Topic outline

  • Welcome to Sustainable Entrepreneurship, Markets, and Systems Change


    Can Sustainable Entrepreneurship act as an Engine for Sustainable  Development? - Izel Levi Coskun Blog

    I am very excited to have you in this course; the world faces some extensive sustainability issues, and requires massive systemic change.  For their part, entrepreneurs play a critical role in transitioning to a new sustainable system, though this is not easy. Against this backdrop, this course aims to help you better understand two main things:

    1. The role of entrepreneurs in creating systems change. We will briefly compare this role to the role of large corporations in systems change. Other actors - such as governments, NGOs, and academia - are also important, but I do not plan to include material on them, as this course is full enough.
    2. The tensions that entrepreneurs encounter whilst trying to enact this systems change. For instance, trade-offs between social, environmental, and financial goals, because not everything is a win-win; defining the boudnaries for the system they want to change, meaning they may have to ignore other important issues.
    Finally, also note what this course is NOT doing: it is not helping you design your own sustainable start-up.  For this type of hands-on activity, check out these courses: