<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Today the world faces many social challenges in the economic, social and environmental spheres that needs to be overcome. The public debate has been focused on finding solutions to them and one of these has been addressed as social entrepreneurship. This phenomenon combines the resourcefulness of traditional entrepreneurship with a mission to change society. Observing the positive social impact of entrepreneurs providing basic needs, this paper recognizes their unique role in efficiently contributing to the achievement of sustainable development goals. The purpose of this article is to introduce the connection of social innovations and sustainable growth as an important phenomenon in today's real economy. Based on the interviews with the focus group and the cases of good practice, the authors have established the development of social innovation and social entrepreneurship in Slovenia. It is important in numerous fields, especially in employment, social inclusion, demographic changes, health care, education, finance, political structures and social integration. We found that the obstacle in the development of social entrepreneurship is scattered, unrelated or absent support mechanisms that do not offer the right incentives for the creation and the development of social enterprises. Another conclusion is that cooperation with partners from different sectors of the society is an important fundament in their work with social entrepreneurship.</p></abstract>

Today the world faces many social challenges in the economic, social and environmental spheres that needs to be overcome. The public debate has been focused on finding solutions to them and one of these has been addressed as social entrepreneurship. This phenomenon combines the resourcefulness of traditional entrepreneurship with a mission to change society. Observing the positive social impact of entrepreneurs providing basic needs, this paper recognizes their unique role in efficiently contributing to the achievement of sustainable development goals. The purpose of this article is to introduce the connection of social innovations and sustainable growth as an important phenomenon in today's real economy. Based on the interviews with the focus group and the cases of good practice, the authors have established the development of social innovation and social entrepreneurship in Slovenia. It is important in numerous fields, especially in employment, social inclusion, demographic changes, health care, education, finance, political structures and social integration. We found that the obstacle in the development of social entrepreneurship is scattered, unrelated or absent support mechanisms that do not offer the right incentives for the creation and the development of social enterprises. Another conclusion is that cooperation with partners from different sectors of the society is an important fundament in their work with social entrepreneurship.

Social Challenges are Opportunities for Sustainable Development: Tracing Impacts of Social Entrepreneurship Through Innovations and Value Creation

School of Business and Management Novo mesto, Slovenia

Faculty of Business and Management Sciences Novo mesto, Slovenia

Economic Themes

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Today the world faces many social challenges in the economic, social and environmental spheres that needs to be overcome. The public debate has been focused on...

Social Challenges are Opportunities for Sustainable Development: Tracing Impacts of Social Entrepreneurship Through Innovations and Value Creation

Published Online: Apr 15, 2016

Page range: 211 - 229

Received: Jan 12, 2015

Accepted: Jun 26, 2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/ethemes-2015-0012

Keywords
social challenges, sustainable development, social entrepreneurship, social innovation, methodology

© 2016

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Social Challenges are Opportunities for Sustainable Development: Tracing Impacts of Social Entrepreneurship Through Innovations and Value Creation

Published Online: Apr 15, 2016

Page range: 211 - 229

Received: Jan 12, 2015

Accepted: Jun 26, 2015

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/ethemes-2015-0012

Keywordssocial challenges, sustainable development, social entrepreneurship, social innovation, methodology

© 2016

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
social challenges, sustainable development, social entrepreneurship, social innovation, methodology