Innovation and Entrepreneurship for Social goals and Sustainability in developing countries

Abstract

The shift towards a sustainability-driven society includes changes to the educational system, business operations, innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystems as well as policymaking. Moreover, such a shift demands particularly a combination of top-down policy-making initiatives and bottom-up social entrepreneur-driven changes. Social innovation and entrepreneurship are providing solutions for globally recognized social and sustainability challenges such as poverty, education, environmental and climate change, peace support -worldwide yet also in the particularly challenging context of developing economies.We aim to showcase the best practices of social and sustainability-oriented innovation and entrepreneurship in the context of developing economies. In particular, we address the question of how social entrepreneur and innovator with bottom-up ideas could complement the top-down policymaking initiatives. Our design implies qualitative research aiming to disseminate the inspiring story of a social innovative enterprise, which represents a successful example of complementing policy-making efforts. Accordingly, our findings contribute to the literature on social innovation and entrepreneurship in the context of developing economies and simultaneously informs social entrepreneurs and policymakers on potential opportunities for synergy in their efforts.