5 R1.T2 – Module 4: Solutions to environmental problems through social entrepreneurship LEARNING UNIT 1: INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP: DEFINITION AND BASIC ELEMENTS Social Entrepreneurship as a phenomenon has been dominating the academic and business world for the past 20 years. Although as a term was introduced in Europe back at 60s it was only in the late 00s to be widely spread as a new business model. When referring to Social Entrepreneurship, we actually mean “the process of identifying, evaluating and exploiting opportunities aiming at social value creation by means of commercial, market-based activities and of the use of a wide range of resources” (Bacq & Janssen, 2011, p.388). In other words, social entrepreneurship constitutes of a hybrid business form where innovation and a vision for the betterment of the society coexist with operational business procedures and commercial activities. However, it would be false to state that the abovementioned definition constitutes a unified one. As many other recently introduced themes/ topics, there are different approaches that describe different aspects of social entrepreneurship. But what you have to keep in mind is that “Social entrepreneurship” was introduced as a mean to meet social needs through the combat of social, economical and environmental issues. How is this achieved? As the gap between the rich and the poor was becoming wider with inequality and social exclusion to threaten the societies prosperity and sustainability, and the state not to be able to serve all social needs a new entrepreneurial venture came up in order to provide innovative and inspirational alternatives. This new business model combines elements from traditional entrepreneurship such as the provision of products and/ or services, gain profit etc., to serve a social mission and vision. Moreover, the social mission is oriented in addressing specific environmental, social, and economical challenges whilst fostering inclusive growth, social cohesion, and accumulation of social capital, shared prosperity, and social inclusion. Video If you want to learn more, please watch this interesting video that explains What Social Entrepreneurship is See also here, an interesting video about The rise of Social Enterprises and Social Entrepreneurs See also here, an interesting video about Social Entrepreneurship: How to make money and help others at the same time If you are still wondering what are the differences between traditional entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship , then you should take into account the following key elements: ü Social entrepreneurship is exercised by a group of people that want to contribute to their community by addressing specific social challenges /issues
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