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Social Entrepreneurship Summit

"Together we can make a better world."

Santa Marta, Colombia

12 & 13 September 2019
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Anker 1

What?

The Social Entrepreneurship Summit “Together we can create a better world” brings together academics, students, business leaders, government officials and social entrepreneurs to co-create solutions to the most challenging issues of our society. This summit aims at gathering all different actors to foster the collaboration among themselves and to intensify the hands-off support to social entrepreneurs.  
 

The summit will take place in the beautiful city of Santa Marta, Colombia. This is a perfect location for a summit on social entrepreneurship not only because of its location on the Caribbean coast of Colombia, but also because of the proximity of poverty, local challenges, and indigenous communities. For two days, participants in the summit will be exchanging ideas how to improve the support of social entrepreneurs, and thus strengthen the solutions for the sustainability challenges that our societies face. At the summit, you will benefit from the provoking ideas of distinguished Key Note Speakers, as well as from a direct contact with numerous social entrepreneurs at the social entrepreneurship fair.

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Who can participate?

  • Academics with research interest on Social Entrepreneurship;

  • University leaders (International Relations, Outreach, Community Engagement) with main interest in the relationship between university and local communities;

  • Students and professionals, with interest on social entrepreneurship;

  • Social entrepreneurs and business representatives, currently working on all type of projects with a social or environmental impact;

  • Business leaders and practitioners with connections to Social Entrepreneurship and CSR;

  • Policy makers and other government agencies;

  • NGO’s and other organisations with social / environmental projects;

  • Leaders from incubators, accelerators, coworking spaces, innovation.

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What can you expect from this summit?

  • Get inspired by different presentations from academics, students, business leaders, government officials and social entrepreneurs and other relevant stakeholders from the entrepreneurial ecosystem;

  • Create long-lasting connections and explore new paths for creating sustainable solutions;

  • Receive feedback on your current projects on (in support of) social entrepreneurship;

  • Get new knowledge / skills to bring your ideas and proposed solutions to a next level, with innovative and worth ideas to create a positive impact in your community.

What are the main topics?

  • Social Entrepreneurship and their innovative business models;

  • Building a strong and supportive ecosystem to support social entrepreneurs;

  • The role of universities to promote and support social entrepreneurship;

  • Case studies of successful social entrepreneurs;

  • Circular economy and new business models​

 

​This is not an exhaustive list of topics. Therefore, we will welcome any other submission on topics related to Social Entrepreneurship.​

 

For more details, please follow up this website.

What are the participation styles?

  • Academic Presentation:  All types of scientific research is welcome for presentation, including literature reviews; conceptual papers; case studies; qualitative and quantitative research.

  • Presentation of University Initiatives: We invite universities to present their exemplary cases on how to support / stimulate social entrepreneurship from teaching, research or outreach activities.

  • Practitioner’s Presentation: We welcome social enterprises, practitioners and government officials to share their ideas and experience on the topic, by presenting their cases, best practices and discuss their challenges with a broader audience to create awareness, establish new connections and receive feedback.

  • Round Table Debates: We welcome proposals that would like to open up the debate on challenging topics in the support of social entrepreneurship.

  • Poster Presentations: Students and junior academics are welcome to present a poster on their desire case on social entrepreneurship.

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Submissions should mention one of the above types and elaborate the proposed ideas in a short abstract of 1.000 words. Both presentations in English and in Spanish are welcome, upon a clear presentation of preference. All submissions will be subject to peer-review. There will be an opportunity to publish full papers after the conference (only in English).

Fees

  • General admission:       150 EUR

  • Student:                      100 EUR

  • Social Entrepreneurs:   100 EUR

Important dates

  • Submission of Abstracts - May 30, 2019

  • Notification of Authors - June 10, 2019

  • Submission of Revised Abstracts
    or Short Papers     - August 10, 2019

  • Registration Deadline - August 15, 2019
    Conference Get Together - September 11, 2019

  • Conference sessions - September 12-13, 2019

  • Social Entrepreneurship Fair - September 13, 2019    

For more information, you can contact us at:


Prof. dr. Nikolay A. Dentchev
Chair of Social Entrepreneurship  - Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Nikolay.Dentchev@vub.be

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Drs. Abel Diaz Gonzalez 
Research Assistant
Vrije Universiteit Brussel – Chair of Social Entrepreneurship
adiazgon@vub.be

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