The promotion of entrepreneurship and its contribution to sustainable development: the Darwin Camp case

• Autor(a) principal: Torres, Isabel da Conceição Pontes
• Data de Publicação: 2021
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.22/19950
• topic: Empreendedorismo social; Desenvolvimento sustentável; Darwin Camp; Responsabilidade social corporativa; Social entrepreneurship; Corporate social responsibility; Sustainable development; Gestão

Philosopher Martha Nussbaum argues that society has a responsibility to provide the means to ensure people’s natural abilities can thrive, and therefore ensure that life can be lived sustainably and with dignity (Nussbaum, 2011). In this dissertation I examine how entrepreneurship can be a driver of creation of those means and conditions, as well as the importance of that matter for sustainable development. Addressing concepts that I consider crucial to the discussion, such as social entrepreneurship, circular and solidarity economy, the role of the private sector and corporate social responsibility, without forgetting the multicultural world in which we live and how intercultural competencies are, nowadays, mandatory to ensure the success of both personal and corporate relations. I then use the Darwin Camp project to demonstrate how all the presented hypothesis turn out in the real world. From literary research to my personal experience as a 6-month intern in one of the companies at the Camp, and the surveys and interviews I conducted there, I was able to conclude that a social oriented business, that cares for the community and the environment, will help establish the bridge between profit and people and perhaps be the great tool to find the solutions to the social and environmental problems we face these days. In general terms, entrepreneurship must be linked with a balance between creativeness, profit-making and problem-solving character, both for ensuring companies’ competitive advantages and a livable and dignified world for future generations.