Introduction
Social enterprises are recognised as a key driver of economic and social development in Europe today. Social enterprises create jobs, provide socially innovative services and products, enhance social inclusion and promote a more sustainable economy.
This module aims to equip learners with an understanding on how young people can promote active citizenship, democracy and civic engagement by being social entrepreneurs. In Unit 1, we examine how to identify social problems and design an intervention that corresponds to this particular problem. Unit 2 deals with the concept of social entrepreneurship and how social enterprises can become vehicles for change. Last, in Unit 3 a context analysis about the pros and cons of setting up a social business is exposed. Young people, despite having many disadvantages in accessing crucial know-how and funding sources, show a greater flexibility and adaptability that can ease a successful path. For this purpose, an emblematic case study is introduced, witnessing that when social enterprises answer real needs they definitely succeed in being self-sustainable.