Social Entrepreneurship

Thinking Social Challenges Entrepreneurially. International Co-operation. Practice-Oriented Learning

As part of the European Reform University Alliance (ERUA), the Social Entrepreneurship project promotes entrepreneurial thinking with social responsibility in teaching, research and transfer. The aim is to bring students, lecturers and practice partners together to jointly develop solutions for social challenges.

At the European University Viadrina, new learning formats, international collaborations and practical projects are being developed for this purpose. Social entrepreneurship is understood as a combination of innovation, social responsibility and entrepreneurial action.

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The project offers various opportunities for participation for students, teaching staff and practice partners.

Students
can participate in project-based formats, work on social challenges in the Social Entrepreneurship Lab or take part in international workshops and exchange formats.

Teachers
have the opportunity to integrate social entrepreneurship into their courses, develop new learning formats or participate in the creation of case studies and open learning materials.

Practice partners
can contribute social challenges, participate as mentors or work together with students and researchers on solutions.

ERUA Social Entrepreneurship Lab

As part of the project, various teaching and learning formats on the topic of social entrepreneurship are being developed.

Current Teaching and Learning Programmes

Courses at the European University Viadrina and our partner universities address topics such as social innovation,sustainable business models and entrepreneurial action for social challenges. Many formats are project-based and are developed in collaboration with various stakeholders from the ERUA network.

2026

CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS - ERUA Venturethon

Hack Smart Sofia 2026

Are you planning a course in the field of social entrepreneurship or would you like to offer a format as part of ERUA? We look forward to new collaborations and ideas. Feel free to contact us at kaefer@europa-uni.de.

Open Educational Resources (OER)

Freely accessible self-learning materials are also being created. The first OER course on impact communications teaches the basics of impact-oriented communication for social innovations.

Further open learning modules on social entrepreneurship are currently under development.

To the Impact Communication OER course

The project produces various formats and results that make social entrepreneurship visible and support knowledge transfer.

Case Studies

Case studies document examples of social entrepreneurial initiatives from the ERUA network. They provide insights into challenges, solutions and impact models and can be used as learning material in teaching or for your own projects.

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Download case study (PDF)

Project Formats

The formats developed include, among others:

Social Entrepreneurship Lab
Workshops and international exchange formats
Cooperation with practice partners
Project-based teaching formats

Social entrepreneurship and social innovation events are regularly held within ERUA. These include workshops, project formats and networking events with international partners from the ERUA network.

Current dates and events will be added on an ongoing basis.

Save the Date: ERUA Viadrina Research Week, October 5-9, 2026

NBU Social Entrepreneurship Day | 29 January 2026

The project combines learning, practice and international cooperation. Since its launch in October 2023, formats, learning materials and project formats in the field of social entrepreneurship have been developed step by step as part of ERUA.

1 Identification of social challenges (2023-2024)
At the beginning, relevant social challenges and fields of innovation were identified at the ERUA universities, which serve as a starting point for teaching formats and project work.

2 Development of learning materials and teaching formats (2024)
On this basis, courses, workshops and open learning materials (open educational resources) on the topic of social entrepreneurship will be developed.

3 International cooperation and teamwork (2024-2025)
Students work in interdisciplinary and international teams together with partner universities and practitioners on social challenges.

4 project formats and mentoring (2025)
Workshops, mentoring formats and exchange events support the development of ideas and solutions for social innovation.

5 Results and knowledge transfer (2025-2026)
Results are made visible and shared in the ERUA network in the form of case studies, open learning materials (OER), events and presentations.