Throughout the world, social enterprise is on the rise.

Dubbed the new “fourth sector”, this hybrid form of for-profit/non-profit business is forecast to have a global value of $500bn-a-year within 5-10 years.

However, in all economies, the establishment of social enterprise as a distinct, flourishing sector faces many challenges.

How to respond to those challenges will be at the centre of the agenda of our event.

Across two days of masterclasses and workshops, we will pull sharp focus on specific challenges and provide participants with first-hand, first-class expertise, experience and advice on:

- how to incentivize and build coalitions of support behind a business idea

- overcome regulatory constraints

- finance an enterprise in a way that supports on-going growth

- scale up an enterprise

- create an outstanding, flexible business model and plan

- set, meet and adapt to short, medium and long-term goals

At the event, social and creative entrepreneurs from the U.K., United States, Central and Eastern Europe will give their advice on how to resolve these issues through their own experience.

They will be accompanied by professional project, business and financial consultants.

In special workshops, entrepreneurs will open up the issues that their businesses face to discussion and resolution by others.

In presentations from around the world, participants will win top-class insight in to blends of “mission” and “entrepreneurship” that are profitable and have overcome barriers to growth.

The event will clearly recognize that different economies and societies around the world have very different ideas on the value and relevance of social enterprise – and engage with the issue.

The event will draw attention to different regulatory and tax regimes that support or hinder innovative, social market approaches to business.

But at the centre of it all, Innovation for Urban Challenges will seek to provide participants with practical advice – advice that engages directly with business planning, financing, marketing and management at its most basic but also most inspirational level.

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