Inner city engagement and the university: Mutuality, emergence and transformation

Abstract

The potential transformative impact of university-based entrepreneurship programs on local economic development is examined using the example of a multifaceted inner city initiative. Using complex adaptive systems theory as a guiding framework, core elements of the South Side Entrepreneurial Connect Program (SSECP) are summarized. The emergence of parallel and interacting effects within the community and on the university campus are described, while underlying properties of the SSECP initiative contributing to these effects are specified. Qualitative and quantitative outcomes are specified at a number of levels within the community and the university. Based on the SSECP experience, ten principles are derived for use by entrepreneurship programmes and others involved with economic development and community engagement initiatives.