Sustainopreneurship (entrepreneurship and innovation for sustainability) is an idea that emerged from the earlier concepts of

social entrepreneurship Social entrepreneurship is an approach by individuals, groups, start-up companies or entrepreneurs, in which they develop, fund and implement solutions to social, cultural, or environmental issues. This concept may be applied to a wide range of ...

and

ecopreneurship Ecopreneurship is a term coined to represent the process of principles of entrepreneurship being applied to create businesses that solve environmental problems or operate sustainably. The term began to be widely used in the 1990s, and it is otherw ...

, via sustainability entrepreneurship. The concept aims to use creative business organization in order to solve problems related to sustainability. With social and environmental sustainability as a strategic objective and purpose, sustainopreneurship aims to respect the boundaries set in order to maintain the life support systems in the process. In other words, it is a "business with a cause" – where ideally the world problems are turned into

business opportunities A business opportunity (or bizopp) involves sale or lease of any product, service, equipment, etc. that will enable the purchaser-licensee to begin a business. The licensor or seller of a business opportunity usually declares that it will secure ...

by deployment of sustainability innovations.

Definition

The definition first introduced in a conference article in 2006:Abrahamsson, A. (2006) Sustainopreneurship – Business with a Cause. in Science Sustainable Development – Starting Points and Critical Reflections, Uppsala: VHU – Föreningen Vetenskap för Hållbar Utveckling (Swedish Society for Sustainable Development), pp. 21-30.

/ref> # Deployment of sustainability innovations: Entrepreneurship and innovation for sustainability. # Short for sustainability intra-/entrepreneurship. # To focus on one or more (world/social/sustainability-related) problem(s), find/identify and/or invent a solution to the problem(s) and bring the innovation to the market by creating an efficient organization. With the (new alt. deep transformation of an old) mission/cause-oriented sustainability business adding ecological/economical/social values and gains, with a bias towards the intangible – through dematerialization/resocialization. The value added at the same time preserving, restoring and/or ultimately enhancing the underlying utilized capital stock, in order to maintain the capacity to fulfil the needs of present and coming generations of stakeholders.

