Kursthemen

  • Introduction

    An image representing Social Economy environment

    To understand the basics of social economy and social entrepreneurship, we must define the definition of it and how it is different from mainstream businesses. A social enterprise's main purpose is to promote, encourage, and make social change happen. In contrast to mainstream businesses, social enterprises do not aim to make a profit. The EU is trying to develop a policy framework that brings together all forms of social enterprises, helps measure them, enhances social investment, and supports start-ups. In 2021, the European Commission adopted a new action plan on the social economy. With the action plan, the Commission put forward concrete measures to help mobilize the full potential of the social economy. 

    These enterprises can be categorized by size, how they are financed, and in what field they operate. There are many organizations that are relevant in SE development in Europe, like OECD, Euclid Network, Ashoka, Impact Europe, and SEWF. Moreover, we can talk about different groups that somehow support the SEs ecosystems: the customers, policy makers, governments, funders, or peer organizations like universities. 

    Social innovation is one of the most relevant topics. It can be defined as the development and implementation of new ideas (products, services, and models). Assessing social innovation and measuring its impact is important to find out which policies, methods, and approaches work best.

  • Basic principles of Social Enterprises and types of social enterprises

    Social Enterprises can be categorized by various metrics and categorization. Most of them are similar to mainstream businesses or civil society organizations as they inhabit the same space as these organizations within our society. Due to their dual nature, they can and should be categorized also differently.

    However, as the field is still growing more research is needed and also more business model should be developed in order to have a robust typology.

    In the unit participants will be introduced to some of these typologies and also get to know some Social Enterprises throughout the world. This helps them also identify local examples of Social Enterprises and social innovation projects.