Aspects of the development of the social entrepreneurial ecosystem in Greece
To promote the idea of social business, organizations should be set up and set up to bring together various stakeholders, such as social and profit-making businesses, NGOs, the state and investors. An example of such an organization is Ashoka, which is in the process of starting its activities and developing a relevant community in Greece. Through its vast network and its collaborators, social entrepreneurs can come from abroad in Greece and share best practices and co-operate with Greek social enterprises. There are thousands of successful social businesses from which we can learn but also to help them grow and expand.
One of the most important mediators in Greece for social entrepreneurship is the Impact HUB in Athens, where there are interesting events about social entrepreneurship almost every day and where many startups from the sector are based.
In social business, education also plays an important role. For example, Universities could introduce courses such as “How to create a business social project” and bring successful entrepreneurs to present their work in their curriculum. In addition, the field of social entrepreneurship offers many opportunities for academic research, especially in the field of measuring the social impact or studying the needs of financing social enterprises, areas that Greek Universities could develop.
The state has the choice either to accelerate or to prevent and prevent the development of the social entrepreneurial ecosystem. Through excessive taxation and excessive bureaucracy, the Greek state has so far unfortunately chosen the second. Especially in the case of NGOs and social enterprises, blatant bureaucracy and non-application of tax relief are obvious examples of this policy.
The era of social entrepreneurship has reached and will remain. The question, therefore, is not whether the changes described above will come, but when they will come, as seeds for a culture of social entrepreneurship have already been set. The most important but also promising of all is that many Greek citizens have realized that we do not have the luxury of waiting for the politicians to take action or the recovery of the economy. We, as citizens, are called upon to find creative solutions to the problems our society faces today, regardless of the phase in which our economy is located, but also by what politicians and governments are doing. Creating an ecosystem of social entrepreneurship certainly will not eliminate political conflicts within society nor solve all our problems. But it can be a key part of the puzzle as it is now formed, bringing to light new ideas and new models of economy and entrepreneurship. In cooperation with all the actors mentioned above, social entrepreneurs can help create the necessary change for Greece to overcome the economic, political and moral crisis that is going through.
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