Conceptual development

The business has been nominated as a premier force for creating a sustainable world,Hart, S. L. (2005) Capitalism at the Crossroads: the Unlimited Business Opportunities in Solving the World's Most Difficult Problems. Philadelphia: Wharton School Publishing., p 3-7.Prahalad, C. K. (2004) The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid – Eradicating Poverty Through Profits, Philadelphia: Wharton School Publishing. especially when acting as a source of innovation and creativity – e. g. as Robinson (2004:378)Robinson, J. (2004)'' ''Squaring the Circle? Some thoughts on the idea of Sustainable Development, ''Ecological Economics,'' 48:4, pp. 369-384. puts it: :''"In addition to integrating across fields, sustainability must also be integrated across sectors or interests. It is clear that governments alone have neither the will nor the capability to accomplish sustainability on their own. The private sector, as the chief engine of economic activity on the planet, and a major source for creativity, innovation and entrepreneurship, must be involved in trying to achieve sustainability."'' Sustainopreneurship is a candidate to be the accentuating factor to give even more leverage to forces emerging from world of business activities to contribute to sustainability. The concept of sustainopreneurship was first introduced as a term in 2000Schaltegger, S. (2000) Vom Bionier zum Sustainopreneur, Presentation at Rio Impuls Management Forum 2000, Home Page of conference , presentation accessible at , (accessed 2007-04-16). where it was predominantly related to the proactive change management approaches associated with process adjustment with increased respect to the environment. The phenomenon developed with publications in 2003,Hockerts, K. (2003) Sustainability Innovation: Ecological and Social Entrepreneurship and the Managing of Antagonistic Assets'', ''PhD Dissertation, University of St. Gallen, Schweiz.Gerlach, A. (2003a) Sustainable entrepreneurship and innovation, Centre for Sustainability Management, University of Lueneburg, Conference Proceedings of Conference Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management 2003 in Leeds, UK.Gerlach, A. (2003b) Innovativität und Sustainability Intrapreneurship,'' ''Paper presented at Sustainable Management in Action '03, University of St. Gallen, Schweiz. and further evolved and was tentatively defined in 2006 by Anders Abrahamsson.Abrahamsson, A. (2006), Ibid. This tentative definition was empirically tested in his Master thesis,Abrahamsson, A. (2007a) Sustainopreneurship – Business with a Cause: Conceptualizing Entrepreneurship for Sustainability. aster Thesis in Business Administration.Växjö: Reports from Växjö University: Business administration and economics. http://www.diva-portal.org/vxu/abstract.xsql?dbid=1254, (accessed 2007-05-25). where the enactive research processJohannisson, B. (2002) Enacting Entrepreneurship – Using Auto-Ethnography to Study Organization Creation, Paper presented the conference ''Ethnographic Organizational Studies'', University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, September 19-21, 2002. Johannisson, B. (2005) Entreprenörskapets väsen, Lund: Studentlitteratur. confirmed that the definition stood the test contrasting it towards the auto-ethnographical empirical material. A paper to identify future research challenges was made beyond this in 2007,Abrahamsson, A. (2007b), Researching Sustainopreneurship – conditions, concepts, approaches, arenas and questions. An invitation to authentic sustainability business forces. Paper presented at the 13th International Sustainable Development Research Conference, Mälardalens Högskola, Västerås, 10-12 June, 2007 and developed further with a book chapter published in September 2008.Abrahamsson, A. (2008), Sustainopreneurship – Business with a Cause. The Promise of Creative Organizing for Sustainability. In "Bridging the Functional and Territorial Views on Regional Entrepreneurship and Development", eds. Bengt Johannisson and Åsa Lindholm-Dahlstrand. Örebro: FSF (Swedish Foundation for Small Business Research). {{ISBN, 91-89301-27-7

/ref> In general, the entrepreneurial discourse has opened up to move beyond a strictly economic phenomenon, rather than being perceived primarily as a social process at large.Steyaert, C., Katz, J. (2004) Reclaiming the space of entrepreneurship in society: geographical, discursive and social dimensions, Entrepreneurship and Business Development 2004:3, pp. 179-196, special issue on Social Entrepreneurship. Preceding the conceptual formation were two traces of social entrepreneurship and eco-preneurship, dealing primarily with the social and ecological dimensions of sustainability. Primary associations with

have also been establishing not-for-profit venturing and charities to innovatively address and solve social problems, whereas

has been primarily focused on solving environmental problems. See Principles of ecopreneurship. Both these traces of conceptual development are taken beyond, merge and integrate into the suggested conceptual construct at hand, where distinctions are made from both of these concepts – sustainopreneurial processes taking place institutionally through for-profit organizing, but not with profit as its main driving force. Sustainopreneurial venturing is done in a holistic manner that meets both ecological and social challenges simultaneously with regard to both purpose and process.

Three main dimensions

The definition of sustainopreneurship needs to be highlighted by three distinguishing dimensions with all three being simultaneously present in the applied (inter)action it reflects. The first is oriented towards "why" – its purpose and motive. The second and third are reflecting two "how"-related dimensions – its process. 1. Sustainopreneurship consciously sets out to find and/or create innovations to solve sustainability-related problems :The conscious mission that guides the action, especially in the nascent '-preneurial' stage before venturing forms and formalizes into an institutionalized business entity, is to deliberately find practical and innovative solutions to problems related to the sustainability agenda. This is the main key to distinguish this category of entrepreneurial activity and behaviour labelled sustainopreneurship from generic entrepreneurial activity: the cause-oriented intention that places the core motive, purpose and driving-force of the business activities. To identify and further grasp what is meant by sustainability problems, central sources in the global sustainable development discourse are identified, which guide us to what is meant practically and operationally by ''sustainability in action.'' The outcome of diverse sources are summarized in this list of ''"sustainability-related problems",'' determined by the political action plan documented in ''Agenda 21'',''UN, Conference on Environment and Development (1992a) Main Documents, download page, http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/documents/docs_unced.htm; including Agenda 21, http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/documents/agenda21/index.htm, (accessed 2007-04-16).'' the ''Millennium Declaration'' defining the ''

Millennium Development Goals The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were eight international development goals for the year 2015 that had been established following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000, following the adoption of the United Nations Millenn ...

