Project

STEPup

Strengthening innovative social entrepreneurship practices for disruptive business settings in Thailand and Myanmar

 
STEPup Banner

Social Entrepreneurship is the process of applying innovative business models to address social problems (for people and communities) by generating both profit and purpose. Social Entrepreneurship creates long-term value and achieves sustainable impact for society and the connected ecosystem.

In many Asian countries such as Thailand and Myanmar, Social Entrepreneurship is an economic reality, however, it usually applies to small businesses struggling to make money with no prospect to grow. Social entrepreneurs either do not know that they are social entrepreneurs or have no knowledge on how to scale their business to make a real impact on society.

Additionally, social entrepreneurship is not a desirable career path for young people, which is partly due to the scarce educational offer in higher education institutions. Innovative, disruptive business ideas need to emerge to not only tackle the societal challenges in the countries, but also to give students the possibility to acquire skills needed by the labour market to allow them to play an active role in society and achieve personal fulfilment.

The main beneficiaries and targets:

  • HEI leaders and managers of the areas business management/development, entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship
  • Academic staff focusing on business management and/or development, entrepreneurship as well as the social entrepreneurship
  • Students and student associations studying business programmes
  • Companies working in the field of social entrepreneurship
  • Business development agencies and political partners
Main project aims
  1. To strengthen teaching staff capacities and student skill sets through innovative teaching & learning methodologies by offering trainings combining theoretical and practical inputs & study visits
  2. To introduce new technologies, software and ways of producing learning content by modernising technical infrastructure of Thai & Burmese HEIs - creating, equipping and putting in operation the Social Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hubs;
  3. To enhance the cooperation HE-Enterprise and students learning experience by developing Innovative Social Entrepreneurship Case studies in cooperation with established social entrepreneurs, to apply the innovative methods learned and prepare the students for innovative thinking & acting in “real life” contexts;
  4. To promote greater access to high quality educational materials on the topic of teaching & learning methods and technology enhancement, providing Open Educational Resources to regional and international communities;
  5. To extend networks in social entrepreneurship innovation in national & international HE contexts by joint publications and organising the International Conference on Innovative SE practices.
Main project output
  1. Implementation and operation of 6 Social Entrepreneurship Knowledge Hubs (SEKHs)
  2. Conducting an Innovative Social Enterprise Case Challenge and implementation of networking activities–the established SEKHs will be used by students and social entrepreneurs

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.