As a research institute, UNU-MERIT has some of the brightest minds investigating the topic of entrepreneurship. In this brief Q&A, PhD fellows Maria Tomai and Tamara Kool describe how entrepreneurs can drive positive change, particularly in the fields of migration and sustainability. Maria looks at the Circular Economy in cities of the Global South, before Tamara speaks about policies that are helping refugees rejoin the labour market.
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Maria Tomai, PhD fellow
How does your research relate to entrepreneurship?
My main area of research is on Circular Economy transitions of urban spaces in developing countries. I am particularly looking into how one of the biggest and most harmful by-products of human activity, that of solid waste, could regain value and be reintroduced into the economy, yielding economic, social and environmental benefits.
Circularity in material use in diverse ways is becoming a bottom-up revolution, a natural response to the unprecedented threat of environmental pollution and health threats caused by mismanaged waste worldwide. Igniting innovation and entrepreneurship in this field could unlock and boost circular economy’s potential for job creation, economic development and environmental protection.
Why do you think entrepreneurship is important?
The greatest constant of modern times is change, as John Sterman (MIT Sloan) claimed. To be able to survive and evolve, requires flexibility, adaptation, a good grasp of the actual situation on the ground and fast reflexes to confront present and anticipated challenges. The current COVID-19 crisis is the most prominent example of how critical junctures appear, with unforeseen consequences. Under such a context of uncertainty, entrepreneurship plays a catalysing role. Entrepreneurs are becoming the agents of change, by taking actions to prevent future threats or by responding to opportunities that arise, challenging the status quo.
How can entrepreneurship positively impact society?
Social impact-driven entrepreneurship blends the business side of value creation with the achievement of social gains. This combination is becoming the motor of positive change in various pressing societal challenges.
As I experienced through my own research, the passion and determination of entrepreneurs to combat the unprecedented consequences of escalating waste generation is leading to the creation of sustainability initiatives, that either being small- or large-scale, they manage to profoundly foster transitions towards a circular economy.
Tamara Kool, PhD fellow
How does your research relate to entrepreneurship?
Employing a social exclusion approach, my research looks at the role of refugee-related policy in shaping the access Syrian and Palestinian refugees to the Jordanian labour market. Many protracted refugees are affected by a lack of durable solutions as humanitarian aid often falls short in the long term. Yet, not including refugees into society risks long-term adverse effects in economic, social and political dimensions; as well as missing out on the potential of refugees to contribute to the host country’s economy. Refugees should be seen as actors enacting on their own agency as many find their way to the local labour market to ensure a certain level of wellbeing despite facing obstacles in utilising their human capital.
Why do you think entrepreneurship is important?
Entrepreneurship and employment are crucial in furthering the agency of protracted refugees in the labour market. A large group of refugees are displaced for a period of five years or more. This places them in a severely vulnerable position as they are often left in limbo.
With the current international discourse focused on self-reliance, a critical look is required to look at how this is shaped. Entrepreneurship is one of the pathways to which we can turn, provided this comes with the sufficient support system for the refugees (here you can think of social protection, debt management, marketing and mentoring support, etc.).
How can entrepreneurship positively impact society?
By providing refugees with entrepreneurial opportunities, you further their own agency and enable them to derive at a decent level of well-being. Moreover, refugees are able to contribute to the economy and social fabric of the host community. This has the potential for positive spill-over effects. It has to potential to counter the perception of the refugee as a so-called passive recipient of aid from the perspective of the host community; it allows for interaction between the different groups; and also, it creates a market exchange that may benefit the refugee community and the host community alike.
See Tamara’s recent publications:
This article originally appeared in Maastricht University’s SBE Blog and has been lightly edited. Read the original article.
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The opinions expressed here are the authors’ own; they do not necessarily reflect the views of UNU.
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