Social Entrepreneurship in the context of the city of Vienna

Background: 

Studies have show that social enterprises play an important role, particularly in an urban context (Kilpatrick et al., 2021; Korosec & Berman, 2006 and others). They promote social integration and cohesion, and can actively contribute to the formation of a city's identity (Kilpatrick et al., 2021). Social enterprises are also characterized by their environmental and social resilience (Vandor et al., 2021). During the COVID-19 pandemic, social enterprises were able to continue to support their target groups in times of crisis thanks to their ability to adapt quickly (Vandor et al., 2022). 

Goals and Methods:

Some cities are actively working to create favorable conditions for social enterprises. City administrations can create interfaces and coordination structures in various ways in order to cooperate with social enterprises and promote their impact.

The project compares the approaches of the City of Vienna with European cities such as Berlin, The Hague and Hamburg and examines the relationships between city administrations and social enterprises. The mutually perceived relationships and the associated potentials and tensions between the city administration and social enterprises will be examined in more detail. The empirical core of the research is an analysis of policy documents as well as the implementation and evaluation of about 15-18 guided interviews with different actors of the mentioned cities.