In this blog post, we will go deeper into the first sub-cycle of our model that we call “Karün Collector Development” and it consists of working with Karün collectors and entrepreneurs. Whose objective is to obtain the raw material through the regeneration of local economies and learn from our dear entrepreneurs on the road, from their way of seeing and inhabiting the world.
1. Karün Collector Development:
The value chain oriented to our Karün Conscious Development Model®, respects, and adapts to the local and collaborative context, aiming at circularity and regeneration. In this way, it seeks to build a model that arises from the territories and communities, which stimulates the creation of social capital, improving socio-labor conditions, the formalization of collectors and associated artisans, and the conservation of nature of Patagonia.
With the materials we recover thanks to the collaboration of our collectors, we managed to contribute to giving a better destination to disused materials, preventing them from ending up in landfills. Among the materials that we collect are: fishing nets, ropes, metals, wood, pigments, or organic materials, all from southern Chile and Patagonia.
For their part, the accessories that Karün artisans manufacture are made with noble materials, giving value to the traditional techniques and skills that they have developed over the years.
With these materials and products, we offer high-quality glasses and accessories, as a symbol of the paradigm of human beings living in harmony with the planet. Under these principles, it seeks to achieve a value chain that positively impacts the people and ecosystems of Patagonia.
2. Describing the Model
A. Rural Entrepreneur
The initial stage of this cycle is the identification of entrepreneurs, who could become Karün Collecting Entrepreneurs / Artisans. For this, it is considered that the entrepreneur is interested in or familiar with the actions or trades required by Karün.
The identification of the entrepreneurs is materialized thanks to the territorial work we carry out in alliance with Balloon in Cycle 2: “Regeneration and Territory” of our Conscious Development Model.
Getting to know the entrepreneur:
If the entrepreneur meets the identification criteria described above, they are contacted to find out the details of their work and are invited to participate, through a collaborative alliance. At this stage, an interview is applied to deepen their work and motivations, plan a way of working that is appropriate to their reality and that Karün can support in its development.
The sections of the interview consider:
B. Karün Entrepreneur
Inscription as a supplier:
One of the key points of this process is to accompany the entrepreneurs in their development and formalization. For this reason, the initial stage is focused on formalizing this relationship through registration as suppliers of Karün, a document that is signed by both parties in which the duties and rights of both signatories are established.
The process of registration of suppliers is adjusted to the reality of the entrepreneurs and has the technical support of Karün, especially in those administrative requirements, which are often difficult to meet by entrepreneurs who have developed informally.
Work plan with the Karün Entrepreneurs:
One of the purposes of the work with the Entrepreneurs is that the income obtained from the sale of waste or products is an impulse to strengthen other enterprises that develop, in order not to generate dependence. While we strive to support the collector to improve their management and skills, we believe that these should also become a capital to implement and expand in various areas or services provided in the region.
For us, receiving the discarded material from the associated entrepreneurs and paying them a fair price for this, is only the beginning, we also want that the tools they acquire along the way (like environmental and community actions, costing and inventory management, etc.) can operate as a sounding board that allows them to strengthen and expand to their other microbusinesses.
In order to support the entrepreneur in this process, we work together in the design of work plans, which have two objectives; on one hand, to identify gaps to improve the management and quality of their work as Karün entrepreneurs, and secondly, to detect strategies that allow them, through the income obtained from the services provided to Karün, to enhance their work or ventures that develop complementarily.
The following is an example of the aspects to be considered in the collectors' action plan, in addition to some of the achievements of our collectors from 2019 to the present.
Training Karün Entrepreneur Collectors / Artisans:
We believe that the development of human capital in technical and management terms is indispensable for the strengthening of entrepreneurs and to contribute in this aspect, we work on the identification of needs and opportunities for training and education.
To carry this out, Karün in alliance with Balloon, designed a program that among other aspects includes; to make visible its role within Karün’s value chain, to promote abilities that improve their business, cost estimation methodologies, elaborating plans of improvement. Optimization of their businesses.
In addition to the above, we will constantly be working with entrepreneurs to identify those skills or knowledge that they are interested in strengthening and will identify options that respond to this demand. The above will be channeled through the Impact program developed with Karün in Cochamó or strategic allies that will be added in the process and that will nourish and strengthen our value chain.
C. Raw material collection
Defining the purchase value of materials:
A crucial aspect of the Karün Conscious Development Model® is the definition of the price of the material, which must be fair and ethical. For this, we consider that the price at which we buy our raw material and products will always be 20% above the market value. This criterion applied, we determine the Unit Value of the product/service, which we calculate with the entrepreneur, having in mind the costs associated with labor, operational expenses, and profits.
Protocol for the management and sale of materials/products:
This document includes recommendations for Karün residue collectors, to ensure quality control in the selection of materials and their management, including separation, storage, and sale.
Within the protocol, the recommendations to be considered in their work are detailed, as well as the instruments that have been designed to keep a record of the waste they generate and sell, ensuring their traceability and administrative control.
Articulation of the Impact Leaders route
Finally, this collaborative work process must be articulated and implemented together with the entrepreneurs, which translates into the "Route of Impact Leaders": a logistical route that is traveled monthly with the aim of removing this waste, efficiently, and recycling and revaluing the raw materials that will later become our eyewear.
In this "Route of Impact Leaders", different actors are present, among which the community stands out with each Collector Coordinator and the companies that collaborate with Karün in this route. Today, Starken, Aceros Sostenibles AZA (or AZA Sustainable Steel translated), and Recollect are working with us.
- Starken is our logistic partner, who helps us in the removal and transfer of the waste from the Reloncaví Estuary, to take it to its destination.
- Aceros Sostenibles AZA is our partner in the process of re-valorization of recycled metal. Together with them, we articulate scrap recyclers to whom we sell the material, money that goes back in its totality to the "Impact Leaders" to pay for their work.
- Recollect is the organization that helps us in the recycling of plastics, being the destination of these wastes to be worked and then sent to our factories in Europe.
Below we leave you with a graphic that explains in a simpler way this articulation of our collaborators.
If you have questions or suggestions you can write to us at info@karunworld.com or contact us HERE.
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