Panacea (medicine)

Gene

Algorithm

Transition (genetics)

Composite number

Ecology

Social economy

Social sustainability

Biology

Breakout

Economic system

Sustainability

Public relations

Social entrepreneurship

Social change

Social enterprise

Economics

Market economy

Biochemistry

Computer science

Carbon fibers

Business

Niche construction

Economic geography

Alternative medicine

Niche

Energy transition

Social Welfare

Entrepreneurship

Political science

Value (mathematics)

Industrial organization

Medicine

Chemistry

Economic growth

Finance

Machine learning

Pathology

Energy Policy

While there is growing consensus that human behaviours need to change to a more sustainable paradigm, community driven approaches, such as social enterprise, have yet to be explored as serious instruments of sustainability transition. Social enterprises sit within the third sector of the economy, typically where market or governmental failures exist in the provision of social welfare, and have increasingly become a key driver of social progress. The autonomous nature of the social-economic model applied by such organisations can represent a viable means to reduce state social welfare dependence, and is a proven model for social change. The capability of social enterprises to create both social and economic value is considered a ‘win-win’. Yet there are clear potentials for social enterprise models to be more extensively applied to address contemporary ecological challenges of neo-liberal market economies, moving towards ‘win-win-win’ outcomes across social, economic and ecological domains. This paper investigates the value of social enterprises as drivers of low-carbon transition at the community level, with an emphasis on the energy sector. Evidence from seven organisations in the UK is presented and a socio-technical transitions conceptual framework is applied to analyse these social enterprise operations as a form of social innovation.

Social enterprise as a potential niche innovation breakout for low carbon transition