrastructure and a more just legal framework.
Their stated mission is «to change society into a society that acts
responsibly towards children, parents, future parents and families –
through information, education, active lobbying and inclusion in the
processes of change, as well as encouraging parents and other societal
groups to question the status quo and be part of change» (RODA, 2011).
Figure 2. Rodin let
diapers.
Rodin let is RODA’s social enterprise, founded as a spin-off of one of their
internal advocacy projects promoting the benefit of cloth diapers. The
company, based in Zagreb, manufactures eco-friendly cloth diapers and
other baby accessories, including: diaper covers, baby wipes, diaper bags,
pads and T-shirts. Rodin let was established to provide income for the
association RODA, to give unemployed women jobs and to advocate for
healthy and responsible decision-making in parental consumption
patterns. The company at first hired 10 women to design the cuts, make
|7
the diapers and test them before putting them on sale. Once the product
design was approved, it would be manufactured for sale under the brand
name Rodin Pusu, «Rodin’s kiss». However, as client demand grew, this
sort of at-home production was no longer feasible. Rodin let then
outsourced its production to Varaždin, a special workshop employing
people with disabilities.
Rodin let distributes its products locally. While they would like to source
their material locally, they haven’t been able to find local suppliers of nonchemically treated, natural cloth. The primary materials used for making
the diapers are hemp, organic cotton and bamboo. The main driver behind
Rodin let besides providing an income-generating stream for RODA’s
activities is to encourage parents to save money while making a healthier,
more ecological choice for their children through re-usable, cotton diapers.
As an average baby leaves behind around 1-tonne of single-use diapers
and considering that on average 40,000 newborn babies are born every
year in Croatia, the amount of potential waste that could be avoided is
considerable. In fact, diapers currently make up 5% of total landfill waste
(approximately 122 million disposable diapers per year).
Figure 3. Rodin let´s cloth
diapers for sale on their
online store (webshop).
Rodin let also produces other products, like cloth menstrual pads for
women, baby slings and baby apparel. The products are sold online via
their webshop or in their store on Ilica ul. 133 in Zagreb. The cloth diapers
cost on average 95 HRK (around €12.60).
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Figure 4. Rodin let´s
menstrual pads and baby
slings.
Figure 5. Rodin let´s store
in Zagreb, Croatia.
The company also hosts workshops and seminars in their store where
customers can learn about the advantages of cloth diapers, discover tips
and tricks on how to use and maintain them and hear user feedback from
other mothers. Rodin let works hard to also make sure that their designs
are modern and attractive to incite clients to buy their products not only
for their ecological, social and health value but also for their fashion.
|9
4
DEVELOPMENT PROCESS AND
VALUE CHAIN
RODA was founded in 2001 as an association advocating for children’s
rights through the promotion of active and responsible parenting. They
work directly with parents empowering them to become the best advocate
for their children by influencing the quality and supply of childcare
services. RODA has lobbied for the right to sufficient maternity
compensation and leave, medically assisted reproduction, improved
birthing and pregnancy conditions, as well as supporting educational
programs regarding breastfeeding and child traffic safety. RODA has also
advocated for the quality of childcare services in terms of space per child,
the quality of food and the quality of educational programs available. After
more than a decade of development, the association has become an
important stakeholder for family policy issues through beneficiary
representation. RODA has established 12 branches throughout Croatia and
has organized events in over 50 towns. The main connection with users
however is through its platform where users can give each other advice
and contribute to the community. The majority of the work is done through
volunteers. In fact, their slogan states that, «there is nothing stronger than
the strength of connected mothers».
Figure 6. RODA’s online
platform.
RODA is financed primarily through self-financing mechanisms (i.e. Rodin
let, the sale of advertising banners on their platform, membership fees and
10 |
clothing and goods bazaars). It is also greatly supported by a significant
amount of volunteer work. They’ve also received city and state support and
a smaller percentage from private donations and companies. RODA has
benefitted from 3 CroNGO grants from the USAID, managed by the
Academy of Educational Development. The first grant helped RODA set up
a breastfeeding hotline for mothers. The second grant was focused on
capacity-building efforts, in which the association attended selected
courses and received consultation on various aspects, including
fundraising and strategic and financial planning. In 2004, the third grant
supported RODA’s diaper and baby sling project, which promoted the use
of cloth diapers as a healthier, eco-friendly alternative to single use
disposable diapers. Due to a lack of cloth diaper companies and a need for
further income, RODA decided to start making the diapers themselves. At
first, as stated above, they hired unemployed mothers to make the
products at home on a piece-work basis, which would sell for about €12. By
the end of the first year, RODA had sold 700 diapers and had 300 mothers
on the waiting list.
