Abstract:

Sustainable entrepreneurs—entrepreneurs who seek social and environmental sustainability as a goal—can play a vital role in sustainability transitions, but they face numerous obstacles to success. These have been examined at the micro-level of individual enterprises and the macro-level of policy. This study complements prior work by examining the meso level of how individuals and organisations interact with others. Data comes from interviews, participant observation at sustainable-entrepreneurship events, and an online event assembling sustainable entrepreneurs alongside related actors such as policymakers and NGOs. Findings reveal that these ecosystem actors form a sustainable-entrepreneurship community of practice to support each other’s learning and achieve collective goals. The community is notable for its prosocial motivation, as members seek not just the success of their own enterprises but also collective impact on societal and environmental goals. Thus, it engages not just in the network-building and resource-sharing typical of business communities, but also in the sharing of innovative business models, as well as engagement in policy innovation to strengthen the phenomenon of sustainable entrepreneurship itself. These findings reveal a previously unidentified mechanism by which micro-level sustainable entrepreneurs can influence the macro level such as policy, while sustaining their own enterprises: participation in a community of practice for sustainable entrepreneurship.

Please choose your submission type: Developmental Paper

Primary Track: Entrepreneurship

Keywords: Entrepreneurship Theories;International entrepreneurship;Entrepreneurship and climate change

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Dr. Richard Adams