,''UN, Millennium Development Goals (2000) Homepage, http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals, (accessed 2007-04-16).'' both agreed at the ''Millennium Summit'' in New York 2000, and the ''WSSD Plan of Implementation'' decided upon at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg 2002.UN, World Summit on Sustainable Development (2002b) Homepage, http://www.johannesburgsummit.org, with WSSD Plan of Implementation, TOC with access to the full document, http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/documents/WSSD_POI_PD/English/POIToc.htm, (accessed 2007-04-16). This list, derived and synthesized from these sources, lines up areas with associated problems to solve, goals to reach and values to create: *

Poverty Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse

* Water and sanitation *

Health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organ ...

* Education/

illiteracy Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in Writing, written form in some specific context of use. In other wo ...

Sustainable production Sustainable products are those products that provide environmental, social and economic benefits while protecting public health and environment over their whole life cycle, from the extraction of raw materials until the final disposal. Scope o ...

and consumption patterns * Climate change and energy systems * Chemicals *

Urbanization Urbanization (or urbanisation) refers to the population shift from rural to urban areas, the corresponding decrease in the proportion of people living in rural areas, and the ways in which societies adapt to this change. It is predominantly th ...

* Ecosystems,

biological diversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic ('' genetic variability''), species ('' species diversity''), and ecosystem ('' ecosystem diversity'') ...

and

land use Land use involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as settlements and semi-natural habitats such as arable fields, pastures, and managed woods. Land use by humans has a long ...

* Utilization of sea resources * Food and agriculture * Trade justice * Social stability, democracy and good governance *

Peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

and security 2. Sustainopreneurship means to get solutions to the market through creative organizing :The line-up above could make one easily depressed. But, a fundamental attitude to acquire and maintain when this list of sustainability-related problems is compiled and then considered is to avoid falling into disempowerment and despair. It is of core importance to take the agenda as entrepreneurial ''challenges'' – to view problems as ''possibilities'', obstacles as ''opportunities'', and resistance as a ''resource'', whatever the nature of the resistance. If the solution is generated by creativity, it is equally important to take it to the market in a creative and innovative way. In this dimension there is nothing that really differs from the generic entrepreneurial description I subscribe to, but this comes natural since sustainopreneurship is a conceptual extension and development from the social phenomenon named entrepreneurship, and thus inherits one of its perceived key dimensions, 'entrepreneurship as creative organizing'.Johannisson, B. (2005), Ibid. The market is used as well, not society primarily, since it implies business establishment – a sustainability business that still knows its place and role in the holarchy mentioned earlier. Bringing something to the market at the same time brings it to society and our shared physical environment. 3. Sustainopreneurship in process adds sustainability value with respect for life support systems :The awareness that the (economic) market is an embedded sub-system in the "socio-sphere" that is in turn a part of the 'bio-sphere' is made explicit. This awareness naturally and self-evidently makes the sustainopreneurial team maximize harmony with life support systems in the process. With joy and pride the epitome of the generic definition of "sustainable development" lives in business venturing. In short – living the generic definition of sustainable development as defined by WCED,UN, World Commission on Environment and Development (1987) Our Common Future, Oxford, Oxford University Press. with respect to the needs of present and future stakeholders, keeping the holistic world-view and making it guide everyday (inter)action.

