The imperative of Social Entrepreneurship is to drive social change, and it is that potential payoff, with its lasting, transformational benefit to society, that sets the field and its practitioners apart from other ventures. It is an approach in which individuals or groups develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues.

Social entrepreneurship can contribute significantly towards achieving the objective of the Europe 2020 strategy: building smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, by fostering employment and social cohesion and it can also contribute to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Social enterprises create jobs, provide socially innovative services and goods, facilitate social inclusion and promote a more sustainable economy. Social enterprises also tend to be better integrated within the communities they serve and where their social impact is felt. Despite its growing importance, there is a paucity of Adult Educators with the competence to support its uptake, particularly amongst low-skilled and low-qualified adults; and a lack of high quality learning materials on social enterprise for them to use.