Social Entrepreneurship
Social entrepreneurship is a growing approach to creating public value and addressing societal challenges that others often overlook. Social entrepreneurs act transparently and fairly, launching initiatives in communities, businesses, or larger organizations. This minor combines insights from economics, management, and organization studies, offering a solid foundation for those aiming to become entrepreneurs, policymakers, or ecosystem builders.
Overview
| Amount of EC | 30 EC |
|---|---|
| Start | Period 1 |
| Duration | Period 1 to 4 |
| Amount of courses | 2 compulsory courses |
Social entrepreneurship: a broad economy, governance and organization
Although social entrepreneurship is gaining popularity, it remains complex. It requires entrepreneurial insight, innovative policy, and knowledge of topics like social innovation, impact measurement, business models, legal structures, and mission-driven culture.
This minor is led by the Departments of Economics and Governance and Organization, combining expertise in economics, management, and organizational dynamics. It also draws on UU’s 'Bottom-up Initiatives for Societal Change', part of Institutions for Open Societies.
Examples
Social enterprises combine commercial activity with social goals—profit is a means to create public value. Companies like Tony’s Chocolonely, Maximus brewery, Veja, and i-did illustrate this. Tony’s Chocolonely fights child labour in the chocolate industry; Maximus and i-did help people with limited job access rejoin the workforce; Veja combines fair labour with circular production. These companies show that profit and purpose can go hand in hand—though balancing both can be challenging. To support this, the Dutch government is promoting social entrepreneurship, partly inspired by UU research, including the introduction of the BVm, a legal form for social enterprises.
Courses
You can click on each course number to read the course description in the course catalogue. You can take the elements of this minor in any order. However, it is recommended that you complete elements 1 and 2 before starting elements 3 and 4.
Enrolment
More information
For information about the content of the programme, you can contact the coordinator, prof. dr. Niels Bosma. For information about enrolment, you can contact the U.S.E. student information desk.