Course Description

Social entrepreneurship is a growing way to tackle tough social and environmental problems, from local community issues to global challenges. In simple terms, social entrepreneurship is about using innovative ideas to create social value, whether in businesses, nonprofits, or the public sector.

This course introduces you to the key ideas behind social entrepreneurship. You will explore concepts from entrepreneurship and management, and see how they connect with systems thinking, sustainable value chains, and collaborative governance (how different groups work together to solve problems). Through real-world case studies, you will examine what helps social ventures succeed: supportive ecosystems, policies, institutions, and effective engagement with different stakeholders.

By the end of the course, you will have knowledge and practical tools that can help you design and manage social ventures more creatively and effectively, in many different fields. These skills will also support your personal growth and development as a thoughtful, responsible global citizen.

[A compulsory half-day workshop will take place during Reading Week.]

Course Learning Outcomes

On completing the course, students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate a critical understanding of the complexities of problems embedded in socio-political and economic systems.
2. Develop a deeper understanding of the range of feasible trajectories associated with the social entrepreneurship approach.
3. Cultivate a sense of moral obligation and civic duty to act as responsible global citizens.
4. Make use of the skills, knowledge and concepts covered in the course to identify unmet needs and develop innovative cross-sector solutions to tackle multi-faceted problems.
5. Be able to communicate and advocate for a wider appreciation of our rights, duties, responsibilities and capacity for collective action driven by a social mission.

Offer Semester and Day of Teaching

Second semester (Wed)