Despite continuous efforts in various economies, amongst others in South-East Asia, the full potential of social entrepreneurship (SE) is difficult to realize (STEPup project comparative study findings). Challenges that need to be addressed include the lack of skilled employees, business understanding among founders, access to funding and infrastructure and a lack of social impact measurement. Higher education institutions (HEI) are often challenged with limited engagement, also in terms of student support of early entrepreneurial activity. This disbalance has also been observed in Thailand and Myanmar, with the Erasmus+ funded project STEPup (2020-2023) seeing an opportunity to create and strengthen innovative social entrepreneurship practices for disruptive business settings in the two participating countries. Research based on the review of scientific articles, the conduct of focus groups (n= 42 from 38 different external stakeholder organizations) and numerous interviews and creative sessions with stakeholders of the social entrepreneurship domain also revealed the necessity to act in a self-organizing and organic SE support system. This paper aims to present recommendations and strategic guidelines to increase access and opportunity for existing social enterprises and social entrepreneurs who are planning to create and sustain an SE ecosystem through the framework, support, expertise and structure of existing higher education institutions. In addition, Higher Education Institutions in Myanmar and Thailand would serve as a good practice case on how to design and develop resource hubs for social enterprise practitioners and engage stakeholders from all sectors to tackle social issues and promote awareness of the social enterprise sector’s potential.
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Social enterprises are the organizations founded, owned, and/or managed by the social entrepreneur(s). Their organizations can take different (sometimes multiple) legal forms, such as foundations, cooperatives, or limited liability companies. Some countries introduced separate organizational forms to do justice to the dual mission of social enterprises, such as low-profit limited liability company (L3Cs), benefit corporation (B-Corps), and community interest company (CICs) (Ebrahim et al. 2014). This is to create an enabling environment for social enterprises in which they can operate.The next section (section “The Drivers of Social Entrepreneurship”) explains the drivers for social entrepreneurship and the reason for the current interest in the phenomenon. This is followed by a conceptualization of the multidimensional concept of social entrepreneurship and its subconcepts in section “Social Entrepreneurship and Its Subconcepts.” Subsequently, section “Contributing to Sustainable Development Goals” explains how social enterprises contribute to the sustainable development goals by solving societal problems and scaling for impact. It further goes into detail about the role of the social entrepreneur in this process. The conclusion is drawn in section “Conclusion,” which is followed by an agenda for future directions, specified for each of the subconcepts of social entrepreneurship in section “Future Directions.”
This article presents and analyses three cases, which integrate features of both social movements and social entrepreneurship (SE). It is the result of a longitudinal study (January 2012 to September 2015). The study contributes new insights to the theoretical and methodological discussions on SE, focusing on ‘the social’ in SE literature. The three selected movements, active in the Netherlands, are: ‘The Dutch Chapter of Zeitgeist’ henceforth Zeitgeist (TZM), (2010–present), ‘Giving is All we Have’ (henceforth GIAWH, (2011–2014) and ‘MasterPeace’ (MP) (2010–present). Each movement shows a strong inclination towards social transformation, while being rooted in organizational structures, therefore considered ‘social entrepreneurial movements’. Specific contributions entail: the presentation of these innovative cases, the design of a methodology based on critical discourse analysis, state theory, narrative analysis, political theory and discourse theory and a thorough analysis and interpretation of these cases in the national and global contexts in which they emerged. More specifically, it contributes to SE literature on emancipation, defined as ‘breaking free’ when further developing the method in the direction of world-making, defined as ‘creating new worlds’. This study suggests that transition theory can be useful for the study of the impact of social entrepreneurial movements.
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In order to achieve much-needed transitions in energy and health, systemic changes are required that are firmly based on the principles of regard for others and community values, while at the same time operating in market conditions. Social entrepreneurship and community entrepreneurship (SCE) hold the promise to catalyze such transitions, as they combine bottom-up social initiatives with a focus on financially viable business models. SCE requires a facilitating ecosystem in order to be able to fully realize its potential. As yet it is unclear in which way the entrepreneurial ecosystem for social and community entrepreneurship facilitates or hinders the flourishing and scaling of such entrepreneurship. It is also unclear how exactly entrepreneurs and stakeholders influence their ecosystem to become more facilitative. This research programme addresses these questions. Conceptually it integrates entrepreneurial ecosystem frameworks with upcoming theories on civic wealth creation, collaborative governance, participative learning and collective action frameworks.This multidisciplinary research project capitalizes on a unique consortium: the Dutch City Deal ‘Impact Ondernemen’. In this collaborative research, we enhance and expand current data collection efforts and adopt a living-lab setting centered on nine local and regional cases for collaborative learning through experimenting with innovative financial and business models. We develop meaningful, participatory design and evaluation methods and state-of-the-art digital tools to increase the effectiveness of impact measurement and management. Educational modules for professionals are developed to boost the abovementioned transition. The project’s learnings on mechanisms and processes can easily be adapted and translated to a broad range of impact areas.