Sustainable vs. sustainability entrepreneurship

With these dimensions clarified and distinctions made a common conceptual vagueness or lack of clarity needs to be addressed, where a strong need to distinguish clearly between sustainable, vs. ''sustainability'' entrepreneurship is identified. From this point of view, a very important distinction with the concept formed is claimed – ''sustainability'' entrepreneurship as in the concept ''sustainopreneurship; ''the use of entrepreneurial activity in a ''determined action orientation towards solving a sustainability-related problem'' with (creative) business organizing as a ''means'' to solve the problem(s) – business with a cause: to turn business activity from a part of the problem to a part of the solution.'' Sustainable'' entrepreneurship is just a generic entrepreneurial process that takes into consideration the boundaries set by sustainability, and does not address where to and why, the destination, the purpose or the aim of the venture. The strategic intent and the business idea in itself are not related to sustainability ''per se,'' sustainability just being an "attachment" to the entrepreneurial process. The second and third dimensions are represented, but not the first. ''Sustainability'' entrepreneurship, in contrast, takes as its root of existence and strategic aim to solve a sustainability-related problem. This means that all three dimensions are simultaneously present: to take a sustainability innovation to the market through creative organizing with respect for life-supporting systems in the process.

Future development

Given its recent date, there is a need for future research, as mentioned above.Abrahamsson, A. (2007b), Researching Sustainopreneurship – conditions, concepts, approaches, arenas and questions. An invitation to authentic sustainability business forces. Paper presented at the 13th International Sustainable Development Research Conference, Mälardalens Högskola, Västerås, 10-12 June, 2007 Main findings here are that conceptually, a deeper analysis is needed to be conducted with a nuanced and detailed taxonomy and framework created of sustainability innovations, the core of sustainopreneurship, primarily by cataloging and categorizing case stories. It is also needed to make a more detailed description to relate sustainopreneurship to other concepts in the wider, general idea-sphere of the "business case of sustainability", in the contemporary plethora of "buzz-words", approaches, methods and acronyms that already exists – and in this context also to motivate why this concept adds value. It has been recommended, though, to keep the research applied, to identify obstacles and institutional barriers, and how to overcome them; i. e. facilitating factors for sustainopreneurship, researching prospective tools, enablers and approaches. Appropriate areas and domains for sustainopreneurship applied are recommended to be digested. Research methods recommended are Enactive ResearchJohannisson, B. (2002) Enacting Entrepreneurship – Using Auto-Ethnography to Study Organization Creation, Paper presented the conference ''Ethnographic Organizational Studies'', University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, September 19-21, 2002. Johannisson, B. (2005) Entreprenörskapets väsen, Lund: Studentlitteratur. and

Open Space Technology Open Space Technology (OST) is a method for organizing and running a meeting or multi-day conference, where participants have been invited in order to focus on a specific, important task or purpose. In contrast with pre-planned conferences where ...

, since they add instant value among stakeholders, and in themselves naturally builds arenas where sustainopreneurship evolves and proliferates. For progress, beyond these "how"-related pointers, the key is to single out "the big questions", getting answers through collaborative, collective dialogue and conversation, with an explicit interaction and results orientation. Issues and topics have been formulated and outlined, where it is of striking importance with an intention to attract authentic forces potentially hearing this call of exploring the phenomenon further, with the purpose to collapse the degrees of separation in between the stakeholders of the sustainopreneurial concept – in idea, reflective practice and applied interaction to generate collective and collaborative wisdom for a deeper understanding of the concept. A key means to also get deeper understanding could be to digest further the conceptual spheres associated with 'institutional entrepreneurship', as in (consciously) challenging established order, by (co-)creating new institutions that both lies in the way of creating sustainability, as well as being there to support overall development(s) towards a Sustainable World.

References

External links

Google Scholar Search on Sustainopreneurship
(academically approved research on the subject)
Sustainopreneurship Research – Publications on Scribd
Social economy Social entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship Business ethics