SE TALKS #4: Development of SE ecosystem?

Building a conducive eco-system for development of social entrepreneurship is a prerequisite for social enterprises to realize their role. Enabling system fosters social innovation, growth of social enterprises, and maximizes their impact and contribution to transformational change paving the way for significantly improving the wellbeing of people. No social enterprise operates in a vacuum. Many interdependent systems, institutions, and networks enable social enterprises to flourish.

If you would like to start your own social enterprise, you should be aware of the importance of knowing how to navigate the SE ecosystem.

Join us at SEtalks #4 where we will discuss several topics:

• Current situation and what can be done for improvement
• Key actors for SE ecosystem development
• National and international networks and their importance
• Development of ecosystem in WB countries and Sweden – similarities and differences

Our speakers will be:

• Marie Löwegren, PhD – Senior Lecturer at Lund University
• Neven Marinović – Director of Smart Kolektiv and President of Euclid Network. (Serbia)
• Aleksandra Iloska – Researcher at Association for Research and Communication Public (North Macedonia)

The discussion will be moderated by Snežana Andrić, President of Young Ambassadors (Serbia) and Stefan Chichevaliev, Executive Director of the Social Entrepreneurship Observatory (North Macedonia).

Webinar will be in English and available through the Zoom platform.

Link for registration: http://setalks.org/enrol-to-se-talks-4-development-of-social-entrepreneurship-ecosystem/

We have launched the series of public discussions “SEtalks” with an aim to bring closer the social entrepreneurship field to new and upcoming entrepreneurs and innovators, to motivate young people to get involved in businesses with values that produce social impact.

You can find all previous SEtalks here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsNcbarfbHHg9JBJ8r5Rkzw

Project “SEtalks” is implemented by Young Ambassadors in partnership with Social Entrepreneurship Observatory and the support of the Swedish Institute and Lund University.

Scope and Purpose

For more than a decade, various actors in the WB region have been struggling to promote the idea of social entrepreneurship as a perspective concept that will actively work to create sustainable solutions to economic, social and environmental issues.

However, the development of social entrepreneurship in the region is still in its beginning. The lack of political stability on a regional and national level has changed the focus and the priorities of the countries toward political and economic stability, neglecting the social security and the social issues that are dragged for decades. Moreover, the lack of data for the development of the sector makes it almost impossible to showcase a transparent picture of the state-of-the-art on a national level, especially about the size, activities, number, impact and other characteristics in the field.

The literature and sparse field research show that the sector in the region is characterized as small with scarce political, institutional, financial and legal support for social enterprises (Rosandic & Kusinikova, 2018; Chichevaliev, 2019; European Commission, 2020).

The purpose of the webinar is to raise awareness about social entrepreneurship and to modernize an underrepresented field that lacks information and critical discourse.

We will be discussing social entrepreneurship with experts working in the field. The participants will also hear why social entrepreneurs are called agents for change and learn about social entrepreneurship practices in the region. At the end of the webinar Q&A session is planned for the audience.

The objectives of this webinar are:

• To raise awareness about social entrepreneurship;
• To motivate young people to get involved in businesses with values that produce social impact;
• To provide a platform for sharing information and resources;
• To create a tradition of promoting social entrepreneurship practices.