Three academics from The University of Northampton's Business
School recently showcased their work on social enterprises at an
international conference in Beijing, China, hosted by Capital
University of Economics and Business (CUEB).
The University of Northampton commenced its new BA Social
Enterprise Development degree in September, the second course of
its kind in the United Kingdom, with 24 students taking part in
Year 1 of the programme. Social enterprises are social
mission-driven organisations which trade in goods or services for a
social purpose.
Professor Richard Sanders, Contemporary Chinese Studies, Tim
Curtis, Senior Lecturer in Social Enterprise and Dr He Shaowei,
Lecturer in Economics and Contemporary Chinese Studies, were
invited to attend and present at the International Symposium of
Social Enterprise and Self-Employment. This is a forum for
researchers from academia, enterprises and Government to present
ideas, results and ongoing research on practical and theoretical
advances in social enterprise and social development.
Sponsored by the British Council PMI2 programme to attend the
conference, Professor Sanders, Tim Curtis and Dr Shaowei presented
keynote speeches and papers on the infrastructure required to
educate more social entrepreneurs and ground-breaking field
research into the motivations of social entrepreneurs.
Tim Curtis also held a masterclass with three Chinese social
entrepreneurs for postgraduate students of CUEB. CUEB are a partner
university of The University of Northampton; the two institutions
have been working together to develop the curricula for the BA
Social Enterprise Development degree in Northampton.
A visit programme has been arranged in 2010 for The University
of Northampton to meet with social enterprises in China and
discussions about longer term collaborations with CUEB via virtual
learning environments were progressed.