Education and entrepreneurship: Drivers for sustainable development

Issue title: Corporate Social Responsibility

Guest editors: Alan E. Singer and Pavel Castka

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Coman, Adela

Affiliations: The North University of Baia Mare, Baia Mare, Romania. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract: Education and entrepreneurship are the main enabling conditions for future change. Institutions of higher education should function as role-models of sustainability, with fairness in their own social policies and economic interactions. They should be active in the development of sustainable communities. Such practices are plainly in line with Humboldt's (c. 1870) traditional idea of the university as a change agent. Fortunately, there are already many examples. At the same time, we need a new type of entrepreneur: one who is the product of institutions where sustainability is taught and exercised. Many currently taught courses in “entrepreneurship” emphasize starting a small business; instead, they should emphasize transformational entrepreneurship: the type that changes the values and behavior of stakeholders and citizens.

Keywords: Sustainable development, entrepreneurship, universities, interdisciplinary solutions, problem solving, cooperation

DOI: 10.3233/HSM-2008-0685

Journal: Human Systems Management, vol. 27, no. 3, pp. 255-260, 2008