Promoting entrepreneurship is an enabler of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and it is one objective EU regions have pursued since the EC included it into 2020 Strategy. Entrepreneurship development has economic and social benefits, since it is not only a driving force for job creation, competitiveness and growth; it also contributes to personal fulfillment and to achieve social objectives. That is why the EU encourages entrepreneurial initiatives and to unlock the growth potential of businesses and citizens. However, only a 37% of Europeans (Eurobarometer 2012) would like to be self-employed. The Entrepreneurship Action Plan adopted by the EC in 2013 to reignite Europe’s entrepreneurial spirit includes initiatives for educating young people on entrepreneurship. To ensure that EU economy remains globally competitive, young generations of Europeans need to be inspired to develop their entrepreneurial mindset. EU 2020 Action Plan argues that young people benefitting of a specialised entrepreneurial education are more likely to start-up a business and to better tackle challenges in their professional career and life in general. Hence, there is good reason to ensure better quality of entrepreneurial education. Most approaches in recent years have focused on improving the skills or competences youngsters should obtain only within the education system. However, an integrated approach is needed, where the school, their friends, family and the social environment, shall play each one a relevant role, contributing to generate a more adequate atmosphere to boost their entrepreneurial mindsets, intrapreneurial attitudes and innovation capacities. This project will identify and exchange – through a quadruple helix approach- good practices for creating friendlier entrepreneurial ecosystems and actions to boost entrepreneurship in young people mindsets. The good practices and lessons learnt will be transferred into Action Plans to be included in regional policies.
Ondernemerschap is een krachtige manier om maatschappelijke opgaven aan te pakken en brede welvaart in de regio te stimuleren. Als Brabantse kennisinstellingen werken we samen met Provincie Noord-Brabant aan kennisontwikkeling over ondernemen met een positieve maatschappelijke impact. We doen dit middels de volgende projecten:1. Brabant Impact Class - Wie zijn de impact ondernemers in Brabant en waar lopen zij tegenaan? In dit project brengen we zoveel mogelijk ondernemingen in beeld die bijdragen aan impact. We vragen hen naar de kansen die ze zien en de belemmeringen die zij ervaren. We koppelen hun vragen aan studenten en docenten. Zij ondersteunen deze ondernemers op hun beurt weer in allerlei vakken en projecten – en dat draagt weer bij aan ons inzicht in impact ondernemen.2. Case Based Learning - We laten aansprekende voorbeelden van Brabantse impact ondernemers te laten zien in het onderwijs. Van deze voorbeelden van onze alumni worden cases ontwikkeld die vervolgens een plek krijgen in verschillende onderwijsprogramma’s. Zo vergroten wij de ondernemersdrive bij studenten en mogelijk ook het aantal studentondernemers.3. Businessmodel Ontwikkeling met Impact - Welke ondernemingen in Noord-Brabant zijn succesvol in het creëren van impact? Wat doen zij en wat kunnen anderen ervan leren? En tegen welke belemmeringen lopen zij aan? Dit project maakt succes- en faalfactoren inzichtelijk en deelbaar.4. Geld met Impact: Wie laat startups duurzaam groeien? - De startende en groeiende impact ondernemers en investeerders met ESG-drijfveren lijken elkaar niet goed te vinden. Dit project richt zich op het onderzoeken van de financiële kant van het ecosysteem. Hoe zijn investeringen van private en publieke partijen in startups, scale-ups en sociale ondernemingen een stimulans voor ondernemerschap met maatschappelijke impact en brede welvaart?5. Kennisecosysteem - We willen de kennis over impact ondernemen zoveel mogelijk van waarde laten zijn in Brabant. Dit doen we door ontmoetingen te organiseren voor impact ondernemers, studenten ondernemers, docenten ondernemerschap en begeleiders en coaches. Ook delen we de inzichten van het onderzoek.Deze ‘nieuwe’ kennis zetten we om in werkbare principes voor ondernemers (in spé). Dit doen we in samenwerking met impact ondernemers in de regio en aanbieders van ondersteuning. Zo werken we samen toe naar het inzetten van hoogwaardige Brabantse kennis voor de maatschappij van morgen.
