Social entrepreneurship and impact investment in rural–urban transformation: An orientation to systemic social innovation and symposium findings

Abstract

Migrations from rural to urban areas do not occur equitably. Food, economic, and health systems are strained by this global rural–urban transformation. Climate change exacerbates agricultural shifts and biodiversity loss. The fields of social entrepreneurship and social innovation address these systemic inequities by re-envisioning challenges as opportunities for positive change. Innovative finance models (e.g. blended-financing, public–private partnerships) emerge in support of such initiatives. Despite this transformative potential, social innovators face significant challenges when mobilizing resources, and when moving beyond niche endeavors to scale impacts that facilitate systemic change. This article engages in a sensemaking exercise: we review literature on social entrepreneurship and innovative finance, and report outcomes from a participatory symposium in China with a variety of ecosystem stakeholders. The results presented in this paper help clarify the space and offer next steps for theorists, social entrepreneurs, non-governmental organizations, development agencies, policymakers and investors.