In 2005, RODA was allotted office space in Čanićeva 14, Zagreb, from the
Agency for the Management of State Property, which is owned by the
Republic of Croatia. In 2006, after intense renovations and thanks to the
donations and volunteer hours from companies and individuals, RODA
officially moved in or «nested» in RODA’s Gnjezdo (the stork’s nest).
In the same year, NESst started supporting RODA thanks to a business
competition run in cooperation with Zagrebačka Banka and UNICREDIT
Foundation, in which about €750,000 was put up to incubate five projects.
RODA was on of the five projects selected and is the only one being
incubated by NESst. NESst is an international non-profit organization
developing sustainable social enterprises working on critical social
problems in emerging market economies and was one of the first support
organizations to start a social enterprise consulting service in Croatia in
2005.
NESst helped RODA, who could no longer legally maintain selling diapers
as an association, create a limited liability company, Rodin let, which is
owned 100% by the association. Due to a larger client base and increased
demand, the organization also had to move its production to a social
workshop in Varaždin. Rodin let currently employs 2 people directly and 4
indirectly through the Varaždin sewing workshop; a part of the profits are
redirected into the social mission of the association. The success of this
initiative is also evident in the difference of total income of the
association, which went from 466,740 HRK in 2006 to 903,324 HRK in 2007.
| 11
RODA is still incubated by NESst and has been in their portfolio for 6 years.
NESst helped RODA develop a business plan and implement the solution,
providing consulting and financial assistance to create the brand «RODA’s
Kiss«. The organization has invested $93,800 so far in RODA; an
investment which has resulted in 5 employed, disabled people; 16,969,200
kg less waste produced per year and a 71.4% increase in RODA’s income
since joining the NESst portfolio.
Figure 7. Rodin let’s
brand, RODA’s kiss.
RODA has tried to expand its presence in other cities, for example Sarajevo
and Belgrade, but hasn’t had any success due to a lack in cultural
awareness and voluntary effort. Another obstacle in its strategic growth is
maintaining relevance as children get older. While new membership of
new mothers makes up for the ones who leave, the association is working
on evolving as the children age and maintaining relevant for children and
parent’s rights issues even after the first years of development.
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5
EVIDENCE FROM THE CASES
Problem to be Addressed and Idea
5.1
Family policy matters in formerly communist countries have been heavily
influenced by their socialist heritage; a fact which has impoverished the
offer of state-funded childcare services in Croatia, as they’ve relied on
more traditional resources coming from family care. As young people
started to move into larger cities for professional opportunities, this
system of family childcare support was no longer sufficient and the lack
in infrastructure became quickly a problem. Parental leave thus became a
highly relevant issue. Therefore, when the government cut parental leave
time and compensation in 2001, the association RODA – Parents in Action
was formed to fight for a reversal of this measure and lobby for children
and parent’s rights.
Due to a need to finance their activities, RODA started selling cloth diapers
in line with one of its projects, which promoted the health and cost
benefits of cloth diapers to its members. Thanks to the success of this
activity, the impossibility of continuing under its legal form (as an NGO)
and the strengthening of the social enterprise space in Croatia, RODA
founded a social enterprise Rodin let in 2006, to provide income for its
associative services allowing themselves to be more self-standing and
independent. The products of Rodin let are produced in a social workshop
in Varaždin, which employs disabled workers and are sold on its online
webshop and in its store in Zagreb.
SIs respond to gaps in public and private services, programs,
schemes.
The association has become an important stakeholder in family policy
matters representing the voice of many of its constituents. The SI also
| 13
addresses through its social enterprise the need of employment by the
disabled and the need for ecological and safe products for children. Both
needs can be translated, when satisfied, into benefits that affect the entire
community, through savings in public expenditure and economic value
creation and environmental safeguarding.
The SI depends on the coalescing of its primary target group:
mothers.
