Also the important role of business incubators for fostering entrepreneurs who wish to start up and develop their businesses is clearly acknowledged nowadays. Despite the acknowledged importance of business incubators and sustainable development separately, there is hardly any attention for the engagement of business incubators in sustainable development activities.
Tom Ballering and Enno Masurel contributed to filling this research gap by investigating the engagement of business incubators in activities aimed at sustainable development. 59 European business incubators participated in their research. They found that a significant proportion of business incubators in Europe clearly engage in activities aimed at sustainable development, with their own activities (e.g., 80% of the business incubators sponsored social activities and 68% pay attention to their own recycling) and with their programs (e.g., 25% offers programs to create positive environmental impact and 31% offers programs to create positive social impact). Also for the selection of mentors and incubatees, environmental and social issues are important. The empirical analysis also suggests the existence of a separate subgroup of sustainable business incubators (15% of the whole research group), that differ significantly from other business incubators on a range of environmental and social aspects.
According to the authors, their paper may serve as a blue print to develop sustainable business incubators, that meet the criteria of these times and the ambition of many startups.
Ballering, T., & Masurel, E. (2020). Business Incubators and their Engagement in Sustainable Development Activities: Empirical Evidence from Europe. International Review of Entrepreneurship, 18(2), 203-220.
The diagnosis of incurable cancer profoundly disrupts patients’ lives, often causing existential crises and a sense of lost purpose. The KWF-funded project “In Search of Stories” (ISOS) aimed to support these patients by partnering them with spiritual counsellors and professional artists. This co-creation process proved highly beneficial. New funding from KWF Dutch Cancer Society supports […]
NewsLaura Rupp has been awarded the Comenius Leadership Fellow grant for a three-year period. This grant of 500,000 Euros, will fund a project titled “Global English and International Dutch on the VU Campus”. Over the years, Rupp has successfully reached more than 100,000 people online worldwide, teaching how to understand diverse English accents and speak […]
NewsInternist Max Nieuwdorp, of Amsterdam UMC, discovered a few years ago that the microorganisms in the intestines of many overweight people produce alcohol to an increased extent. Breaking down excessive alcohol leads to fatty liver disease, which in turn poses a risk of serious conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Nieuwdorp has now received an ERC Advanced Grant of 2.5 million euros for a major study into the underlying causes of this excessive alcohol production.
News