Small Act, Big Changes: Connecting Social & Everyday Entrepreneurship at Aalto University
On October 1-2, 2025, the Entrepreneurship Unit at Aalto School of Business (ENTU), Aalto University, together with LUT University, hosted a two-day workshop “Small Act, Big Changes: Connecting Social & Everyday Entrepreneurship.” The event was supported by the European Council for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ECSB) and brought together researchers to explore the intersection of social and everyday entrepreneurship.
The workshop opened with welcoming remarks from Ewald Kibler (Aalto University), Tamara Galkina (Aalto University), and Kaisu Puumalainen (LUT University), who outlined the shared interests that brought participants together for this focused gathering.
Keynote Presentations
The first day’s keynote was delivered by Professor Friederike Welter, who challenged conventional growth-centered narratives in entrepreneurship. Her presentation examined entrepreneurship as socially embedded and context-dependent, highlighting how businesses that create jobs and build communities often operate outside the “unicorns” that dominate policy discussions.
On the second day, Professor Sophie Bacq presented her keynote, tracing social entrepreneurship’s evolution from marginal activity to mainstream practice. She argued that the traditional “hero entrepreneur” narrative no longer reflects reality. Contemporary social entrepreneurs achieve impact through ecosystem partnerships involving corporations, governments, and academic institutions. Her talk emphasized that social entrepreneurship has demonstrated its relevance to mainstream business, with the current opportunity lying in integrating purpose and profit as complementary drivers of business success.
Workshop Activities
Beyond the keynotes, the program included paper development workshops where participants received feedback on their research, cross-pollination sessions for sharing ideas across projects, and method cafés focused on research methodologies. The editor’s panel brought together journal editors who shared their perspectives on what makes social and everyday entrepreneurship research publishable. Panellists discussed common pitfalls in manuscript submissions, and strategies for positioning papers that bridge social impact and entrepreneurship. This session gave participants direct access to editorial insights that are rarely available outside of conference settings. This structure gave participants dedicated time to develop their work while building connections across different research projects.
Networking and Community Building
The workshop concluded with a farewell dinner at Ravintola Marga, located in the historic Kiseleff building—one of Helsinki’s oldest structures with sections dating to 1771. This social element provided an informal setting for continued discussions and relationship building among participants.
Participant feedback highlighted the value of the small-scale format and collegial atmosphere. One participant noted in their feedback: “Please organize it again next year.” The small group setting allowed for meaningful exchanges between researchers at different career stages.
The positive participant response and strong connections formed during these two days have established a foundation for continuing this dialogue. Planning for the next iteration is already underway, with the goal of expanding this community of scholars working at the intersection of social impact and everyday entrepreneurship practices.
Author: Canan Keles, Aalto University School of Business