The SI started thanks to the internet. Coming from a communist
background, protests and public vocalization of frustration was not
common. Hence, the internet was key in catalyzing this initiative and
maintaining its member base via its forum.
5.2
Core Solution and Motivations
In SI business models and organisation are complex even when
the size of initiatives and ventures is small.
RODA was founded as an NGO to lobby and advocate for parental leave and
fair compensation. Under this legal form, however, income-generating
streams are limited. At first, the association focused its efforts on ethical
fundraising, accepting donations only from companies adhering to the
International Code on the Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes and
decided not to accept sponsors from the tobacco and pharmaceutical
industries, as well as companies conducting unethical marketing towards
children. During the initial phases when Rodin let was housed inside
RODA, the association, due to its legal form, could only sell their items a
few times a year at their organized bazaars or online. Creating a limited
liability company, thanks to the support of NESst, allowed RODA to really
launch the business and grow. Now the company, which is fully owned by
the association, can really create income not only for its employees (6
total) but also for the activities of the association. Through this hybrid
organizational model, RODA is able to self-finance its activities and grant
itself the autonomy it needs to really lobby for their users and be «picky»
in their sponsors. Furthermore, the social value created is multiplied as the
mission of both Rodin let and RODA support the ideals of responsible
parenting.
14 |
The presence of hidden costs (e.g. voluntary work) and peculiar
types of revenue streams (e.g. subsidies, CSR funding) often
characterise SI.
Rodin let was a success thanks to the strong connection that RODA has
with Rodin let’s clients and the possibility of being «incubated» in-house
until it was ready to be autonomous. This period allowed the founders to
really test the idea and understand the market. RODA furthermore attracts
many volunteers who help support the social mission and is able to receive
both public grants and private grants as they have two legal forms. This
gives them flexibility in generating income streams.
Cases showing that the SI was established primarily due to a
strong motivation of the initiators or of the actors cooperating in a
network.
While RODA has tried to scale up its efforts in other cities in the Balkans
area, they haven’t been successful in their efforts, not finding the
necessary cultural awareness and the initiative of volunteers. RODA was
possible also in part due to the initial catalyst, which was a change in
policy that was just outrageous enough to unify the women. The SI hence
carries a historical lens and can be interpreted as coming forth from a
social movement. The motivation of the founders to continue even after
this period is a testament to the fertile ground—i.e. the need for lobbying
for parental and children rights—that was discovered thanks to the initial
catalyst.
Development Process and Value Chain
Tailored
support
infrastructures
and
the
5.3
availability
of
intermediaries help to successfully establish, diffuse and sustain SI
RODA greatly benefitted from the rise of an ecosystem of social
entrepreneurship in Croatia, which brought in organizations like NESsta
and other supporting structures who worked to facilitate capacity building
in CSOs in Croatia.
| 15
In SI the choice of the organisational form is of utmost importance
to give the project/initiative structure and a legal status, while it is
context specific due to country regulation and requirements for the SI
RODA founded Rodin let due to the legal constraints of conducting
economic activities under the NGO legal framework, which arose from a
need for income (which was partly induced by their strict ethical code that
determined who could and could not be their sponsors). Furthermore, had
the company been less mission-driven, they might have been more
flexible in their income-generating activities and had less of a need to be
self-sustaining. Their strong vision of facilitating responsible and
affectionate parenting drove their decision to sell cloth diapers and
promote responsible consumption.
The SI’s associative side served to create the market around its
products
RODA’s strong presence as an advocate for responsible parenting and
strong connection with its users (attracting more than 40,000 visits
monthly on its forum), makes it the main marketing tool of the company,
campaigning for healthy and ecologically smart decisions by parents for
the wellbeing of their children and the community. Cloth diapers weren’t
seen as very modern or convenient, hence the awareness campaigns
around the benefits of cloth diapers for children is pivotal to create a
demand for these products.
The SI relies on the internet to maintain its user base and
relevancy
RODA wouldn’t have been able to start up, or at least as easily, had the
internet not existed, which allowed the women to find each other in the
beginning in 2001. Furthermore, the internet is key to RODA’s membership
and advocacy strategy being the key point of contact with its users and
between the users (via their forum).
The SI loses relevancy as the target ages
One of the barriers of RODA’s growth is losing relevance to mothers after
their children go beyond the first two to three years of development. The
association is working hard to maintain their relevancy and expand their
activities of advocacy to children of all ages. While a challenge, it remains
an opportunity point for RODA to expand and grow.
