Review article
https://doi.org/10.38190/ope.16.1.9
Empirical insights into the role of social entrepreneurship in sustainable rural development: evidence from Croatian agriculture
Ivana Keser
*
Sanja Maleković
Sanja Tišma
* Corresponding author.
Abstract
As one of the key elements in overcoming current social and
economic challenges, social entrepreneurship is gaining increasing
importance in Croatia. In agriculture, social entrepreneurship is
primarily represented through the activities of civil society organisations
and cooperatives. The community led local development approach
as well as the bottom-up approach overall play a compensatory role
in often inadequate conventional state incentive measures aimed at
local and regional development. The focus of this paper is on actors
who, besides being profit-oriented, are primarily driven by the aim
of increasing the quality of life for poorly employable groups and
creating positive and sustainable social and economic impacts. The
results of the conducted research through desk analysis and focus
groups emphasize the important role of social entrepreneurship in the
sector of agriculture and rural development, as well as its impact on
socio-economic development in Croatia.
Keywords
social entrepreneurship; agriculture; rural development; Croatia
Hrčak ID:
347806
URI
Publication date:
12.6.2026.
Visits: 121 *