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The SI is creating a demand for sustainable production
Rodin let would like to source its materials locally but hasn’t been able to
find local suppliers. By producing cloth diapers and through the advocacy
of RODA on the benefits both healthwise and environmentally, Rodin let is
creating a new group of conscious consumers, which in the long run might
influence the supply of sustainable materials.
Formal evaluation and impact measurement are an exception in
SI
Nor RODA nor Rodin let formally measure their impact.
6
DISCUSSION OF EVIDENCES
IN SIMPACT’S THEORETICAL
FRAMEWORK
Social Innovation Components
Actors
6.1
6.1.1
As already highlighted above, the close interplay between RODA and Rodin
let is essential to the success of the SI, being directly linked as they both
are essential to the others development and growth. RODA’s presence as
an important stakeholder in family policy has facilitated Rodin let’s
credibility, which helped it win the support of NESsT. NESst was a decisive
actor in the growth of Rodin let, providing the association with the knowhow and capabilities to transform the project into an enterprise. RODA’s
users form the centerpiece around which all the activities run. RODA’s
close connection with the mothers has allowed it to create user-centered
and driven activities that are largely produced with the users themselves
| 17
(prosumption). RODA also works closely with the local government in their
lobbying activities and has been able to create a strong relationship with
them, obtaining key resources also from them including their office space.
In certain aspects, the benefits of RODA’s activities can be seen as coproduced by RODA and the local government.
6.1.2
Resources
Rodin let sources its material only from socially responsible suppliers. As
mentioned before, these suppliers are not locally based as there aren’t any
local suppliers to be found. The company hires four disabled workers
through the sewing workshop in Varaždin and two other works internally.
A lot of the work is done through volunteers, exemplifying the vast social
capital that the association has created over the years and the high
demand of its services. Furthermore, the vast network of users, supporters
and institutional stakeholders, including media partners, has been pivotal
to the success and growth of both RODA and Rodin let.
.
6.1.3
Institutions
The SI enables the creation of new economic actors on the side of
consumers and suppliers. By creating the products with the consumers
and advocating for the benefits of cloth diapers, RODA and Rodin let have
not only created conscious consumers but prosumers and hence a new
level of consumer awareness and demand. Likewise, producing new
products for a new consumer might stimulate the creation of new
suppliers to meet a rising demand.
The SI was enabled by political institutions, on the one hand through
tensions that catalyzed the founding of the association and on the other
hand through resources allocated to them as an important stakeholder.
Here the political and legal framework are objects of destination of the SI.
The SI enables a change in social institutions through awareness
campaigns and educational programs. This is in fact the mission of both
RODA and Rodin let.
Welfare institutions were also influenced by RODA, particularly in their
advocacy efforts on behalf of parental rights to work leave and
compensation.
18 |
Social Innovation Objectives
6.2
RODA and Rodin let work in tandem to reach their mission impact. Thanks
to their hybrid organizational form, RODA is allowed to concentrate on its
social mission while Rodin let is more focused on their need for income
generation. Social value, however, is the real driver in both activities and
the economic dimension is the tool for which the social value is created.
Social Innovation Principles
Modes of Efficiency
6.3
6.3.1
As mentioned above, the need for income generation to sustain
autonomously the activities of RODA is what drove the entrepreneurial
need to create Rodin let. The two parts are however part of the same
organizational mission and work in tandem to create social value for their
target users. Both organizational forms work to gain the most possible
advantage of their legal framework. RODA, as an association under the
NGO status, has gained a large network of political and social resources
including donations and grants from both private and public entities.
Rodin let as an LLC is able to create profit but as a social enterprise
completely owned by RODA is limited in its distribution, a part of which
goes to support RODA. RODA and Rodin let benefit greatly from the vast
number of volunteers who support their activities. The hybrid
organizational form created by RODA through Rodin let has granted them
flexibility in their actions and an agility to move in the best interests of
their users.
Modes of Governance
6.3.2
RODA and Rodin let are co-regulated by civil society, via their users, and
the local government. As RODA grows in power and as their users are
empowered, the institutional setting around their activities could change
as new economic actors are introduced. It will be interesting to observe
these trends in the future as the organization creates both inside-out and
outside-in innovation opportunities.
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